How do multiple screen set-ups make you more productive?
September 10, 2023 3:39 AM Subscribe
A blogger I like posted a link to a triple-screen setup on her laptop, and I thought ooh shiny, but then couldn't think how I'd use it to be more productive at work. I don't do graphics or real coding - 90% of my time is Excel, Word, Outlook and Jira. Are these multi-screen set-ups really helpful or that old lie about multi-tasking being better than deep focus?
I only use my two screens sometimes - for example, if I am on a Teams call and there’s an agenda and documents to review having everything in front of you is a lot easier. But in general I keep it to one screen most of the time because having real-time views of my emails, chats, etc. is counter productive to doing anything in a focused way.
posted by openhearted at 3:51 AM on September 10, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by openhearted at 3:51 AM on September 10, 2023 [4 favorites]
My last job all I used was Excel, Word, Outlook, and Jira, and I found two screens SUPER helpful. I was an EA/Office Manager who had to monitor and keep track of some people's schedules for as-needed assistance, but i had other shit to do; I would have the Outlook calendars on one screen just open and at the ready, and everything else I was doing was on the other screen. That way I had the calendar open but just out of the way, so I could glance at it when I idly wondered "how much longer before I have to remind Sarah about the meeting again?" and then go back to work.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:25 AM on September 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:25 AM on September 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
It’s most valuable to me when I’m writing and I need to integrate information from multiple sources into what I’m writing. So I’ll have Word up on one screen and some article pdfs, or my stats program, or another Word doc, on the other.
posted by eirias at 4:26 AM on September 10, 2023 [13 favorites]
posted by eirias at 4:26 AM on September 10, 2023 [13 favorites]
When working at MeFi, one monitor is for the site, the other is for the Slack channel.
For graphics programs, it helps to have the numerous palettes on another monitor. That way the main monitor is just the image.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:30 AM on September 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
For graphics programs, it helps to have the numerous palettes on another monitor. That way the main monitor is just the image.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:30 AM on September 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
When you need to refer to documentation or another data source while working on some thing, be it a spreadsheet or a letter or anything else, having multiple screens is indeed very handy.
For some things, it's fine if that other screen is a tablet or phone or some other separate device, but for other tasks a second screen on the same computer is invaluable.
posted by wierdo at 4:40 AM on September 10, 2023 [4 favorites]
For some things, it's fine if that other screen is a tablet or phone or some other separate device, but for other tasks a second screen on the same computer is invaluable.
posted by wierdo at 4:40 AM on September 10, 2023 [4 favorites]
Soooooooo helpful in accounting since you're often comparing two different things while writing about it
posted by Jacqueline at 4:55 AM on September 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Jacqueline at 4:55 AM on September 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
I’m ashamed of how useless I am without my two monitors and a laptop open. Teams stays on the laptop and everything else is on the monitors, sometimes using multiple desktops. I do corporate, Salesforce training so I’m eternally making ppt decks and other support resources so I definitely use them but still. If you aren’t hopelessly dependent on multiple monitors, don’t get that way. I have some upcoming travel and my no-monitor anxiety has already begun.
posted by pearlybob at 4:56 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by pearlybob at 4:56 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
I mainly use MS Office tools and bespoke tools my firm has that can be accessed through Edge.
I adore my two screens. I find it helpful to have space to spread out all my windows and see information I have to refer to without constantly having to switch between windows.
And yes, Teams meetings with the meeting in one screen, possibly somebody sharing their screen and that is still large enough to read, another window with a chat for the internal participants on the side, perhaps some documents and/or internal agenda in yet another window.
In theory, you could have multiple windows open on a laptop screen but they are too small to be helpful. I have reached an age where I‘d need to wear my glasses all the time if I had to do that and the windows would still be too small to show enough information without scrolling to be useful. I know that because every time I travel for work or work at my client I am driven to distraction by not having enough screen. With my two large screens I can read all things without glasses, I can have windows large enough to see information without scrolling etc.
Using external screens also tends to result in a much more ergonomic setup.
posted by koahiatamadl at 4:59 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
I adore my two screens. I find it helpful to have space to spread out all my windows and see information I have to refer to without constantly having to switch between windows.
And yes, Teams meetings with the meeting in one screen, possibly somebody sharing their screen and that is still large enough to read, another window with a chat for the internal participants on the side, perhaps some documents and/or internal agenda in yet another window.
In theory, you could have multiple windows open on a laptop screen but they are too small to be helpful. I have reached an age where I‘d need to wear my glasses all the time if I had to do that and the windows would still be too small to show enough information without scrolling to be useful. I know that because every time I travel for work or work at my client I am driven to distraction by not having enough screen. With my two large screens I can read all things without glasses, I can have windows large enough to see information without scrolling etc.
