Tips for Coping with a Wrecked Hand

I know I said I wasn't going to be blogging, but I just can't stay away, dear readers. I've had my sweet little cast on for two weeks (almost) and I'm finding some good ways to get around the inconvenience.

1. Thumb typing can be less annoying than hamfisted traditional typing. I've been going slowly insane, driven to madness by the slowness of my typing, and I discovered that answering all my email on the Blackberry is, in some ways, easier than trying to peck out coherent responses on the full size keyboard.

2. Embrace plastic baggies. One of my big concerns is keeping my cast as fresh as possible so that I am presentable for social situations. I slap a baggie over my left hand when I'm doing stuff around the house -- cooking, tidying, petting dogs -- and it seems to really help. A related tip: Febreeze (aka: why clean when you can just make it smell clean?).

3. Take breaks. Often I will get on a roll where I'm really trying to type something important, and I have to consciously remind myself to stop using my bad hand because I'm also making my shoulders, neck and back feel bad. I stop, do some arm circles to try and keep some semblance of arm muscles, and then I put the bad hand up and go one handed for a while.

4. Proofread like crazy. You should do this anyway, but it's easier to get your fingers on the wrong keys when one hand is completely (well, nearly completely) useless. Give everything you write a super-duper-twice over.

I know this blog post will be incredibly useful to the large segment of the population out there who is trying to get stuff done with a broken pinky. That's what bloggers call knowing your audience!