Not sure about back in the day, but what I use is one or more terminal windows at 80 chars width, so that's rarely more than 50% of the screen. I regularly use

Not sure about back in the day, but what I use is one or more terminal windows at 80 chars width, so that's rarely more than 50% of the screen. I regularly use only one large app, the browser, but I don't keep it maximized if I don't need it, because then it's just visual noise. Sometimes I'll find myself feeling cluttered and confused while working, and I'll minimize or close everything, and reopen only the stuff I need at that time, and a feeling of ease will wash over, a bit like exhaling after holding your breath. I'm coming off peculiarly sensitive to distraction, because it's true. I wouldn't say I'm ADD, but I'd definitely say that as far as I can tell the casual stimuli bombardmant affects me more than most people I encounter. At the same time, I think that these days everyone is susceptible to sensory overexcitation.