Using external screens also tends to result in a much more ergonomic setup.
posted by koahiatamadl at 4:59 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
Presenting a meeting in teams without two screens is awful because there’s no easy way to share you screen and see who has their “hand raised” for a question. I think you might be able to see the chat while presenting in one screen but I can’t remember.
posted by raccoon409 at 5:10 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by raccoon409 at 5:10 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
Any time you are using one document or source as input to another, multiple screens (or an ultra wide monitor) greatly increases productivity. It saves you from having to constantly swap back and forth between two windows and/or remember large chunks of information.
For me, it is very had to only work on a single screen as I often have the code editor in one screen and the documentation or running app in another (plus Teams for tracking what others are asking me)
For Ms CoreDump, she often has outlook in one so that she can reply to an email using the data in the other screen from whatever sources she needs to answer the email. Or the spreadsheet in one with the source web page in the other. I picked her up an $80 portable monitor to connect to her laptop and it goes everywhere with her now because it is just so damn useful.
If you only work in a single application then a 2nd monitor will probably not help as much.
posted by SegFaultCoreDump at 5:14 AM on September 10, 2023 [3 favorites]
For me, it is very had to only work on a single screen as I often have the code editor in one screen and the documentation or running app in another (plus Teams for tracking what others are asking me)
For Ms CoreDump, she often has outlook in one so that she can reply to an email using the data in the other screen from whatever sources she needs to answer the email. Or the spreadsheet in one with the source web page in the other. I picked her up an $80 portable monitor to connect to her laptop and it goes everywhere with her now because it is just so damn useful.
If you only work in a single application then a 2nd monitor will probably not help as much.
posted by SegFaultCoreDump at 5:14 AM on September 10, 2023 [3 favorites]
I'm usually using two screens, sometimes three (laptop).
One monitor for the document I'm writing, the other for reference document(s).
One monitor for the task I'm working on, the other for my to-do list (or anything my work is based on - eg. an email, a Jira ticket, etc.).
One monitor for the meeting minutes, the other for the Zoom session.
The laptop might have the chat window open, or my Spotify playlist open, anything that isn't mission-critical but helps me avoid digging through menus or open windows/tabs to find something.
Also, maybe answers to my own question about two-screen setups might inspire you.
posted by gakiko at 5:16 AM on September 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
One monitor for the document I'm writing, the other for reference document(s).
One monitor for the task I'm working on, the other for my to-do list (or anything my work is based on - eg. an email, a Jira ticket, etc.).
One monitor for the meeting minutes, the other for the Zoom session.
The laptop might have the chat window open, or my Spotify playlist open, anything that isn't mission-critical but helps me avoid digging through menus or open windows/tabs to find something.
Also, maybe answers to my own question about two-screen setups might inspire you.
posted by gakiko at 5:16 AM on September 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'm a technical writer. I have two 27" monitors on my desk, and to be honest I'm thinking about getting larger monitors in the near future. My laptop stays closed all the time because that screen is too small for me to see easily (I'm old...). This setup also allows me to use a full sized keyboard.
When I'm working I keep my editor open on the screen in front of me, and any supporting materials on the second screen. The second screen is also where I keep my email client, Slack app, and to do list.
This means I'm able to quickly glance back and forth between my editor and any supporting materials (PDFs, web pages, Word docs, etc.) and not have to cycle through everything on a single screen. This also lets me keep an eye on any relevant Slack conversations or emails without having to take my full attention away from my work.
Whenever I'm stuck just using my laptop it gets really frustrating because I have to constantly cycle through open documents, my mail client, Slack, my to do list, my browser, Git Bash, and anything else I might have open at the moment. With two monitors I can arrange things so that they're easy to find.
posted by ralan at 5:21 AM on September 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
When I'm working I keep my editor open on the screen in front of me, and any supporting materials on the second screen. The second screen is also where I keep my email client, Slack app, and to do list.
This means I'm able to quickly glance back and forth between my editor and any supporting materials (PDFs, web pages, Word docs, etc.) and not have to cycle through everything on a single screen. This also lets me keep an eye on any relevant Slack conversations or emails without having to take my full attention away from my work.
