Asklemmy

I have two monitors: a 27 inch 1440p and a 17 inch CRT for retro gaming. No productivity.

2 is the bare minimum for work as a sysadmin.
3 is better, then I can dedicate one to communication (email, Teams, softphone), one for documentation and one to actually work on. I could see 4 being useful if you work both locally and on terminal servers but I've never tried it.

Primary "workspace", comms, docs/reading/reference data.

Three monitors here. I'm an engineer so left monitor is usually reference material (drawings, spec sheets, formulae, etc), center is usually my primary workspace (email, python, CAD, etc) and right is music, communications, and calendar for the next goddamned meeting.

Left and center are 24" 1080p, right is 15" laptop. I'm thinking of upgrading the next time the office gets tech money.

I have three. Left for email, right for Teams, middle for whatever I'm working on. Then I cover up Teams and Email (in that order) when I need to see multiple things at once (e.g., a second instance of VS or SSMS or a browser).

On a Mac the Expose features such as ability to customize your screen rather than have to deal with fixed real estate plus additional virtual desktops are also highly notable in that regard. There are definitely advantages of having additional physical screens over the window management approach, but also vice versa too. I would say just try it, but note that it does take quite a bit of getting used to, as too in a sense does multiple monitors especially if trying to use different windows from the same app - browser - on different ones.

Also if cost is no factor at all, instead of multiple monitors you can have large nice screen + laptop, for the ultimate portability. There too there are advantages and disadvantages both - e.g. while working on one the other will fall asleep, if the nice screen is a separate computer rather than mere monitor.

To someone wondering what to try: something will appeal to you - listen to your inner voice and let it guide you! If you are wrong, you still learn from the experience;-).

After having tried most standard configurations at various jobs and home (never a third monitor though, I prefer the ease and simplicity of a single large monitor. Everything is a few keystrokes away but I tend not to need to see all things at the same time. Sometimes, extremely rarely, it does seem too constraining, but not enough to justify the additional cost of a second monitor (not just money but setup and my attention time), and this works well enough for me. Others will similarly do what works best for them in turn.

I bought a second display for my last job because the pan got us wfh. I’m on a Mac and ran my Windows VM o the second display. My current job doesn’t allow me to connect to VPN from a personal device, so the second display is dormant. I throw web browser windows for things I want to look at later over there so I don’t forget to come back to them (I have a billion open web windows / tabs on the main display).

I use three at the office, and two at home.

In both setups the laptop is my keyboard and small screen, above it is a 34 inch 21/9 aspect ratio curved display. At the office I also have a standard monitor off to the side.

The large screen is my primary work space, with various code editors, UI dev tools, web browser, reference docs, and terminal windows.

The laptop screen has email, all my short cuts, and a virtual version of the UI I'm working on because it is also a touch screen.

When I have the third screen I use it for teams, a few system monitoring tools, and youtube for music.

I used dual side by side monitors for years, but found that having the split in the center meant I was always sitting with my neck turned, and this lead to a lot of pain and headaches. Having them top / bottom is a lot more comfortable and my large screen is high enough I now sit up straight.

A curved screen at the right distance also means a lot less eye strain.

Video games. On one screen is the game, on the other screen is a web browser with the wiki opened. Also have YouTube for the tough puzzles. Helps a ton.

I only have 1 ultra wide monitor. It's slightly less screen space than 2 monitors, but it's enough, and I like the simplicity of it.

Software engineer. Work from home and I use the same monitors for work and personal.

Usually for work, I have code in the middle, specs on the left and the app on the right. When I’m not using specs, I have Spotify or video related things on one monitor.

For personal use, gaming is done on the middle monitor. Sometimes I have Spotify on the left, video on the right. Sometimes it’s a mix of discord/video/spotify on the left and right monitors. Sometimes I have a hockey game on one monitor and YouTube on the other.

Middle is my main.

It’s not often I don’t have something on all monitors.

I'm a dev. Right monitor has my browser, center monitor has my editor, left monitor for everything else (terminal, dev tools, file manager, http client etc)

Designer/animator, Mac, either two-screen app setup/workflow (ie editing, 3D, etc) or an easy way to have 2 related things going (ie, brief + job, reference + project, etc).

One additional vertical monitor for e-mail, papers or documentation is great.

I do fiber optic tech support

Left monitor is for account software (includes customer info, ticket manager, etc)

Middle monitor is email, browser (most of our management tools are browser based), and putty

Right monitor is ms teams, notepads++, and a softphone app

I have a central monitor in landscape orientation which is where my IDE lives. Then a monitor on the left in portrait, which has the bottom quarter or so dedicated to work chat, music controls, and the browser developer window, then the rest of it is a web browser for documentation. On the right is my laptop screen, which is used for more documentation and watching TV shows while I work

My work setup has two monitors in a horizontal layout.

Left (in front of me) contains the main stuff for my task at the moment. That's where my meeting app goes as well so I can look straight at the webcam during meetings.

Right has the supporting stuff, reference docs, IM just in case I need to be pulled away for some critical issue, etc.

At most, I can work with three monitors for increasing productivity in terms of screen real estate. More than that would be a case of diminishing returns for more physical space taken.

• Left (horizontal) - communicators, btop, Spotify.
• Middle (horizontal) - browser with GitLab, terminals and editors, main development in general.
• Right (vertical) - browser for googling and docs, terminals for tests / logs / whatever I want to see at the same time as the editor, Obsidian for notes.

