If you use emacs in the shell ("emacs -nw") then it is a pain to use the default keyboard shortcuts to change to window sizes. Solution is very simple. Map those commands to other shortcuts like the function keys.
(Use C-x e or eval-buffer to execute the lisp change in the .emacs file)
;; Resize the windows
(global-set-key [f5] 'balance-windows)
(global-set-key [f6] 'shrink-window)
(global-set-key [f7] 'enlarge-window)
(global-set-key [f8] 'enlarge-window-horizontally)
(global-set-key [f9] 'shrink-window-horizontally)