Whenever I'm stuck just using my laptop it gets really frustrating because I have to constantly cycle through open documents, my mail client, Slack, my to do list, my browser, Git Bash, and anything else I might have open at the moment. With two monitors I can arrange things so that they're easy to find.
posted by ralan at 5:21 AM on September 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
I use two screens for reading (or meeting) on one and writing notes on the other. If your screen is large enough for you to comfortably split screen in these situations, I'm not sure how much more benefit I'd get. But it's nice to have more real estate when I want to look at things larger, or compare more than two documents and take notes on both, or look at documents, take notes and have a video chat with a collaborator open at the same time, or...
posted by branca at 5:21 AM on September 10, 2023
posted by branca at 5:21 AM on September 10, 2023
I'm doing a research project in which I check websites and policies for specific features. I typically have the sites up on my laptop screen and my coding database up on my other monitor. Switching between these on a single screen would mean no end of cognitive load and probably a lot of careless data-entry errors.
posted by humbug at 5:52 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by humbug at 5:52 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
I have a double-wide monitor and I have it split into two screens constantly. As many have mentioned above, a lot of the time I am working with a reference document and keying the data into another. Honestly, I often need multiple references, if I could ergonomically add a third monitor to my setup I would. (I do actually have my laptop and an additional smaller monitor off to each side of me that could theoretically give me 4 screens total, but I can't see them well enough where they are positioned for them to be useful. I use the second monitor to stick various post-it notes to, making it basically an expensive bulletin board.)
The nice thing about the double-wide is being able to open a spreadsheet across the whole monitor if I need to. It cuts down on scrolling while still allowing me to see the text at a reasonable size.
I still wind up keeping multiple windows open for various things, which means I'm still doing a lot of opening and minimizing of windows as I go from task to task. It's much nicer doing this on the big screen, however. The other day I had to work on my laptop in a conference room for an hour and it was so tedious.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 6:33 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
The nice thing about the double-wide is being able to open a spreadsheet across the whole monitor if I need to. It cuts down on scrolling while still allowing me to see the text at a reasonable size.
I still wind up keeping multiple windows open for various things, which means I'm still doing a lot of opening and minimizing of windows as I go from task to task. It's much nicer doing this on the big screen, however. The other day I had to work on my laptop in a conference room for an hour and it was so tedious.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 6:33 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
Three use cases I find myself in often:
-When I’m entering information from one program into another, e.g., summarizing a spreadsheet into an email.
-When someone else is screen sharing and I’m taking notes. One monitor is the other person’s screen, and the other is my notes.
-When I’m sharing my own screen and there’s stuff I don’t want other people to see (like the Metafilter window I have open…) Most videoconferencing software has an option to only share one monitor, so I move all my extracurriculars to the other one.
posted by kevinbelt at 6:37 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
-When I’m entering information from one program into another, e.g., summarizing a spreadsheet into an email.
-When someone else is screen sharing and I’m taking notes. One monitor is the other person’s screen, and the other is my notes.
-When I’m sharing my own screen and there’s stuff I don’t want other people to see (like the Metafilter window I have open…) Most videoconferencing software has an option to only share one monitor, so I move all my extracurriculars to the other one.
posted by kevinbelt at 6:37 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
It’s handy to have the extra real estate any time you want to work in more than one app at a time, which could be moving data between apps but also could be having your email client and web browser open on one screen and Word or whatever open on the other.
I don’t think there’s anything magical about a multi screen setup that couldn’t be achieved with a single screen of sufficient size, though.
posted by slkinsey at 6:49 AM on September 10, 2023
I don’t think there’s anything magical about a multi screen setup that couldn’t be achieved with a single screen of sufficient size, though.
posted by slkinsey at 6:49 AM on September 10, 2023
I found double screen setups to potentially useful but hated the arrangement. One screen was always off center and the neck turning was annoying.
I'm with Serene Empress Dork. Get an ultra wide monitor instead.
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:52 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm with Serene Empress Dork. Get an ultra wide monitor instead.
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:52 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
I don't have multiple screens, but I do have one very large screen (38", 3840x1600 pixels). I am a programmer, however, so some of these may not apply to you, but here are my main use cases for the wide monitor:
Essentially, the point is being able to see and refer to many things at once with less mental overhead. I can easily switch my focus without having to waste time switching different apps to the front. I can quickly glance back and forth at documentation while I'm writing code. Nothing is obscuring anything else. If you only ever need to focus on one thing at a time and you don't need to consult other sources of information, then you may not need a second monitor.
posted by number9dream at 6:53 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
- Having a database browser (similar to a spreadsheet) fill the entire screen. I can see so many more columns with less scrolling required.
- For programming, I have the following open and visible all at once: code editor (with two frames so I can see two files at once), web browser (for googling stuff or reading documentation), command-line terminal, Slack.
- When working on my budget, I can have my budget open on one side and my online banking on the other side.
