Dvorak is great. I switched to it because of my RSI about 11 years ago, and it's definitely easier on my wrists. The learning curve was indeed a hassle, and it would have been a real drag to switch between Dvorak and QWERTY during those first few weeks. But once I got the hang of Dvorak, I found it was not a problem to switch back to QWERTY when necessary.
I think for me the trick is that I'm not quite a touch typist. My fingers are in the right place for touch typing, but my eyeballs are always slightly on the keyboard. This means that I can switch easily from Dvorak to QWERTY, but only as long as the keys are labeled correctly.
While I was learning Dvorak, I stuck new labels on my keys. Since then, whenever I get a new computer or keyboard I pop the keys off and rearrange them. This is not an option if you routinely share your computer.
Good luck! (BTW, if you're wondering who I am, I'm a friend of willshetterly and coffeeem, and they recommended your fantastic memoir to me.)
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I think for me the trick is that I'm not quite a touch typist. My fingers are in the right place for touch typing, but my eyeballs are always slightly on the keyboard. This means that I can switch easily from Dvorak to QWERTY, but only as long as the keys are labeled correctly.
While I was learning Dvorak, I stuck new labels on my keys. Since then, whenever I get a new computer or keyboard I pop the keys off and rearrange them. This is not an option if you routinely share your computer.
Good luck! (BTW, if you're wondering who I am, I'm a friend of