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I recently ditched my external monitor and I’m finding myself less distracted. 16 inch MacBook Pro screen is all I really need. Anyone else prefer working with

I recently ditched my external monitor and I’m finding myself less distracted. 16 inch MacBook Pro screen is all I really need. Anyone else prefer working with minimal peripherals?

ja27 4y ago
That's me. I definitely feel like I focus better with a single display and not having things like Slack, Spotify, etc. visible. The 16" MBP is about the minimum screen space I like.
kps 4y ago
Honestly, it baffles me how people can do this. I would typically have four working windows across a pair of monitors: one for the current primary code file, one for its interfaces (header file), one for its unit tests, one for documentation. Similarly I resent the loss of 16:10 or taller monitors — I want those extra few lines of context. Now, there was a time long long ago when I could work with a single 80x24 screen. But then I had a huge L-shaped desk with one printed listing for the current primary code file, one for its interfaces (header file), one for its unit tests (who am I kidding), one for documentation.
joshfee 4y ago
This is much worse for posture though. I much prefer having a monitor that is elevated so that when I sit up straight it is directly in front of me
- idontwantthis 4y ago
  I do put it on a stand and use a Magic Keyboard and trackpad.
  - arvinsim 4y ago
    Tried it but the viewing distance makes it too small for me.
- kitsunesoba 4y ago
  The only way I could go laptop-exclusive is with a VESA mount laptop stand attached to an adjustable monitor arm. I've grown too used to my desktop monitors sitting at the perfect height thanks to the arms they're attached to. I think I'd be quickly frustrated though because even on a 16" MBP, using an IDE like Xcode or Android Studio the screen gets jam-packed so easily with all the panes and inspectors and such. That screen size is probably like a football field to the vim/emacs types though.
  - CameronNemo 4y ago
    That screen size is probably like a football field to the vim/emacs types though. I do webdev in Vim. It is nice to have the browser on one side and the editor on the other. With a pretty standard 1080p 24" monitor, that is just barely doable with a comfy font size. My coworkers often write very longgg lines of code :/
- modernerd 4y ago
  I use a Roost laptop stand with a keyboard and mouse. Works great. https://www.therooststand.com/ https://www.therooststand.com/
- pmontra 4y ago
  When I was not self-employed my company forced us to use an external monitor, keyboard, mouse and a chair with armrests, because of regulations. I bet those regulations are there for a good reason but after 16 years of self-employed working from home on my laptop (no external monitor) on a 5 wheels chair with no armrest I'm still fine. I definitely prefer looking down than up. It's easier on my neck and I can look both at the screen and at my hands and touchpad. Not that I need it but it probably helps somewhat. I removed armrests because my wrists are resting at the side of the touchpad. I never touched the armrest unless I was standing up or sitting down.
  - kps 4y ago
    I remove or drop armrests because the ulnar nerve pressume makes half my hand go numb.
kimburgess 4y ago
I’ll see your 16” MacBook and raise you 12” iPad with external mech keyboard. I’ll admit that I’ve recently reverted to a 16:10 external display as I’m working more with engineering drawings and this reduces printing for short term use, but having one and only one thing to focus on can definitely be good under the right conditions.
- idontwantthis 4y ago
  Do you work in iOS apps or with Remote Desktop?
  - kimburgess 4y ago
    SSH or mosh (via https://blink.sh/ https://blink.sh/) back to a cloud/remote NixOS VM. The iPad is purely a self-contained interface with a local browser.
livueta 4y ago
Sometimes. It's definitely situational. Some tasks that involve a lot of visual cross-referencing can really use the screen space, but my deep work mode is curling up somewhere with nothing but a 13" laptop. Never at my desks, though: I'll roam around my environment or go out if I'm laptop-only. It's probably obvious that I'm a big tiling WM and terminal multiplexing fan.
daveidol 4y ago
I went with one ultrawide external monitor that I use in “clamshell mode.”
j45 4y ago
I vary between one to many. Sometimes it's beneficial to have an entire workflow up across 2 or 3 screens.
HumanReadable 4y ago
Used to have huge three screen set up, arch linux, all sorts of complicated nonsense. These days I have a 14 inch macbook, which I put on top of a few books and control with a keyboard + magic trackpad. Can't say it's made me any more or less productive. The biggest improvement i've made was acquiring a desk treadmill, hasn't affected my productivity but now I'm getting 10-20k steps a day without really thinking much about it.