Essentially, the point is being able to see and refer to many things at once with less mental overhead. I can easily switch my focus without having to waste time switching different apps to the front. I can quickly glance back and forth at documentation while I'm writing code. Nothing is obscuring anything else. If you only ever need to focus on one thing at a time and you don't need to consult other sources of information, then you may not need a second monitor.
posted by number9dream at 6:53 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
Code Editor | Website running on code
Website | Database for website
Email | Browser
Word Doc | Another Word Doc
Spreadsheet | Another spreadsheet
Game | Browser
3D CAD software | Slicer/Octoprint (3D printing stuff)
Mozilla | File Explorer
For pretty much everything I do, I find two screens much easier than one. For that reason (and also the cramped keyboard / annoying trackpad things) I find laptops really frustrating, and find it so counterintuitive that many of my colleagues sit in an office hunched over a MacBook all day and apparently do so because that's the norm these days.
posted by pipeski at 7:20 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
Website | Database for website
Email | Browser
Word Doc | Another Word Doc
Spreadsheet | Another spreadsheet
Game | Browser
3D CAD software | Slicer/Octoprint (3D printing stuff)
Mozilla | File Explorer
For pretty much everything I do, I find two screens much easier than one. For that reason (and also the cramped keyboard / annoying trackpad things) I find laptops really frustrating, and find it so counterintuitive that many of my colleagues sit in an office hunched over a MacBook all day and apparently do so because that's the norm these days.
posted by pipeski at 7:20 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
Centre screen for main workspace, left screen for assorted source materials supporting main work, right screen for having somewhere to deal with the inevitable disruptive requests from other people or my own random brain farts so that the main work stays looking the same and thereby becomes easier to pick back up.
so counterintuitive that many of my colleagues sit in an office hunched over a MacBook all day and apparently do so because that's the norm these days
Give it five years and the poor bloody normies will all be spending all day in Guantanamo-grade stress positions trying to get everything done on an iPad.
It's super, super weird that maxing out on screens and fancy keyboards and mice is now the Luddite position, but here we are.
posted by flabdablet at 7:25 AM on September 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
so counterintuitive that many of my colleagues sit in an office hunched over a MacBook all day and apparently do so because that's the norm these days
Give it five years and the poor bloody normies will all be spending all day in Guantanamo-grade stress positions trying to get everything done on an iPad.
It's super, super weird that maxing out on screens and fancy keyboards and mice is now the Luddite position, but here we are.
posted by flabdablet at 7:25 AM on September 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
I only have two and I need three. Currently my laptop screen is my homebase - email, calendar, Slack. My big monitor is my Workspace - the software I work in, all my dev tools, where I work in spreadsheets/docs since there's lots of room to move around and see.
Where it sucks is when I need a doc or sheet open on one side and my dev stuff on the other, as I have to heavily reference (and frequently copy from or screenshot) other stuff while I'm doing dev work, or writing the sheets/docs for the dev work. Side-by-side mode is unfortunately too narrow for some of my dev environments, spreadsheets without having to endlessly scroll left/right, or to even see the entire expanse of my terrible-UX timesheet.
I also screenshare a LOT, either sharing mine or watching someone else's, which again for my middle-aged eyes I prefer on the big monitor. But I'm also often taking notes and/or screenshots, which means I'm stuck on the little screen for that.
Damn, you've just talked me into going ahead and getting a second big monitor. For me, this is a better option than an ultrawide for various reasons.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:40 AM on September 10, 2023
Where it sucks is when I need a doc or sheet open on one side and my dev stuff on the other, as I have to heavily reference (and frequently copy from or screenshot) other stuff while I'm doing dev work, or writing the sheets/docs for the dev work. Side-by-side mode is unfortunately too narrow for some of my dev environments, spreadsheets without having to endlessly scroll left/right, or to even see the entire expanse of my terrible-UX timesheet.
I also screenshare a LOT, either sharing mine or watching someone else's, which again for my middle-aged eyes I prefer on the big monitor. But I'm also often taking notes and/or screenshots, which means I'm stuck on the little screen for that.
Damn, you've just talked me into going ahead and getting a second big monitor. For me, this is a better option than an ultrawide for various reasons.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:40 AM on September 10, 2023
FWIW I use a ginormous (43") 4K monitor as my only visual surface. It is the size of eight pieces of LTR paper (four across, two vertically). Rarely is there not enough space to keep all my reference material to hand. If that happens, swiping back and forth between virtual desktops does the rest.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:42 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:42 AM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
My work issued laptop with the smaller screen is on a laptop stand and is the home for Teams, Outlook, and the webcam. It sits off to the left of my 24" monitor. Anything I'm actively working on (Excel, SQL, other software) is on the larger monitor. Many times I have one app on one side of the monitor and one on the other.
