I use an MMO Mouse for productivity and I love it
I use an MMO Mouse for productivity and I love it
I’ve changed at least five keyboards in the past 10 years, but I’m using the same Logitech MMO gaming mouse for productivity because I couldn’t find anything better.
If you read my emails, you may get the (wrong) impression that I’m focused on productivity. I actually don’t like to work. That’s why I need to be smart about how I spend my time.
I’m not a “work on my laptop from anywhere” type of guy. I love having multiple monitors when I need to work with large documents. It helps me be more productive. Constantly Alt Tabbing on my laptop is annoying.
The fact I have the memory of a goldfish doesn’t help either, so I need to have everything in front of my face when I work.
Add the fact that I use quite a few virtual desktops in Windows, so I need a way to perform the most common actions faster. The problem was solved when I got as a present for my birthday the Logitech G602 gaming mouse.
Why?
Because having a few programmable buttons at my fingertips means I can switch virtual spaces in a few dozen milliseconds. I didn’t time myself, but it feels really fast. My fingers are already on top of the buttons. I just have to press them.
An MMO gaming mouse is like a dual-clutch automatic, faster than anything on the market. It’s even faster than keyboard shortcuts because you don’t have to move your hands at all.
But what is an MMO mouse?
An MMO mouse is a type of mouse that comes with extra customizable buttons meant to be remapped for use in Massive Multiplayer Online games, hence the MMO in the name.
MMO gaming mice excel in games where there are tons of shortcuts for various actions. They work in all games, of course, and are also good for work. An MMO mouse will save you time, especially in programs where you can take advantage of the extra buttons and remap them to the most performed actions.
How I configured my MMO gaming mouse button shortcuts
In total, there are eleven buttons on my Logitech G602. It may seem a lot but one is the left click, another is the right click and the third one is the middle click because you can press on the scroll wheel, so it does count as a button.
This means there are actually eight buttons. Subtract the mouse sensitivity change buttons, which I use constantly, and I’m left with six configurable buttons. That’s more manageable.
Here’s my current buttons configuration:
Back browser button (default action)
Forward browser button (default action)
Sensitivity up one step (default action)
Sensitivity down one step (default action)
Middle click (remapped)
Undo close tab – Ctrl + Shift + T (remapped)
Switch to the left virtual desktop (remapped)
Switch to the right virtual desktop (remapped)
I won’t bore you with the details, but I had to use one of the buttons for the middle click. Pressing on the scroll wheel without triggering a scroll action is tricky, so I better have that assigned to a different button.
How is it to use an MMO mouse for work?
There are tons of MMO gaming mice out there, some with a ridiculous number of buttons. I don’t think I could use a mouse with 20 buttons, but your mileage may vary.
I say that because from my experience it took me a few good weeks to train my muscle memory for the Logitech G602, but once the neural pathways were imprinted in my brain, I can tell you that I loved using this mouse for work. I still do.
Switching desktops is ridiculously fast. I also love that I can use the middle click functionality without also scrolling, which happens more often than not when you click on the scroll wheel on most mice.
And if I close a tab by mistake, I can bring it up again, and instead of the Ctrl + Shift + T I only need to press one button.
These are actions I do a couple hundred times every day. I suspect I gain at least a few minutes this way. That’s every day, so long term I have more time for other more pleasant tasks.
I definitely think investing in an MMO mouse is going to pay off rather quickly. Prices for MMO mice differ wildly, but as a general rule, brand names like Razer, Logitech, and Corsair tend to cost more and I’m not sure they’re always worth the premium.
So, no, you don’t have to spend $150 on a mouse to be productive, but a high quality one will surely last longer. I have mine for 12 years now, and it’s still going strong.
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