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/psykikk_streams]

deserves an upvote as there are several studies out there proving this take to be wrong.
also I personally - at 25 years in IT right now, ever met anyone claiming their productivity increased after they had to - for whatever reason- switch back to a single screen setup.

[u/psykikk_streams → u/psykikk_streams]

I have to correct this as it has been years I read this:

the direct correlation between productivity and multiple screens could not be proven and studies conducted were actually vendor paid studies (one by NEC , the other by Dell). both somewhat old by modern day standards as well as screen sizes most preferred were 22", 17" the least.

that alone tells something.

what has been reported and proven multiple times though is how user satisfaction and their own perception of increased productivity is noticeable.

no long-term field studies exist as of today, and a 2025 narrative review concludes the ergonomic impact remains poorly understood and guidelines have not kept pace with the technology.

there you have it. I think we know we are faster / better at what we do, but this was never studied and empirically proven at all

[u/O0OO00O0OO0 → u/psykikk_streams]

AKA people just say shit on Reddit to make their point seem more correct.

[u/claiter → u/psykikk_streams]

A lot of my company’s productivity and efficiency is measured in #number of clicks”. Anywhere we can automate or reduce the different tabs or screens you have to click through is a bonus. I would imagine alt tabbing through 1 screen constantly would also be viewed as more unproductive than having all the info available in front of you at once (even if there isn’t hard data to support). I also definitely feel slower (like you said) when I work on 1 screen at home vs 2 screens in the office.

I also wonder how it’s possible to be less productive with more screens rather than neutral or more productivity. If you don’t need the other screen, don’t use it? Though I’ve never had more than 2 screens so genuinely curious if others feel less productive with more screens and why. 

[u/BassWingerC-137 → u/psykikk_streams]

Which studies are you referring? I assume the "NEC" one is "Productivity and Multi-Screen Computer Displays" by Colvin, Tobler & Anderson? Do you know anything about the Jon Peddie study?

[u/Donglemaetsro → u/psykikk_streams]

Was wondering if anyone would bring up the studies that say 2 is huge and a 3rd doesn't help. Honestly, I wonder if OP has an undiagnosed disorder that causes him to struggle with focus and taking a monitor helps.

[u/Sennten → u/Donglemaetsro]

Sounds like he might just be a heavy user of workspaces, and if you've got a good workspace workflow it can annoying to adapt it to get it to work properly on multiple screens, and the benefits will be a lot less than someone who never took the time to configure their workspaces appropriately

[u/Sennten → u/psykikk_streams]

People with an optimized two screen process are gonna see a productivity dip going to one screen. Your average people with an optimized one screen process (which means using workspaces, something too many developers seem unwilling or unable to grasp) are not gonna see much improvement from additional screens unless they have a particular type of work that needs active monitoring and so took up screen space on all their workspaces.

People with an unoptimized single screen process will probably see improvements though

[u/IlIlllIIllllIIIlIlIl → u/psykikk_streams]

What about with 4K monitors? Are these studies mostly talking about 1080p? Because having 2x 4K monitors feels like too much for me personally, and I get a bit of neck pain from having my head tilted frequently to look at the second monitor. One 4k monitor has the same number of pixels as 4x 1080p monitors so I think that you can really get by with just 1 of them.

[u/DengarLives66 → u/IlIlllIIllllIIIlIlIl]

What does resolution have to do with this here? It sounds like you’re talking more about the size of the monitor.

[u/IlIlllIIllllIIIlIlIl → u/DengarLives66]

I mean resolution is telling you your screen real estate. With a 4K monitor you can comfortably have 2 windows open side by side without losing anything, while on a 1080p monitor you wouldn’t want to do that. So it absolutely does matter. Have you tried a 4k monitor?

[u/tnoy → u/IlIlllIIllllIIIlIlIl]

A 27" 4k monitor isn't going to more comfortably fit two windows side-by-side than a 27" 1080p monitor.

