APM in gaming is actions per minute. Pro gamers will use hand warmers, drink coffee, and seem to be always fidgeting. Some clicks of the mouse are critical for accuracy and timing. But most of the game is about keeping the response time high to optimize for those critical moments.
Gamers want to keep their APM high regardless of accuracy. It’s not about doing the least amount of work, it’s about ensuring that you’re always poking at what you could be doing. The limitation is not the game, it’s the player. Every cycle counts.
I feel similarly about things like vim (neovim) and side projects. Doing something, even if not efficient, even if not learning, even if it’s just a struggle, is keeping your coding APM high. And this changes the brain over time to be better, smarter, and more efficient when it does matter. In this way, VIM is about the opposite of minimizing keystrokes, it’s about staying engaged and active at a critical level to maintain peak performance.