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Use b# to switch to the previous buffer (i.e. the file which was previously edited)

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Edit multiple files in a row

You can open multiple files and edit them in a row (e.g. vim *.json or vim a.txt b.txt). Use :wn to write the current file and open the next.

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Start new Change

In VIM a new change usually only starts when you leave insert mode (i.e. if you press u for undo, everything in the last insert is reverted). By pressing ctrl+g and then u, you can start a new change while in insert mode. You could even map the return key to do this automatically when you start a new line: :inoremap u (undo will now only undo single lines).

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Ack Search Word under Cursor

Use :Ack to search for the word under the cursor accross all files in the current working directory.

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Swap Files Location

You can tell VIM to store your swap files in a fixed directory, instead of mixed in with your other files, by setting for example set directory^=~/.vim/tmp/swap//.

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CtrlP Open in New Split

Use ctrl+v to open the highlighted result in CtrlP in a new split.

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NERDTreeFind

To reveal the current buffer in NERDTree use the :NERDTreeFind command. This will also open NERDTree if it's closed. You can map the command to a shortcut if you want to.

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Screen Jumping

Use H to the top of the screen, L to the bottom of the screen and M to jump to the middle of the screen.

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Search for Word under Cursor

Press * in command mode to search for the word under the cursor in the open buffer.

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NERDTree Jump

Use J in NERDTree to jump to the last node of the directory in the current tree depth (very usefull for the migrations directory).

I highly recommend checking out https://github.com/scrooloose/nerdtree/blob/master/doc/NERDTree.txt if you are using NERDTree.