TL;DR
Multiple screens are bad for you. Let me try to convince you.
Picture This
You are sitting at your computer. You have two, even three screens in front of you. To the right, you have your inbox and Slack. Front and center, you have your editor. On the left is your browser, open with the documents you are reading. If you only had one more screen where you could have a music player open at all times or a YouTube! tab open.
You are in the zone and in control. You are Dwight in The Office, sitting at Megadesk. You are Rami Malek. You are Hugh Jackman in Swordfish, creating a virus in the shape of a cube that hacks the… err.. I don’t even remember. Whatever. You look cool.
Multiple computer screens are a staple of the “tech-savvy.” But you know what? They aren’t helping. They give you this great look but are not doing you any favors. Let’s break them down. Hopefully, literally.
People suggest two primary benefits to having multiple screens:
- I can see more, so I can do more.
- I am more relaxed seeing numerous things.
- I need to see multiple things simultaneously as part of my work.
- I have way too much on my screen.
See More ≠ Do More
Though we seem capable of multitasking, research suggests that our minds are typically more efficient when focusing on one task. Every switch includes an overhead. We let go of the topic we were thinking about, experience residual attention, and then try to consume this new topic again.
Moving your eyes to Slack or your inbox, even just glancing to check for new messages, will cost you focus. It won’t feel like a lot, but your brain will feel it. And during the workday, it will add up.
In the end, you have fewer productive, focused hours and will be able to produce less.
Seeing ≠ Relaxing
You may always have dashboards with graphs and alerts in front of you. You think seeing them will help you stay calm, not worrying about issues. We often think the same about Slack or our inbox. It has the same effect.
Instead, set up sound notifications when things are important enough to interrupt you. Otherwise, set up times in which you check your Slack, inboxes, and dashboards. You can do so hourly, before and after lunch, or at other designated times.
Concurrent Reading ≠ A Thing
The one reason we often find in favor of multiple screens is when needing to look at multiple things as part of the work itself. For developers, this might mean the documentation on one screen and their code on another.
Somehow, we convinced ourselves that turning our necks back and forth is superior to simply resizing windows to smaller sizes so they can be next to each other on a single screen, allowing us to move our eyes quickly without risking a neck injury.
Use the Desktops, Luke!
As many of us have adapted to using directories over time, we can also become accustomed to using multiple desktops on a single screen.
When I started using GNU/Linux, it was astounding to use multiple desktops. I could move around between them, and I could keep different applications in each one. Best of all, no matter what desktop I was on, I would focus on what was in front of me, and nothing else counted.
Macs have had support for multiple desktops for a while now. Windows has been the long-standing holder of single desktops. Fortunately, Windows 10 introduced a multiple desktop capability, so that’s no excuse anymore.
The Admiral Has Left the Building
My friend had a roommate with numerous screens, a big chair, and beautiful deep red lights that glowed in the dark next to the light emitted from his screens. Going into his room felt like entering an advanced submarine, so we called him The Admiral. The Admiral looked great, but was he productive? No. No, he was not.
It’s time to move beyond “cool” and toward “focused,” “relaxed,” and “productive.” It’s time to cut down these mortal coils and use our computers to get stuff done.
I moved from four screens to solely using my laptop screen. I have a minimalist laptop stand (my preference is the Rooster laptop stand), a Bluetooth keyboard, and a mouse. And that’s my heavy setup.
The best of all? Because I’ve gotten used to using only one screen and getting more stuff done, I also enjoy working at different locations around the house. The dining table, the kitchen counter, the living room, the office — I can change the scenery and still be just as productive.
While many of us enjoy the perceived benefits of multiple screens, it’s worth considering how this setup might impact our productivity in ways we might not immediately realize.