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From the comments: > I’m curious as to how this affected your productivity Answer: > Productivity is through the roof. Even when noodling about on small side

From the comments: > I’m curious as to how this affected your productivity Answer: > Productivity is through the roof. Even when noodling about on small side projects I find you so quickly end up with so much things open that you're constantly flipping between, so to have multiple terminals, text editors, reference documentation, version control, etc, immediately accessible is, honestly, life changing.

tga 5y ago
I definitely agree with that take when talking about running two 4k monitors at full resolution, but it doesn’t address the size at all. The more reasonable approach would be to use two ~38-42” monitors.
- that_guy_iain 5y ago
  One 32 inch 4k monitor massively improves my ability to get stuff done. I'm tempted to get another one to see how it goes.
  - bdcravens 5y ago
    I used to love "smaller" fonts and whatnot. Unfortunately my 45 year old eyes can't do it anymore. These days I stick with 2 32" at QHD. I've always used my laptop open for things like the terminal etc, but I find that's a bit too small unless I'm sitting directly in front of it (coffee shop etc)
happimess 5y ago
Alternate take: I achieve constant-time access (mod key + digit) to all those things with 10 workspaces in i3. I can't imagine having to see them all at once. Realistically, I'm only actually thinking about 1 or 2 of them at a time. If I need to check documentation, I'm no longer thinking about my build output. Slack, email, and calendar are disconnected from development tools. And if I need to do a quick context shift, I can switch over instantly.
- fleaaa 5y ago
  I do the same and have triple displays that is placed with ergonomics in mind, so workspace is like 3*n mostly. There's no drawback for me except probably terrible carbon foot print..
  - apetresc 5y ago
    Sorry, what impact does i3 have on your carbon footprint?
    - NateEag 5y ago
      Not i3 - the energy consumption of running three large monitors.
      - apetresc 5y ago
        But the OP's point was that using workspaces in a tiling window manager removes the need for so much physical real estate. If you have a very fluent i3-based workflow, the limiting factor becomes your own human capacity to focus attention, at which point a single decently large monitor (that can hold, say, 4 windows comfortably per workspace) is all you'd ever need. 3 monitors is just a workaround for a workflow problem that i3 can solve.
        NateEag 5y ago
        And the post I clarified says: > I do the same and have triple displays that is placed with ergonomics in mind, meaning that the author uses both i3 and triple monitors. I use a laptop and two 27" externals, not with i3 but with an auto-positioning Hammerspoon that has a similar effect. When I'm on smaller or fewer displays I can't fit everything I want up simultaneously. Granted, I relatively often have a mobile app codebase, a backend API codebase used by the mobile app, terminal sessions pertaining to each of those codebases, and documentation for the tools used in either or both projects up all at once. My eyesight isn't great, so all of those have fairly large font sizes. Not every project needs that much context. When I'm hacking on my Emacs config, a two-pane split is about I can ask for (and one will do the job just fine).
matsemann 5y ago
Don't see how it increases productivity compared to normally sized 4k screens? Can fit just as much into them? Edit: Or might be able to not scale text as much. But that is the screen being too close I feel.
sometimeshuman 5y ago
Slight skepticism should be applied to any productivity claim. There was research to determine if changing X in the office boosted productivity. But in the end it was found that X didn't matter, within reason. Changing any X boosted productivity and the benefits often diminished with time. I thought this was called the Hawthorne Effect but I am no longer sure.
- jpking 5y ago
  Hawthorn Effect is right although it is disputed [1]. Interestingly, the interpretation that I remember is that productivity increased because the subjects were part of an experiment and being observed. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect
paulcole 5y ago
Kind of funny that the idea of constantly flipping between a bunch of things increases productivity. I’d imagine if this person had instead limited themselves to a single 15” laptop screen their productivity would’ve increased over their baseline because they’d be focused on one thing at a time.
- moonchrome 5y ago
  Honestly doubt it - I watch files/diffs side-by-side constantly - at 120 line length with a 15 inch MBP there's just no way even if I kill the explorer panel - I can just barely fit it when i zoom out one level from my comfortable font size and have the panel closed - but that's not a great experience for me.
  - paulcole 5y ago
    My point was that committing to a change that you think will make you more productive is likely to make you feel more productive. People don’t like to admit they’re wrong and really like to convince themselves they were right.
bullfightonmars 5y ago
I am not sure if I understand this claim. It looks like this setup has the same density of information as a typical 27in 4k monitor.