Sometimes I think of purchasing one very wide monitor but the laptop's screen is a touch screen as well and I annotate screenshots with the pencil tool so much more than I ever thought I would.
posted by kimberussell at 7:58 AM on September 10, 2023
Sometimes I think of purchasing one very wide monitor but the laptop's screen is a touch screen as well and I annotate screenshots with the pencil tool so much more than I ever thought I would.
posted by kimberussell at 7:58 AM on September 10, 2023
For Excel and Word, you can have multiple windows of the same document open at a time. Once I got in the habit, this beats moving around between worksheets or pages to work with different information in the document.
I love a vertical monitor with full screen for editing a Word document. I can have a separate window with document outline mode to get the full picture while working on specific sections.
Same with Outlook, having email and calendar in separate windows is nice.
On the whole, multiple screens reduces cognitive load for me.
posted by lookoutbelow at 8:25 AM on September 10, 2023 [3 favorites]
I love a vertical monitor with full screen for editing a Word document. I can have a separate window with document outline mode to get the full picture while working on specific sections.
Same with Outlook, having email and calendar in separate windows is nice.
On the whole, multiple screens reduces cognitive load for me.
posted by lookoutbelow at 8:25 AM on September 10, 2023 [3 favorites]
I kludged together three 24 inch screens (of 3 different brands) and what I usually ended up doing is I put all of my comms (email, sms, calendar, voice, ringcentral, etc.) on one screen, along with Discord/Slack, all of my reference material on another, and my center screen is my main workspace.
posted by kschang at 9:03 AM on September 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by kschang at 9:03 AM on September 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
In the day job, I do a fair amount of work (research librarian) that is either transcription from documents, or where I'm looking at one set of things (the original source) and writing up an email that references or explains them. Having them both visible on my screen at the same time is absolutely essential, two monitors means space to do that without weird layout problems or constantly having to move things around. If I'm on a video call, I can have notes up on one screen (usually the one right in front of me, also where the camera is) with the call (where I don't usually care about seeing people, but sometimes there are slides) on the other.
At home, I have a wide screen monitor, which usually has my main workspace in the centre, Discord (for chat) on the left third, and the right third has whatever I'm watching in the background (when I do that, during tedious data entry or admin stuff) and a notes app in the bottom third so I can stick notes somewhere handy without opening new windows. Sometimes I'll have my private wiki open where the Discord window is, when I'm writing or referencing things.
posted by jenettsilver at 9:09 AM on September 10, 2023
At home, I have a wide screen monitor, which usually has my main workspace in the centre, Discord (for chat) on the left third, and the right third has whatever I'm watching in the background (when I do that, during tedious data entry or admin stuff) and a notes app in the bottom third so I can stick notes somewhere handy without opening new windows. Sometimes I'll have my private wiki open where the Discord window is, when I'm writing or referencing things.
posted by jenettsilver at 9:09 AM on September 10, 2023
slkinsey: I don’t think there’s anything magical about a multi screen setup that couldn’t be achieved with a single screen of sufficient size, though.
One thing I really appreciate about two (or three) physical screens compared to one humongous one is that "maximize window" only maximizes to that one screen it's already on, not taking over all your screen real estate with one click. Yes, I know about software that splits your humongous screen in two or three virtual ones to achieve the same; I also know that that's usually limited to Just Windows, or maybe Apple too if you're lucky.
It also allowed me to deal with the limited height available while not sacrificing total area.
I'm mainly in Team Stuff To Work On Plus Stuff To Reference, occasionally moving over to Team Two Different Views Of The Object Worked On.
posted by Stoneshop at 9:11 AM on September 10, 2023
One thing I really appreciate about two (or three) physical screens compared to one humongous one is that "maximize window" only maximizes to that one screen it's already on, not taking over all your screen real estate with one click. Yes, I know about software that splits your humongous screen in two or three virtual ones to achieve the same; I also know that that's usually limited to Just Windows, or maybe Apple too if you're lucky.
It also allowed me to deal with the limited height available while not sacrificing total area.
I'm mainly in Team Stuff To Work On Plus Stuff To Reference, occasionally moving over to Team Two Different Views Of The Object Worked On.
posted by Stoneshop at 9:11 AM on September 10, 2023
A: Westlaw (legal database) or similar; B: document I am integrating that research into
A: Hearing or deposition in Teams/Zoom/Webex; B: documents I am asking questions about or citing to and/or hearing or deposition outline
A: Zoom class; B: text we're translating
I suspect that many use cases for two monitors could be handled just as well on an ultrawide (though the definitive visual break seems to help a bit in switching back and forth quickly), but ultrawides have historically been so expensive it's been cheaper to have two monitors. That may be changing or have changed; I haven't priced them in a bit since my ancient Mac 28" (?) monitor at home is still chugging along, patched in via two separate adapters, and I don't have free choice at work.
