Sure, increasing the amount of screen space you have doesn't automatically make you more productive, but neither will it make you less productive unless you fil

Sure, increasing the amount of screen space you have doesn't automatically make you more productive, but neither will it make you less productive unless you fill those screens up with nonsense and distractions. Personally, I got a lot more productive when I went to a triple-monitor setup. I put my code on the middle screen, since it's the most important (emacs, white text on black, some color for syntax, no menu bar, no tool bar, maximized), the program I'm developing on the left (usually but not always a webpage of some type, maximized), and the debugger on the right (tools depend on what I'm working on, of course, but it's maximized). See? No distractions. When I'm out and don't have all my monitors, each of these things has a window, they're all maximized, and they're all right there at the top of the window list when I alt-tab. No distractions. Having a separate monitor for each is certainly nicer; alt-tab is generally faster (the computer can swap windows very quickly), but I think the smoother transition of physically looking to the side is less likely to interrupt my train of thought. You know how you sometimes forget what you were doing when you walk into a room? I sometimes feel that way when I alt-tab.