Doing finger independence exercises for February

I’m an avid reader of Zen Habits, a life-hacking/productivity blog. For February, the author has issued a challenge to start a new habit this February. The idea is to check in daily in this February Challenge 2008 forum thread, as an incentive to developing the habit.

One thing that bothers me is my lack of finger independence: like most people, when I move certain fingers, other fingers inevitably move with them. Musicians have, over the years, developed finger independence exercises to help them play instruments better.

So for the month of February, I’m going to do ten minutes of such exercises each day (five per hand) and report in daily on Zen Habits. I’ll also post here once a week to record my progress.

I have a history of wrist and finger problems due to years of poor typing habits, and so now I suffer from Repetitive Strain Injury. I am limited in the amount and intensity of my computer use, and anything requiring constant manual dexterity.

I hope that these exercises will not only increase the fingers’ independence, but also strengthen them.