I recently ditched my external monitor and I’m finding myself less distracted. 16 inch MacBook Pro screen is all I really need. Anyone else prefer working with minimal peripherals?

ja27 4y ago

That's me. I definitely feel like I focus better with a single display and not having things like Slack, Spotify, etc. visible. The 16" MBP is about the minimum screen space I like.

kps 4y ago

Honestly, it baffles me how people can do this. I would typically have four working windows across a pair of monitors: one for the current primary code file, one for its interfaces (header file), one for its unit tests, one for documentation. Similarly I resent the loss of 16:10 or taller monitors — I want those extra few lines of context. Now, there was a time long long ago when I could work with a single 80x24 screen. But then I had a huge L-shaped desk with one printed listing for the current primary code file, one for its interfaces (header file), one for its unit tests (who am I kidding), one for documentation.

joshfee 4y ago

This is much worse for posture though. I much prefer having a monitor that is elevated so that when I sit up straight it is directly in front of me

idontwantthis 4y ago
I do put it on a stand and use a Magic Keyboard and trackpad.
- arvinsim 4y ago
  Tried it but the viewing distance makes it too small for me.
kitsunesoba 4y ago
The only way I could go laptop-exclusive is with a VESA mount laptop stand attached to an adjustable monitor arm. I've grown too used to my desktop monitors sitting at the perfect height thanks to the arms they're attached to. I think I'd be quickly frustrated though because even on a 16" MBP, using an IDE like Xcode or Android Studio the screen gets jam-packed so easily with all the panes and inspectors and such. That screen size is probably like a football field to the vim/emacs types though.
- CameronNemo 4y ago
  That screen size is probably like a football field to the vim/emacs types though. I do webdev in Vim. It is nice to have the browser on one side and the editor on the other. With a pretty standard 1080p 24" monitor, that is just barely doable with a comfy font size. My coworkers often write very longgg lines of code :/
modernerd 4y ago
I use a Roost laptop stand with a keyboard and mouse. Works great. https://www.therooststand.com/ https://www.therooststand.com/
pmontra 4y ago
When I was not self-employed my company forced us to use an external monitor, keyboard, mouse and a chair with armrests, because of regulations. I bet those regulations are there for a good reason but after 16 years of self-employed working from home on my laptop (no external monitor) on a 5 wheels chair with no armrest I'm still fine. I definitely prefer looking down than up. It's easier on my neck and I can look both at the screen and at my hands and touchpad. Not that I need it but it probably helps somewhat. I removed armrests because my wrists are resting at the side of the touchpad. I never touched the armrest unless I was standing up or sitting down.
- kps 4y ago
  I remove or drop armrests because the ulnar nerve pressume makes half my hand go numb.

kimburgess 4y ago

I’ll see your 16” MacBook and raise you 12” iPad with external mech keyboard. I’ll admit that I’ve recently reverted to a 16:10 external display as I’m working more with engineering drawings and this reduces printing for short term use, but having one and only one thing to focus on can definitely be good under the right conditions.

idontwantthis 4y ago
Do you work in iOS apps or with Remote Desktop?
- kimburgess 4y ago
  SSH or mosh (via https://blink.sh/ https://blink.sh/) back to a cloud/remote NixOS VM. The iPad is purely a self-contained interface with a local browser.

livueta 4y ago

Sometimes. It's definitely situational. Some tasks that involve a lot of visual cross-referencing can really use the screen space, but my deep work mode is curling up somewhere with nothing but a 13" laptop. Never at my desks, though: I'll roam around my environment or go out if I'm laptop-only. It's probably obvious that I'm a big tiling WM and terminal multiplexing fan.

daveidol 4y ago

I went with one ultrawide external monitor that I use in “clamshell mode.”

j45 4y ago

I vary between one to many. Sometimes it's beneficial to have an entire workflow up across 2 or 3 screens.

HumanReadable 4y ago

Used to have huge three screen set up, arch linux, all sorts of complicated nonsense. These days I have a 14 inch macbook, which I put on top of a few books and control with a keyboard + magic trackpad. Can't say it's made me any more or less productive. The biggest improvement i've made was acquiring a desk treadmill, hasn't affected my productivity but now I'm getting 10-20k steps a day without really thinking much about it.