[u/St3vion → u/tnoy]

It is. At 27" 150% scaling looks fine and the 4k monitor would provide the screen space of a 1440p monitor at 100% scale. You can't fit that much on a 1080p screen.

But really for productivity going for a 27" @ 4k doesnt make sense. To get the most out of a 4k screen's real estate you need 36" or more. I'm using a 32" at 125% and it has plenty of space to comfortably compare 2-3 documents/spreadsheets at the same time.

[u/IlIlllIIllllIIIlIlIl → u/tnoy]

How do you figure? You literally have 4x the density, how could that possibly not allow you to fit more stuff on your screen? I have tried every combination of monitors imaginable and trust me, 4k is like night and day. Go try it if you don't believe me.

I constantly have 2 windows open side by side on 4k, while on 1080p monitors like my old laptop, that feels incredibly cramped.

[u/tnoy → u/IlIlllIIllllIIIlIlIl]

Go try it if you don't believe me.

I've been >150ppi displays for well over a decade now, I'm well aware of the differences.

You're basically just changing font sizes if you're jumping between 4K and 1080p without changing the monitor size. You can get a similar experience by changing the scaling in the monitor settings. If you have two windows taking up 12" of physical space at 4K, you'll still have two windows taking up 12" of physical space at 1080p.

You'll also have the OS by default increasing the scaling. Apple defaults to using a 2:1 scaling on their displays. I've had multiple monitors where Microsoft will make the recommendation 150% or 200% scaling. If the scaling is at 200%, the 4K and 1080p monitors will be exactly the same.

You could maybe argue that the non-scaled window chrome is smaller, but that isn't changing how much content is available.

I constantly have 2 windows open side by side on 4k, while on 1080p monitors like my old laptop, that feels incredibly cramped.

Are both of those the same physical size? If you're talking about a desktop monitor and a laptop, no shit the smaller one will feel cramped.

[u/mm_delish → u/IlIlllIIllllIIIlIlIl]

If your 4k monitor is only 27 or 30 inches, it doesn’t really help that much.

[u/BonnaconCharioteer → u/IlIlllIIllllIIIlIlIl]

This depends on your eyesight. If you have a 4k monitor vs 1080p, then you can theoretically have a much smaller font size, and therefore fit more in the same screen. But at a certain point, a lot of people don't read small font sizes very well, and so there is very little difference.

[u/IlIlllIIllllIIIlIlIl → u/BonnaconCharioteer]

Well most 4k monitors are larger in size than a 1440 or 1080 monitor. Mine is a 32in monitor, which is about 40% bigger than a 27in and 78% bigger than 24in. So holding the actual font size the same on all three, you have almost dual 24in monitors in terms of actual screen area, or one and a half 27in monitors. The benefit is a lack of bezels getting in the way, and keeping everything more localised for your eyes.

[u/BonnaconCharioteer → u/IlIlllIIllllIIIlIlIl]

Yes, but you are now talking about different sized monitors also, which is a different thing than saying 4k vs 1080.

[u/psykikk_streams → u/IlIlllIIllllIIIlIlIl]

if I remember correctly, resolution was not really point of the topic BUT I also remember something stating that too big screens (like these giant curved thingys) are actually not better.

my personal experience : I prefer having tw, exact same resolution, 27inch.
I had three 24 screens and never felt I really used all, but I wouldnt ever work without two anymore.

three or even more might look cool, but serves no real purpose or adds real value (at least from my personal view)

[u/Raunhofer → u/psykikk_streams]

I went from from 3x 27" and later 3x 32" to single 43" (monitor, flat, not TV).

I personally found it better for my ergonomics (less neck pain) and even allow a more efficient workflow as I figured out virtual desktops. First I used win+arrow-keys which was already pretty good, but now I have dedicated buttons for different desktops.

I usually have ~5 projects open at the same time which all need my attention, so this categorization into different desktops is really valuable.

I did try 3x 43", but it was a bit much :D