posted by praemunire at 9:17 AM on September 10, 2023
A: Hearing or deposition in Teams/Zoom/Webex; B: documents I am asking questions about or citing to and/or hearing or deposition outline
A: Zoom class; B: text we're translating
I suspect that many use cases for two monitors could be handled just as well on an ultrawide (though the definitive visual break seems to help a bit in switching back and forth quickly), but ultrawides have historically been so expensive it's been cheaper to have two monitors. That may be changing or have changed; I haven't priced them in a bit since my ancient Mac 28" (?) monitor at home is still chugging along, patched in via two separate adapters, and I don't have free choice at work.
posted by praemunire at 9:17 AM on September 10, 2023
I'm a translator and technical writer. At home, I have a Mac laptop that I use with a 27" external monitor displaying approximately 4x as many pixels as the laptop (2x vertical and 2x horizontal). At work, I have a Windows laptop with two lower-res 27" monitors. I am much more experienced with Macs. Some random observations:
- At work, I often need nearly all my screen real estate. I'll have a source doc and target doc on one external monitor, and then I need to find room for e-mail, company chat, a file viewer, and maybe a reference doc and a graphic editor somewhere else.
- At home, I can often fit all the windows I need onto the one external monitor, but will sometimes put ancillary stuff, like a dictionary app, on the laptop screen.
- I prefer a disciplined desktop. I hide apps that I'm not using or close their windows. On both machines, I use utilities that lets me resize windows to certain dimensions with a keystroke so that I can tile my desktop just so.
- Apart from a few tasks, I would not be able to cram enough open windows onto my laptop screen (14" home/13" work) to be efficient. Period.
- Even if I'm just working in a single document, there's a benefit in being able to see more of the document at once. Especially with spreadsheets.
- For me, I think the ideal setup would be one really big external monitor, not multiple monitors. I've got my eyes on an ultrawide that is almost double the horizontal resolution of my current monitor, but it's expensive.
- The ergonomics when using an external monitor are just better. I have a separate keyboard and trackpad, I'm not craning my neck. You could get partway there using a laptop stand, but I don't think it'd be as good.
posted by adamrice at 9:24 AM on September 10, 2023
- At work, I often need nearly all my screen real estate. I'll have a source doc and target doc on one external monitor, and then I need to find room for e-mail, company chat, a file viewer, and maybe a reference doc and a graphic editor somewhere else.
- At home, I can often fit all the windows I need onto the one external monitor, but will sometimes put ancillary stuff, like a dictionary app, on the laptop screen.
- I prefer a disciplined desktop. I hide apps that I'm not using or close their windows. On both machines, I use utilities that lets me resize windows to certain dimensions with a keystroke so that I can tile my desktop just so.
- Apart from a few tasks, I would not be able to cram enough open windows onto my laptop screen (14" home/13" work) to be efficient. Period.
- Even if I'm just working in a single document, there's a benefit in being able to see more of the document at once. Especially with spreadsheets.
- For me, I think the ideal setup would be one really big external monitor, not multiple monitors. I've got my eyes on an ultrawide that is almost double the horizontal resolution of my current monitor, but it's expensive.
- The ergonomics when using an external monitor are just better. I have a separate keyboard and trackpad, I'm not craning my neck. You could get partway there using a laptop stand, but I don't think it'd be as good.
posted by adamrice at 9:24 AM on September 10, 2023
A theoretical Dyson Screen would make things outside The Screen be less bothersome.
So sometimes it is about finding some sort of large visual real estate to stay on task in an open workspace. If you have no cube walls to stop the distraction a large screen area can help with that.
posted by MonsieurPEB at 10:07 AM on September 10, 2023
So sometimes it is about finding some sort of large visual real estate to stay on task in an open workspace. If you have no cube walls to stop the distraction a large screen area can help with that.
posted by MonsieurPEB at 10:07 AM on September 10, 2023
If you don't feel confined by your single monitor, don't get another one. Adding one won't make you more productive unless you're already feeling cramped in the space you have.
I have three, but that's because I'm disorganized and lose track of important things if they aren't in front of me. I've also known programmers who do everything on a 13" laptop screen, and some of them have been the most productive people I've known.
posted by Ickster at 11:07 AM on September 10, 2023
I have three, but that's because I'm disorganized and lose track of important things if they aren't in front of me. I've also known programmers who do everything on a 13" laptop screen, and some of them have been the most productive people I've known.
posted by Ickster at 11:07 AM on September 10, 2023
I'm a landscape architect and ecologist. I have two screens, pondering getting a third - mainly to put a live job status kanban on so I don't forget things, also hoping to mirror phone to desktop to be able to txt easier.