Anything less than that will completely ruin my workflow. I'm even trying to come up with a feasible way to fit a fourth one.

Left reference, middle work, right email/IM

The thing I've always noticed about getting more monitors is that you never really think you need one more monitor until you end up getting one somehow. After that you start getting used to the extra space and it feels wrong to go back to having less. When I originally had one monitor I was just used to that and didn't see anything wrong with it. Once I got two monitors I again felt good and got used to it. It was really nice to be able to watch stuff while playing games or have Unity and Visual Studio on separate screens at the same time. Eventually I got a nicer monitor and decided to go up to 3 monitors which again felt really nice and I found uses for all 3. That's where I'm at now and I don't have plans to get anymore but if I ever got a newer monitor there's a good chance I would end up giving 4 a try cause why let one of my older but still good monitors go to waste. And I imagine I would still be able to find uses for the extra space. I feel like at some point there is a limit but at least so far every time I've gained more monitor space even when I'm not sure what I would use it for I always end up using that extra space for something.

I have three. The third doesn't really boost my productivity much, I have it vertical just to show my file browser because I open and switch through different files quite a lot. The other two are to show the actual files I'm working in or comparing.

not a software dev, but a linux user and a stout technology enthusiast.

I have 3 monitors setup on my primary workstation. Two landscape in a stacked arrangement, it's just tidy and works well enough for a secondary media display, organizational monitor. And then my third is portrait for anything i keep long term tabs on, chat programs, music player, system resources, etc...

I recently switched from KDE to i3wm, and i find i need inherently less monitor. i3wm does all the sorting organization and bullshit i hate for me automagically, it's perfect for opening a terminal to check something, or work on something real quick, and being able to have one static window, and two tabbed/stacked windows on one monitor is HUGE. Super nice for terminal breakouts with a browser for documentation. If you're ever balls deep in a config and testing shit actively, you'll immediately understand how much of a godsend it is.

Anyway, floating window managers are dead and anything shipping a floating window manager is a dead product on arrival.

Gaming: I have a game that has tons of third party software that tracks game elements real-time that are far easier to read, contain more information, and more readily understandable than any in-game menu. So play the game on one monitor, have the apps running in windows on the second one.

3D design. Have the work window open for maximum real estate on one monitor, have pop-out menus and tools on the other for things that maybe don’t have hot keys or shortcuts assigned. Also, a small browser window for “how do I” question when I hit a roadblock.

Less necessary now that I'm using a tiling wm, but previously it allows me to have IDE, program I'm working on, and a browser for googling without having to switch context to go between them

Plus if more is needed for whatever use case (terminal window for running application, teams, etc) I can split screen too

With a tiling wm at work I have teams/outlook on right, primary application (terminal/tmux, IDE, browser etc) center and googling browser on the left, and then a virtual desktop for each project I'm working on at the home if I need to switch for whatever reason

Data on one side, assessment write up on the other. Extremely convenient. Not sure if I’m more productive or if I’m just happier.

2 27” 4k monitors. I do 98% of everything on the main monitor. The screen to the right contains a few sticky notes (I use Zhorn Stickies) and a Ticktick widget with all my tasks for the day. When I start up Obsidian, I have a saved Ivy Lee list that appears in a spot on the right side monitor as well. It’s just basically quick-glance scrap space.

I have two monitors but swap between two desktops. I wish I had a triple setup. I usually do hella coursework on it. I use split screen in each monitor so I have the guidelines of the project the full window project, documentation/notes, word, then discord, IRC, and background music.

I have 2 at work. Sometimes I just have our ticket software on one and Firefox on another both full screen. When works crunching I might have multiple PDF manuals open on one and PDF schematics on another and could use a 3rd for a browser window to search for old similar problems in our daily reports. I'm able to work best when I can keep 1 screen dedicated to what I'm working on and the others for information gathering.

At home I typically just have 1 screen for gaming. I might set my laptop up on the desk if I want to browse the web or chat while playing.

Media editing and production. Otherwise it's dope to have my email, texts, torrents, Explorer/Finder, and music occupy one screen, and my web browser in the other.

I've got two monitors which mostly ends up meaning I have twice the amount of screen to lose application windows in.

I have 3 monitors. One I use for email/slack. The others I use for database and backend coding and VMs. I honestly the 3rd monitor is great. Aside from email and slack. I can use it for any additional documentation, requirements, or JIRA. Honestly, 3 monitors is the way to go in my opinion.

I have an 34inch ultrawide as my main, and two 27inch screens, one above and one to the side. It's pretty awesome, play a game or do some work on the main monitor, videos, web pages, instructions in the right, and discord or other pages on the top.

Big center monitor: ide, terminal

Big left monitor: browser. Jira ticket, documentation, email, etc. sometimes also notes. Http client (trying Bruno now).

Small laptop monitor: slack, sticky notes

Virtual desktops, multi monitor and tmux allow me to go full ADHD, everything open at once, multiple projects on different desktops with like 5 windows open

Bonus points when I've got multiple terminals connected to the same tmux session because I forgot I already had it on another desktop or wanted it split with something else

My home setup is an ultrawide and a 1080p monitor. I find with tiling and virtual desktops more than that is surplus to requirement (even the 1080p monitor usually just has a browser open)

I had two but switched to one 30 inch. I almost never looked at the other monitor. :)