I Thought More Monitors Meant Better Productivity, It Turns Out I Was Wrong.

Several monitors are all the rage at the moment. If you shoot the TV or watch a film, you will meet pirates and specialists with dazzling tables of displays covering the width of their office. However, I especially abandoned my configuration to Triple Monitor in favor of a modest display of 13.5 inches. Here is why.

It doesn’t help my work flow

Part of what I do benefit from having several screens – being able to simply look between two screens to compare the data, for example, is very practical. If I refer to a technical manual while developing the key points of an article, two screens help.

However, most of my daily tasks don’t really benefit from it – I just got me in (or hope) that they did it.

It’s not like I could write using three screens at a time. I would eventually need to turn my head at 150 degrees just to finish a line.

Additional screens are not useful either when re -reading something – you can only look at only one screen at a time. The additional wallpaper is just a wasted property.

My daily workflow is not unique either. Most of my secondary projects, which often involve coding, CAD or other DIY projects, do not benefit either. I only have so much mental “bandwidth” and I can only really focus on one thing at a time. Having several screens does nothing to change this.

Even if you do something that seems As it benefits from switching between screens, there is no guarantee that it will really improve your productivity. After all, several studies have shown that sustained development is generally better for productivity than multitasking.

In most cases, virtual offices are as good for multitasking as multiple screens, especially if I am on a laptop, where trackpad allows me to easily slip between desktop computers.

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More screens is equivalent to more distractions

Not only are additional screens that may not be stimulating, but they also actively increase the number of distractions.

In my case, my configuration in Triple Monitor uses almost 140 degrees from my field of vision – a large majority. If I try to perform several tasks with three separate applications on three different monitors, I will face the notifications of three fronts in one time. Slack will flash on my left screen, there will be a change in a cloud document on the right screen, which I try to work keeps getting lost in the fire of the notification.

All this creates a visual overload that constantly breaks my concentration. Instead of focusing on a task to finish, I am constantly withdrawn from my flow by 30 -second distractions.

If I just play a game and I am open to another instructor, this kind of thing does not matter too much, but it is a problem if I try to be productive, either for work or for one of my own projects.

On the other hand, since I returned to a single screen for my “main” task (anything), I have silenced my notifications and defined a Pomodor timer, I am much more productive.

The congestion is incredible

When you see a multi-Display configuration in movies, it’s always cool. 10 things happen through 5 different screens, the Pirate Adept (or another technology specialist) takes place quickly between things with an ease practiced.

However, experience taught me this kind of efficiency is just as fanciful in Star Wars. Instead of jumping quickly between the windows to make my life easier, there is a lot of: “Wait, where did this application go?” And “was there a folder here? Why is this window half on one screen and half the other?”

The management of several monitors configurations is better than ever, but there is no software solution in the world which can solve the problem of my own creation: too many applications and folders open on my screens.

The abandonment of additional monitors when I need to do something made the organization much easier. I started using virtual offices instead, which isolates my current task enough for me to be easily distracted by unwanted notifications or size.

In addition, I just leave all the applications I need to open full screen on another desktop. The change between is just a gesture of trackpad or a touch, and is not much slower than looking at a separate screen.

If you are constantly far from the thing you need to do, try to silence your notifications and use a single screen – your brain will thank you.

Resolution

HD Large 1440p

Screen size

27 inches

Brand

Alien

Max. Refreshment rate

180 Hz