Ditch the Batteries

Wireless keyboards and mice have been around for decades. Most wireless keyboards and mice, however, require AAA or AA batteries. If you work in an office with a well-stocked supply closet, that might not be much of an issue. Batteries often die at inconvenient times - those of us who teach webinars don't need our hardware dying in the middle of the webinar. I always forget to pack spare batteries with me when I hit the road. I hate the idea of all of these batteries filling landfills and what that means for our environment.

While I find replacing batteries irritating, I also dislike wired keyboards and mice. I have enough wires to manage and love the clean look of wireless hardware. Wired mice a bulky to travel with and can easily get tangled with all of my other wires in my laptop bag.

Awhile back, I decided to replace my mechanical keyboard with a quiet keyboard. The quiet keyboard I selected is rechargeable. Whenever the battery dies, I can plug in a micro-USB and begin working again immediately, without having to run to the supply closet or swap out batteries. When I discovered how much I love this convenience, I quickly replaced my mouse with a rechargeable mouse.

Now I keep a micro-USB cord available for charging on a whim. Keyboard or mouse dies while presenting? Not a problem - it only takes a second to plug it in. When traveling, I only need to keep a short micro-USB cord with me to charge all of my devices. Recharging doesn't take long at all and keeps the devices running for weeks. Once one runs low, I charge it, and then immediately charge the other so I never need to charge both at once.