I only just figured this one out myself a few days ago. Another alternative is to map jj or jk (or whatever) to esc in insert mode. Then you just need to get ou

I only just figured this one out myself a few days ago. Another alternative is to map jj or jk (or whatever) to esc in insert mode. Then you just need to get out of the habit of hitting esc. Of course, then there's a delay on hitting j but I've found it less of an annoyance.