I’ve worked from home since late 2016; since I began, I’ve upgraded from using a laptop to a desktop with two monitors, then three. And when I got a standing desk in 2021, I also purchased a monitor arm that holds four monitors. This has been my primary work environment since.
While having four monitors might sound overkill, or like something you’d see at a stereotypical computer geek’s computer in a movie, it’s essential for my work-from-home workflow. I love the options they provide, and working with anything less feels like a huge downgrade in productivity.
My multi-monitor setup
Ever since I’ve had my own computer, multiple monitors have been part of it. In college, my modest TV doubled as a second monitor for my small 12-inch laptop screen.
When I became a full-time freelance writer and built a desktop for the purpose, I started with two monitors. As my desk at the time had room to expand, I figured more was better, and took the chance on a third when there was a sale.
Since having three monitor bases took up a lot of desk space, I opted for a monitor arm when I moved to a four-display configuration. My model has three monitors across and one above the center, which minimizes the strain on your neck and eyes from looking up.
Currently, I’m working with a 144Hz curved monitor in the center, with the other three being 75Hz displays. Each is 24 inches, which is a good balance between compactness and having a high viewing area. If I upgrade in the future, I’ll consider moving to 27-inch 1440p monitors.
Why I need multiple monitors
Due to the nature of my work, I jump around many different apps all day. My regular rotation includes Asana, Slack, my Markdown writing app, Mailbird for email, Firefox for site searches, and Chrome for accessing our CMS, spreadsheets, and lots more. Even with useful hotkeys like Alt + Tab, it quickly becomes tedious to switch between all these.
That’s especially the case since I regularly need to reference information from one window while working in another. I might type in a Slack chat while I look at an article, reference a spreadsheet while sending an email, or any other combination of tools.
To facilitate this, I’ve assigned “home monitors” for each tool. I keep email on my right monitor, Slack on my left monitor, Firefox on my top monitor, and Chrome or my writing app on the center monitor, depending on what I’m using. I can shift them around as needed, but with this core setup, I don’t have too many layers to peel through by minimizing, and I know where I “left” something if I forget.
Having more information available to reference at a glance, without having to shuffle my open windows, is the most useful aspect. And since Windows lets you scroll on inactive windows as long as you mouse over them, I can browse one panel while entering text on another.
I couldn’t work with fewer
I dislike working on a laptop, primarily because of the single monitor. I lose productivity when I have to spend more time thinking about switching app windows.
If my work were akin to sitting in front of a typewriter and focusing on one app at a time, fewer monitors could work. But when I want to be always reachable on Slack, search the site, and look at the task I’m working on in Asana—all at a glance—even two monitors won’t cut it.
The drawbacks and alternatives
Some people like having one huge screen they can slice up into parts, but this has never been my preferred method. With a huge display, all the on-screen elements are smaller, and I don’t like having to fumble around with the window management tools in the OS.
I much prefer having the logical separation of different displays; with that, I can even turn them off individually, adjust tools like f.lux to work differently on each monitor, and similar.
It’s a fair counter-argument to say that having this many monitors adds more potential distractions. Having so many app windows open means greater temptation to switch what you’re doing. To combat this, I’ll minimize or place a blank browser tab over anything that tries to grab my attention. That way, the monitor is ready if I need it, but nothing is waiting to distract me.
Having four monitors also adds more cables under my desk, but I don’t mind this. Cables are part of having a computer setup, so what’s a few more?
Otherwise, the main downside of my layout is that the monitors aren’t perfectly lined up. My monitor arm feels unevenly weighed down, which I haven’t taken the time to fix, so there isn’t a smooth transition from one monitor to the next. But this doesn’t bother me much, since I turn my head to look at each one as needed.
I’ve been using four monitors for years, and it’s an essential part of my work setup. With fewer, I wouldn’t be able to reference multiple app windows at the same time. More would be overkill (most of the time), since I can’t think of much else I’d do with another monitor.
If you have room and you’ve confirmed your computer supports more monitors, I’d recommend adding another display or two. You’ll be surprised at how much more efficiently it helps you work.
