Multiple Monitors

Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
Jan 17, 2013 at 08:30 AM

Garland Coulson wrote:
>Not that big, a 19” and a 17” connected to my laptop. But they have a
>big impact on my productivity.
[...]
>Next time I upgrade my computer, I am going to make sure it can handle 3
>monitors.

This might be a good place to mention a couple of testimonials on the issue:

Bill Gates: “On my desk I have three screens, synchronized to form a single desktop. I can drag items from one screen to the next. Once you have that large display area, you’ll never go back, because it has a direct impact on productivity.” taken from hos “How I work” contribution http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/30/news/newsmakers/gates_howiwork_fortune/

Asana cofounder Justin Rosenstein: “There’s research that shows you work faster when you have more pixels at your disposal” from http://www.businessweek.com/printer/magazine/asana-dustin-and-justins-quest-for-flow-11022011.html

Postings here appear to concur with the above stance.

I myself have not spent long periods with multiple monitors so I do not have a strong and well documented opinion. My overall impression is that multiple monitors are more useful in multitasking or composite activities, e.g. write an email where you need to reference a document, a news article and some relevant social media discussions; you can keep all these open in a couple of monitors rather than cycle between them—and other, possibly distracting, stuff.

However, for more “abstractly intensive” work, e.g. brainstorming or concept development, I find the window behind my monitor more useful than an additional screen.