I always tried to replace the tools that slow me down and unfortunately Eclipse started to become such a tool for my current projects where Maven and Git are used intensively. Between me and you, m2e and eGit eclipse plugins still need a little work in order to become really useful.
So, how do you replace your favorite IDE with a different one? What are the steps, does it really pay off?
I can tell you what worked for me, I hope it will be helpful.
Stop using Eclipse if you want Intellij
I tried for a while to use both tools in parallel and it didn't work at all. Each time I had a "problem" I went back to my good old Eclipse to solve it. This way the amount of time spent with the new tool was reduced and no progress seemed to happen.
I only started to become productive with IntelliJ when I decided to quit using Eclipse!
Start by learning one aspect at a time
How do you enter a new Universe if not one step at a time?
I first started to read code using IntelliJ - focusing on view elements and shortcuts that helped me to navigate between various classes and code fragments.
After that I started to write code so I only focused on editing, code completion, refactoring aspects.
Then I focused on build system, debugging, and so on...
Pair programming
If you have someone out there using IntelliJ, start pairing with him! I learned a lot of things very quickly just by sitting near somebody who knows the tool. It takes minutes to learn a new trick visually and hours to find it by reading documentation!
Use tools
There are tools out there that help you do anything. Even learning IDEs.I started to use Key promoter and I am very happy with it! It really helps you learn shortcuts you didn't even know exist.
Does it pay off?
In terms of productivity certainly yes, I feel it everyday. It really makes my life on my current projects easier.
I started to use it also for my home Android project - the UI Designer is quite cool!
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