tga 5y ago

I definitely agree with that take when talking about running two 4k monitors at full resolution, but it doesn’t address the size at all. The more reasonable approach would be to use two ~38-42” monitors.

that_guy_iain 5y ago
One 32 inch 4k monitor massively improves my ability to get stuff done. I'm tempted to get another one to see how it goes.
- bdcravens 5y ago
  I used to love "smaller" fonts and whatnot. Unfortunately my 45 year old eyes can't do it anymore. These days I stick with 2 32" at QHD. I've always used my laptop open for things like the terminal etc, but I find that's a bit too small unless I'm sitting directly in front of it (coffee shop etc)

happimess 5y ago

Alternate take: I achieve constant-time access (mod key + digit) to all those things with 10 workspaces in i3. I can't imagine having to see them all at once. Realistically, I'm only actually thinking about 1 or 2 of them at a time. If I need to check documentation, I'm no longer thinking about my build output. Slack, email, and calendar are disconnected from development tools. And if I need to do a quick context shift, I can switch over instantly.

fleaaa 5y ago
I do the same and have triple displays that is placed with ergonomics in mind, so workspace is like 3*n mostly. There's no drawback for me except probably terrible carbon foot print..
- apetresc 5y ago
  Sorry, what impact does i3 have on your carbon footprint?
  - NateEag 5y ago
    Not i3 - the energy consumption of running three large monitors.
    - apetresc 5y ago
      But the OP's point was that using workspaces in a tiling window manager removes the need for so much physical real estate. If you have a very fluent i3-based workflow, the limiting factor becomes your own human capacity to focus attention, at which point a single decently large monitor (that can hold, say, 4 windows comfortably per workspace) is all you'd ever need. 3 monitors is just a workaround for a workflow problem that i3 can solve.
      - NateEag 5y ago
        And the post I clarified says: > I do the same and have triple displays that is placed with ergonomics in mind, meaning that the author uses both i3 and triple monitors. I use a laptop and two 27" externals, not with i3 but with an auto-positioning Hammerspoon that has a similar effect. When I'm on smaller or fewer displays I can't fit everything I want up simultaneously. Granted, I relatively often have a mobile app codebase, a backend API codebase used by the mobile app, terminal sessions pertaining to each of those codebases, and documentation for the tools used in either or both projects up all at once. My eyesight isn't great, so all of those have fairly large font sizes. Not every project needs that much context. When I'm hacking on my Emacs config, a two-pane split is about I can ask for (and one will do the job just fine).

matsemann 5y ago

Don't see how it increases productivity compared to normally sized 4k screens? Can fit just as much into them? Edit: Or might be able to not scale text as much. But that is the screen being too close I feel.

sometimeshuman 5y ago

Slight skepticism should be applied to any productivity claim. There was research to determine if changing X in the office boosted productivity. But in the end it was found that X didn't matter, within reason. Changing any X boosted productivity and the benefits often diminished with time. I thought this was called the Hawthorne Effect but I am no longer sure.

jpking 5y ago
Hawthorn Effect is right although it is disputed [1]. Interestingly, the interpretation that I remember is that productivity increased because the subjects were part of an experiment and being observed. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect

paulcole 5y ago

Kind of funny that the idea of constantly flipping between a bunch of things increases productivity. I’d imagine if this person had instead limited themselves to a single 15” laptop screen their productivity would’ve increased over their baseline because they’d be focused on one thing at a time.

moonchrome 5y ago
Honestly doubt it - I watch files/diffs side-by-side constantly - at 120 line length with a 15 inch MBP there's just no way even if I kill the explorer panel - I can just barely fit it when i zoom out one level from my comfortable font size and have the panel closed - but that's not a great experience for me.
- paulcole 5y ago
  My point was that committing to a change that you think will make you more productive is likely to make you feel more productive. People don’t like to admit they’re wrong and really like to convince themselves they were right.

bullfightonmars 5y ago

I am not sure if I understand this claim. It looks like this setup has the same density of information as a typical 27in 4k monitor.