My programs are CAD and GIS mainly and they have a lot of toolbars and other screen is a good place to put them. Also I'm often report writing and coordinating writing with drawings in CAD/GIS and two makes that a lot easier.
Not in favour of single widescreen as you lose separability between a program and its toolbars.
posted by unearthed at 1:02 PM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
My programs are CAD and GIS mainly and they have a lot of toolbars and other screen is a good place to put them. Also I'm often report writing and coordinating writing with drawings in CAD/GIS and two makes that a lot easier.
Not in favour of single widescreen as you lose separability between a program and its toolbars.
posted by unearthed at 1:02 PM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
I currently use a 29" ultra-wide monitor but am thinking hard about replacing it with two monitors of similar size, because it's almost-but-not-quite big enough.
Like many others, I spend lots of time referring to one, two or more information sources while drafting something and being able to see them all at once rather than switching windows makes life a lot smoother for me. The only reason I'm hesitating about buying the two screens is that I'm concerned the combined width of them will mean having too much real estate to cover with just eye movements and that may be enough to break my concentration. The reason I find more screen real estate more productive is because just having to switch windows can be enough to break my train of thought.
From my experience with lots of multi-screen setups, it's important to me that each screen is the same size and, to the extent possible, presents the same colours etc. I find it distracting having to adjust between visually different screens. But lots of people manage fine with mis-matched monitors and some people I've worked with have one screen in portrait and one in landscape mode because they want to be able to see more of a document, or want a whole page in larger font.
posted by dg at 1:33 PM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
Like many others, I spend lots of time referring to one, two or more information sources while drafting something and being able to see them all at once rather than switching windows makes life a lot smoother for me. The only reason I'm hesitating about buying the two screens is that I'm concerned the combined width of them will mean having too much real estate to cover with just eye movements and that may be enough to break my concentration. The reason I find more screen real estate more productive is because just having to switch windows can be enough to break my train of thought.
From my experience with lots of multi-screen setups, it's important to me that each screen is the same size and, to the extent possible, presents the same colours etc. I find it distracting having to adjust between visually different screens. But lots of people manage fine with mis-matched monitors and some people I've worked with have one screen in portrait and one in landscape mode because they want to be able to see more of a document, or want a whole page in larger font.
posted by dg at 1:33 PM on September 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
I am shocked by the number of people who have Metafilter or anything non-work open!
To the question, though, the desktop metaphor is real. Have more than one monitor is like having a big desktop. Using a single laptop screen is like having everything in your lap.(And using phone only, as I do for MeFi and my personal life, is just a PITA.)
Also, I also like to use two monitors so that I can, for instance, have one for data from people in countries with a DD/MM/YY format on one screen, and data from people with a MM/DD/YY format on another (and then just throw all the YY/MM/DD stuff in a folder and deal with it later.)
posted by Lesser Shrew at 2:21 PM on September 10, 2023
To the question, though, the desktop metaphor is real. Have more than one monitor is like having a big desktop. Using a single laptop screen is like having everything in your lap.(And using phone only, as I do for MeFi and my personal life, is just a PITA.)
Also, I also like to use two monitors so that I can, for instance, have one for data from people in countries with a DD/MM/YY format on one screen, and data from people with a MM/DD/YY format on another (and then just throw all the YY/MM/DD stuff in a folder and deal with it later.)
posted by Lesser Shrew at 2:21 PM on September 10, 2023
I'm retiring soon but my WFH setup I use 3 screens. That's all my work Dell laptop will support. Granted, the laptop has a screen but my desk isn't big enough to have 3 full size screens and let the laptop get in there too. A typical configuration would be: [screen 1 Outlook, Teams Chat/Meeting] [screen 2 IDE for coding I'm doing, or JIRA, or maximized email from user with complaint] [screen 3 Web view of the Dev environment in the Cloud including console log, or Eclipse Debugger, or Web front end to try to recreate user's complaint]. As you can see I could use 4 easily but in a few weeks it won't matter. 😊
posted by forthright at 4:03 PM on September 10, 2023
posted by forthright at 4:03 PM on September 10, 2023
When I'm working on the front-end development of a website from designs, I'll have the design on one monitor for reference, the current state of the site I'm building on one monitor for refreshing to see the changes I'm making, and the code editor in front of me. The monitor on my right is vertical so I can deal with long documents, such as design comps or specs without having to scroll quite as much.
posted by pollytropos at 4:55 PM on September 10, 2023
posted by pollytropos at 4:55 PM on September 10, 2023
I found that having a ton of screen real estate is super helpful for my ADHD. Without it, when I have to switch between different windows, I promptly forget why I switched and get sidetracked. With a lot of screen space, I can have all the relevant windows open at the same time and don't need to do any switching back and forth. YMMV!
