Use Multiple Monitors

July 2013 — Tip of the Month

If you have a desktop computer and only use one screen, you're missing out. Using two or more screens can greatly increase your productivity since you can have more windows open and viewable at once.

Multiple monitors is especially helpful in the work environments where you need to do several things at once. For example, a job may require you to have a web browser, email client, word processor, and spreadsheet application open at the same time. If you have more than one display, you can use several of these programs at once without having to close or minimize windows.

For most work, two monitors is an ideal setup. However, I personally use three screens, which I find highly beneficial for Web development and other work that I do. I often have over 30 windows open at a time, so the more screens, the better.

In order to set up your workstation with multiple screens, you first need to make sure your computer supports more than one display. Fortunately, most computers today have at least two video outputs, which means you can connect two displays. If you want to use three screens, you may need to add an extra video card to your desktop computer. If you use a laptop, it most likely has a "video out" port, which you can use to connect a secondary display. You can then split your desktop across your laptop screen and the connected monitor.

The only downside of using multiple screens is that once you get used to them, it is hard to go back to one!

- Per Christensson