The "any" key, of course.
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Usually space
I move the mouse.
I pick up the mouse, hold it to my mouth and say, "Computer...?”
Space key. That way it won't accidentally enter an actual letter or command that could be passed to the current active application.
That's not really much of a problem anymore these days (serious issue in WinXP era), but it's still the safe key, so I use it.
Edit: I totally botched this. I meant Shift key. Derp.
Space bar is "accept" in many interfaces. If the screen was off but not locked, and a dialog box was focused, hitting space will submit that in some OS.
Control, on the other hand, won't.
I like ctrl as well.
Less alarming and obtrusive. To the computer? For me?
I prefer left Ctrl, but will press the right ctrl if I'm feeling wild that day.
This is a great question.
Shift because it can't trigger an action on its own.
A nice open palm slap on the middle of the keyboard does the trick for me
Arrow keys
Mouse wiggles
ctrl is the only correct choice obviously. it's the only key that does nothing by itself and it's positioned at a corner so it's hard to mistype
I shake the mouse then start entering my login before the screen turns on, works 50% of the time.
Shift.
They're big enough I don't have to aim. They're located on both edges (at least on TKL). They do nothing on their own.
Any single modifier key by itself, in case it’s just the screen that’s asleep and I’m inadvertently typing into a text field.
I always turn off my computer when I'm done. I like to get a fresh boot
My 2 year old, when prompted to hit any key, hit the power button instead.
Anyway, the answer is a swift kick of my desk to move my mouse cause that seems to wake it up.
I shake the mouse
I always shutdown even for a short break.
Been using spacebar but what I would like to do is set up a midi drum pad as an input device so I can wake my computer up by smacking it with a stick.
I spam escape but I usally disable sleep on all my machines and use hibernation instead. Too many issues with sleep. Randomly wakes up, USB devices aren't recognized, a monitor stays black...
Wait... You guys actually only push one button?
I slide my entire hand across the keyboard like I'm waving to the computer haha
I stomp on my usb foot pedal
Backspace, because my cat likes to step on my keyboard and then characters are often left in the password field that need cleared.

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