How an extra monitor can improve your work environment?

It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or an expert developer, you have to agree that screens are the best friends of a developer. We spend most of our time in front of our PCs or laptops coding. Have you ever wondered how having an extra monitor can add a good weight to your productivity? I guess you might have wondered about it.

For those folks, who are already in corporate have an idea of this stuff. But for developers who are still in college or are self-learning, you may have seen people working with multiple monitors which looks kind of cool but it’s more than about just being that. I myself have been using an extra monitor apart from my laptop for the past few months and have noticed a good amount of working spirit in me. Not only did the work environment become amazing but it also made me have really productive sessions since then.

Here are some of the benefits that I have experienced myself while working with the multiscreen setup:

Streamlined Workflow

In some cases, you may need to move data between applications such as copy-pasting from one window to another. If you have a single screen in your workspace, this process can be a little bit overwhelming as you may need to constantly switch windows to copy and then paste but with an extra monitor you can simply just copy from one screen to another screen without needing to switch the windows.

Better Organization

It seems obvious that extra screen spaces allow you to arrange your task-specified applications on separate monitors. This helps in the better organization of your workspace. You can easily locate related applications or files in a window if you have grouped them in separate screens.

Enhanced Focus

When you have separate screens for dedicated tasks, it becomes easier to focus on individual tasks at a time due to less clutter of different departments of apps. For instance, you can have your primary work such as coding or video editing on one screen, and emails or researching windows on another screen. This assists in reducing distractions and improving overall focus.

Multitasking Efficiency

With two screens, you can welcome multitasking efficiency for yourself. This links back to enhanced focus, as you have the privilege of two screens you can keep your work apps on a single screen while keeping reference materials, communication tools, or other relevant information on the other. It significantly reduces the time it gets lost while toggling between numerous applications and finding the one you’re looking for.

Efficient Research and Coding

For programmers, having an extra monitor is indeed a boon. While coding, simultaneously you can open documentation or stack overflow on another screen which helps in efficient research, debugging, and coding environment for any programmer. It allows for side-by-side comparisons and simultaneous access to multiple resources for you.

Meetings and Collaboration

During office or client meetings or collaborative work sessions, you can use the extra monitor for your meetings while you keep your main work on another screen and can update things while still monitoring other persons in the meeting. This enhances collaboration without cluttering your primary workspace.

Reduced Eye Strain

Monitors have larger screens than laptops owing to which you can spread out your work that can reduce eye strain and fatigue. What you can do is adjust the placement of your monitors which can help in creating a more ergonomic setup and you won’t need to constantly move your head and eye.

For college students as well as working professionals, I believe having an extra monitor apart from your laptop can be game changer especially if they do work such as programming or video editing. The increased screen real estate not only adds energy to your multitasking abilities but also contributes to a more efficient, organized and focused workflow.

The juggling between various applications consumes a lot of time and also brings a friction to mind while working. Open your coding tools and applications in one primary screen and slack or other communication tools in secondary screen, i.e your laptop.

Quick Summary

To sum up, monitors add a good touch to your working setup and can definitely prove to be a great catalyst in boosting your productivity. There are several reasons we discussed in this article which are –

Streamlined Workflow, Better Organization, Enhanced Focus, Multitasking Efficiency, Efficient Research and Coding, Meetings and Collaboration, and Reduced Eye Strain.

But again, it depends from job to job, personal requirements, and nature of work. However, many professionals find multiple screens a decent factor in laying out a more productive and healthy workspace.

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