One useful configuration was changing the command mode key to a single letter. This way you did not have to switch back and forth between escape. Additionally, for people who have hyperhydrosis, which drastically hinders laptop touchpad usage, vim is really useful for navigation. As for vim itself, it is perhaps more effective to use a modern text editor rather than Vim as it is was a bit of a hassle to get it set up. Vim is very useful, and its good to see more encouragement for it in modern software development.