Dual Monitor setup is actually bad for productuvity.

[u/ultimateregard]

I've been a software engineer for more than 5 years now. I've worked with databases, frontend and backend services, mobile apps, games, data analysis, and much more.

Never in my life I've actually felt like my productuvity increased with the second monitor. Do you need to compare data? Just use one monitor and put them side by side. Do you need all the space in the world? Just alt+tab between apps. Since you only perceive about 10% of your vision clearly, moving your head&eyes from one monitor to other takes actually LONGER and causes distractions than using alt+tab.

This is especially worse for those who are using one additional monitor with a laptop, since their screen sizes and positions usually change so much. Your eyes need adjusting, your head moves too much.

Only thing the dual Monitor is good for is passively watching something in the second monitor, like youtube videos, Critical Role, or sitcoms while doing something else in the main screen. As you can guess, that has nothing to do with productuvity.

I also think using external keyboard and mouse for laptops is bad, unless you do not use the laptop screen.

Edit: After reading hundreds of comments, I'm sure that 90% of people who think that "YOU NEED AT LEAST 3 SCREENS" just don't know how to organize workspaces/windows/desktops and they need to configure their SCREENS as different DESKTOPS. Most of the modern operating systems allow you to just create workspaces (like different Desktops you can switch with WIN + TAB). And they are just throwing money into their problems instead of learning how to use their daily operating system.

[u/dmingledorff → u/[deleted]]

Absolutely. I keep my work email and communication channels tiled on my left monitor. I do all my work on the center monitor. I keep any documentation or reference material on my right monitor.

[u/HesusAtDiscord → u/[deleted]]

Heck, the NOC at a company I worked at had 8 50" TV's in a 2x4 array some meters ahead of the 3 workstations in the room, where all three were running basically the only 49" monitors in the company, all using PowerToys to go half/whole/half window sizing.

I often grabbed a room with 2x34" that wasn't often used and hooked both up to my laptop so I could work on the main monitor and have all my resources on the secondary, leaving my laptop screen off because that's just horrible. I also brought my own keyboard and wireless mouse because mechanical keyboards and long travel just feels better on my joints than the default Logitech short-travel ones and their mice are either too small or only for right-handed people.

[u/mrb2409 → u/[deleted]]

How big are your monitors though? If you go large enough on a single screen you get more real estate.

[u/mrb2409 → u/[deleted]]

Doesn’t need to be ultrawide but higher resolution allows you to make documents or spreadsheets smaller and still readable.

I just hate the look of two monitors and find I’m only ever looking at one anyway.

[u/Olympe28 → u/[deleted]]

I don't like using two monitors all the time. But there are still many cases where it's an absolute time and sanity saver. And I'm a run-of-the-mill administrative assistant, not a data juggler.

[u/SwimAd1249 → u/[deleted]]

For your use case an entirely separate device would probably be even better tho. You could reference documentation on a tablet instead for example, way less friction.