It has been shown that changing environments improves performance and memory. So moving around the house, or going to different locations, can improve productivity as well.
Using a ton of big monitors keeps you chained to your desk and a desk chair.
I use a 13" laptop but I use 9 OSX Spaces and constantly switch between them. I do think that it's nicer to have more screen real estate, but it's a tradeoff between that and mobility.
As it is now I move constantly throughout the day. I will do some work at Starbucks then take a break by walking a few blocks to another coffee shop. This provides a lot of outdoors time and lots of different environments. There is a lifestyle benefit here for me too.
Even if I just stayed in my home or office, I would not enjoy being chained to my desk. When I work at home I rotate between the bed, the desk, the bar/barstool, the recliner, the couch, outside on the balcony, and even standing up sometimes.
I believe this boosts my productivity and keeps me refreshed. Anyway I'd love to see some studies done not just on screen space but on the benefits of highly mobile working.
For code-related tasks, I prefer the portability of my 13" laptop with multiple virtual desktops. When I find myself in a rut, I'll get up and relocate and regain productivity immediately.
I'll usually start my day at home in the office area, then move to a coffeeshop for the afternoon, then relocate to another later, then home again possibly in the living room or dining room. Sometimes I'll meet up with friends and co-work; just knowing that people around me are being productive helps me be productive too.
For things like consuming content, research, and making art/graphics, and relaxation, I prefer my 24" desktop at home.
Another interesting point is I feel like I have an association between the device and the types of activities I perform on them, to the point that I find it hard to write code on my desktop these days.
> Another interesting point is I feel like I have an association between the device and the types of activities I perform on them, to the point that I find it hard to write code on my desktop these days.
Do you have a similar association that you can only write code when you are on your 13"?
If you do, it sounds like you have trained yourself nicely to be productive.
It's hard to tell since I don't have an equivalent control device, but I believe I do. It feels like with the limited screen real-estate, where my code takes up about 60% of the screen and a terminal for the rest, I can focus a lot better when I do.
Every so often I'll still get distracted and start browsing HN, but that usually means I need to relocate or take a break from the computer.
I've also found (what I'm sure everyone knows and is thinking about but don't seem to mention in this thread) that the optimal number of monitors or screen resolution also depends on what tasks is being worked on as well as which tools are used.
Compare:
Tools like Squeak/Pharo Smalltalk requires a fairly large screen space for a single window since all the "windows" open within the native window and it's harder to work with overlapping windows within that space.
vs.
Dolphin Smalltalk which supports multiple native windows, where you can do alt-tab fairly quickly and with a culture of writing shorter methods, a smaller screen is viable.
or
when I am running vim+vimclojure, I use a wide vim window so i can run tabbed buffers on the left and the output on the right.
Related to productivity: I've tried experimenting with various approaches, including having online/offline time. Where I break up (primarily development related) tasks into online-information-doc-gathering and offline-coding tasks. Seems to work for efficiency, but I can't stick to it.
Great points. I work 95% out of a home office and while I have a large display in my home office I probably use it less than 1/3 of the time. One issue is health related: I have written about this before, but I'll mention it again: it can be very unhealthy to sit in a chair for long periods of time. In my case, I developed blod clots and almost died from two pulmonary embolisms 4.5 years ago. I tell anyone who will take my advice to set a timer to remind them to stand up every 20 or 30 minutes or so. I find that switching between sitting at my desk and a few other locations where I can comfortably work with my legs up using a lap-desk helps a lot.
re: issue of productivity: when I use an IDE like IntelliJ or RubyMine, I do like to plug my laptop into a large screen. When using Emacs with Lisp, a small screen is fine. Also, I spend a lot of time in SSH shells, and a small screen is good enough for that.
+1 for your comments, especially about the benefits of working in different environments
I absolutely agree, but with one exception. When I am learning something (currently: Django 1.3) I really need the extra screen space to peruse the docs, the IDE, the browser, and mauybe an IM or IRC window.
But, when I know the API (like say, CakePHP), I much prefer to grab the laptop, find a quiet corner somewhere, and go to town.
Tomorrow is a laptop day at Cielito Lindo. Iced tea, chips and salsa, and coding. Tomorrow will be a good day.
It has been shown that changing environments improves performance and memory. So moving around the house, or going to different locations, can improve productivity as well.
Using a ton of big monitors keeps you chained to your desk and a desk chair.
I use a 13" laptop but I use 9 OSX Spaces and constantly switch between them. I do think that it's nicer to have more screen real estate, but it's a tradeoff between that and mobility.
As it is now I move constantly throughout the day. I will do some work at Starbucks then take a break by walking a few blocks to another coffee shop. This provides a lot of outdoors time and lots of different environments. There is a lifestyle benefit here for me too.
Even if I just stayed in my home or office, I would not enjoy being chained to my desk. When I work at home I rotate between the bed, the desk, the bar/barstool, the recliner, the couch, outside on the balcony, and even standing up sometimes.
I believe this boosts my productivity and keeps me refreshed. Anyway I'd love to see some studies done not just on screen space but on the benefits of highly mobile working.