Even though the multi-monitor productivity boost is a myth, screen real estate can still deliver a productivity boost for your work. That said, web developer Peter Legierski argues that the limitations of his 12″ notebook made all the difference in his productivity.
His reasoning:
Having a big screen is a good excuse to stick a Twitter client here, mail client there, have list of files pane constantly open, and in general keep every window at some random size, definitely not full-screen. In best-case scenario you’re just lost in open documents and you’re juggling windows, dragging them to the left, to the right, pushing out of visible workspace etc. More realistic scenario: everything above + each open app takes a bit of your attention, which is counter-productive and annoys you in the longer run.
Legierski’s reasoning is very similar to why I’ve often opted to write on an iPad rather than on my amply-pixeled computer, and for a lot of work, I agree. The deciding factor is more a matter of the kind of work you do, so rather than just assume that bigger is better, it’s worth taking a second look at your needs and possibly downgrading your screen real estate if you find yourself filling that extra space for distractions more often than not.
How to increase productivity per square inch of your screen [self.li]
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