It seems that in almost every office you see desks with two monitors. Anyone still using a one-monitor system probably spends a lot of time minimizing screens to pull up a different app, then pulling the first one back up and so on. The methodology and ‘muscle memory’ of juggling multiple apps and windows becomes second nature after a while, but how unproductive is all that wasted time? The answer to that rhetorical question is: VERY.
Regardless of the number of monitors you use, spending too much time looking for things and switching back and forth, opening apps and maximizing/minimizing documents and spreadsheets is not the most productive use of your time.
RingCentral published a report estimating that two-thirds of workers say they waste up to 60 minutes per day navigating between apps, 68 percent of workers toggle between apps up to 10 times an hour, and 31% of workers say all that this app juggling causes them to lose their train of thought.
Let’s focus in on that ONE HOUR out of eight spent just switching between apps. Roll that number out a bit and you have a worker losing 31.25 DAYS a year (based on 50 weeks at work), in effect losing an entire MONTH and a half every year – a time when employees are not promoting the goals of your business. And you thought that a few minutes of ‘water-cooler’ chat was unproductive?
Back in the day, when you saw workers with two monitors, you would probably assume they do some specialized type of work that requires all that screen space, or they just really like technology, but having the additional display real estate that a second screen provides saves a lot of time no matter what type of work you do.
In examining the microcosm of our environment when working at a computer, our world exists within the confines of the screen space, which boxes us into a limited playing field. It’s a struggle trying to work from two windows at once – dragging them and pulling in the margins to get them to fit next to each other. It’s either that or continuously clicking between layers of windows. A side-by-side comparison becomes a difficult task with toggling back and forth.
Who doesn’t get frustrated clicking around to find the window we need in a layer of different applications? Using dual screens can help eliminate this unproductive practice that wastes an hour per day.
Advantages:
- Saves time (an hour per day) This is the main issue - covered above.
- Expands laptop screen space. Laptops are great for traveling, but even the largest still have that one screen, although now there are laptops that can give you one or two additional fold-in screens. When working at home or in the office, you can plug in a second monitor – not so convenient to do in a hotel room.
- Copy/Paste. It’s convenient to have the place you’re copying from next to the place you’re pasting into. Let’s say you want to create an Excel spreadsheet with data from an online directory. With two screens, you just look at one, copy, then look at the other and paste – no losing your place.
- Easier video/zoom meetings. You don’t have to lose track of everything else for the meeting. If you get an email or Instant Message during a meeting – just open it on the other screen and deal with it as required. For boring meetings, you can work on a different project (but keep an eye/ear on the meeting and mute so they can’t hear you typing).
- Multi-tasking. Interruptions often plague your tasks. It could be a phone call or messaging that requires you to use a different app or document. No more jockeying things around and then finding them and pulling them back up. It’s also very handy to keep your email screen up while working on other things.
All of these advantages tend to fall under one umbrella: saving time – and lots of it. After all, Time is Money.
Here at ITFirm.com, it would be an extremely odd thing to find a desk with ONLY two monitors, as three is the norm in a technology driven arena like IT services – too many things to keep track of. Walk through the help desk area of any Managed Services Provider (MSP) or IT support company and the norm will always be three monitors.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much more efficient is 2 monitors?
The results of a long-term study on dual-monitor use versus a single-monitor conducted by Jon Peddie Research show that two monitors increases productivity by an average of 42% - incorporating a wide range of job types.
From three studies conducted over 15 years, JPR also found that between 2002 and 2017, there’s been a significant rise in the use of two monitors, with a compound annual growth rate of 10%.
Jon Peddie put it simply, saying, “The more you can see, the more you can do.”
Is it worth having 3 monitors?
While we at ITFirm.com are strongly in favor of a dual-monitor setup for most businesses, three is not necessary for most workers. For jobs such as IT technician, programmer, designer, video editor and such, three screens are a critical asset. That setup is also a great enhancement for Tax preparers. Not so much for many jobs. The rule of thumb is: If you need to see a lot of information at once, three monitors is worth consideration.
Which type of monitor is best?
It all depends on the desktop space available, but the best recommendation is at least a 24 or 27 inch screen. The larger the screen is the higher the resolution you should have. With a 24 inch, 1080p is fine, but with 27 inches and above, consider 1440p resolution.
Which monitor brand is most reliable?
There are plenty of good, reliable monitors on the market. Some of the best are Dell, Alienware, BenQ, Acer, LG, Samsung, HP, Lenovo, and Asus.
How secure is your network?
As a longstanding, reputable member of the Charlotte IT Support community, ITFirm.com offers a FREE, no-risk network and Cybersecurity assessment. We perform a non-intrusive scan that allows us to deliver a comprehensive report of the state of your system and its vulnerabilities that is yours to keep. There are no strings attached, and you are under no obligation ever to use our IT services.
The two best defenses are next-generation Cybersecurity to protect your data from theft, and a top-notch Managed Services Provider to ensure continued reliability and defenses against newly emerging threats.
We put our 100% Money Back Guarantee in writing, so there is no risk in trying us out. Because we do not require a ‘hard’ contract, our clients can fire us at any time with 30 days’ notice. We have to be good.
Among the Managed IT services we provide:
IT HelpDesk Service
Onsite IT Support
Cybersecurity
Cloud migration and management
Email migration services
Backup and disaster recovery
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IT disposition and recycling
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