posted by omnie at 5:28 PM on September 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by omnie at 5:28 PM on September 10, 2023 [2 favorites]
A friend this past week has started to move to zero screens. Well, zero physical screens, as he got the Xreal Air and is enjoying 3 virtual screens. I myself have just added a 3rd screen which I plan to have mainly in portrait mode for reading documentation and Metafilter.
posted by Sophont at 6:03 PM on September 10, 2023
posted by Sophont at 6:03 PM on September 10, 2023
I use two monitors at work, with the main screen being what I'm actively working with (usually Photoshop) and the second for communications and file navigation.
I find the slight postural shift from turning to look from one monitor to the other to be very helpful for preventing back and ache. With just one monitor I would settle into my computer pose and then not move again for hours. And for ADHD reasons I find that having specific tasks associated with one monitor or the other helps me to stay focused.
posted by spindle at 7:18 AM on September 11, 2023
I find the slight postural shift from turning to look from one monitor to the other to be very helpful for preventing back and ache. With just one monitor I would settle into my computer pose and then not move again for hours. And for ADHD reasons I find that having specific tasks associated with one monitor or the other helps me to stay focused.
posted by spindle at 7:18 AM on September 11, 2023
Multi-screen or super-wide screen setups are great if you have work that requires seeing multiple apps simultaneously. It's not so much about multitasking (for me) as making it easier not to have to context switch.
For example: If I'm writing a project document I may want to refer to or pull language from 2 or 3 other sources. It's helpful to be able to see a browser window and the window I'm writing in without having to flip between them -- and it's easier on a wide screen or multi-screen setup.
If you're juggling Jira and Outlook to update issues, for instance, this would be helpful.
These days I do not use multi-screen setups much, but I do use an ultrawide screen (5120x1440 IIRC) that lets me line up 3 windows nicely. I find I lose focus much less with that setup. I loathe when I'm stuck just working on my laptop screen. I feel like I lose concentration having to switch between windows because it's too small for side-by-side layouts.
posted by jzb at 11:28 AM on September 11, 2023
For example: If I'm writing a project document I may want to refer to or pull language from 2 or 3 other sources. It's helpful to be able to see a browser window and the window I'm writing in without having to flip between them -- and it's easier on a wide screen or multi-screen setup.
If you're juggling Jira and Outlook to update issues, for instance, this would be helpful.
These days I do not use multi-screen setups much, but I do use an ultrawide screen (5120x1440 IIRC) that lets me line up 3 windows nicely. I find I lose focus much less with that setup. I loathe when I'm stuck just working on my laptop screen. I feel like I lose concentration having to switch between windows because it's too small for side-by-side layouts.
posted by jzb at 11:28 AM on September 11, 2023
I just have a fairly wide screen and use split screens to have two windows next to each other. If you have a PC, use Windows+L or Windows+R to snap the window to either side. If you have a Mac, download the Spectacle app.
posted by radioamy at 2:18 PM on September 11, 2023
posted by radioamy at 2:18 PM on September 11, 2023
Depends. At work I have 2 24" monitors attached to my laptop, plus the laptop screen (which I rarely use). I have Outlook, and Zoom open on one screen, FireFox and Obsidian on another, and various system support programs on one or the other as needed. I dislike not being able to see my email/calendar and Zoom (all of which are frequently focal points of my work) when I'm working on things I can only see in my browser.
And then...I go home and open my 13 inch MacBook Air. On my lap. Single screen. I don't have to look at multiple things at a time. Most of the time apps are full-screen, because I concentrate on one thing at a time, and have learned to deal with the occasions when I have to see multiple things at once -- shrinking windows or using things that can show two panes at a time.
So yes, multiple screens are essential to me in one area of my life, almost completely unnecessary in the other area.
posted by lhauser at 7:17 PM on September 11, 2023
And then...I go home and open my 13 inch MacBook Air. On my lap. Single screen. I don't have to look at multiple things at a time. Most of the time apps are full-screen, because I concentrate on one thing at a time, and have learned to deal with the occasions when I have to see multiple things at once -- shrinking windows or using things that can show two panes at a time.
So yes, multiple screens are essential to me in one area of my life, almost completely unnecessary in the other area.
posted by lhauser at 7:17 PM on September 11, 2023
Outlier here. I detest multiple monitors, and prefer to simply open multiple windows on my laptop screen.
posted by ergomatic at 8:38 PM on September 13, 2023
posted by ergomatic at 8:38 PM on September 13, 2023
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posted by Ftsqg at 3:49 AM on September 10, 2023 [9 favorites]