Honestly I feel like multi monitor setups are actually worse than single monitor. Having to bend your neck to use some of your windows left me with neck pain. Now I only use one large monitor and use the workspace switching shortcuts to move everything around so I only look forwards.
My productivity is identical and my neck feels better. I'd only say its worth it for when you really do need to see a huge amount at once like watching the feeds of 30 security cameras. Not for general work/programming.
Seems like multi monitor setups become more of a looks thing because they make people feel like they are sitting in the FBI command center rather than a generic office worker desk.
Multi-monitor setup has been a giant boost to my programming productivity.
I can simply keep the specification/documentation/stack overflow alongside editor/IDE window alongside debugger. If I had to put the benefit in words, I can offload the state of my programming session all on screen, instead of in my head, taking space where more of the abstract logic and relational graph can reside, before it gets turned into code.
On the other hand, it gets way easier to get distracted because you can keep a chat window on one side, constantly getting pinged.
I used to do the same thing but now I put my IDE on the middle workspace with the left and right workspaces holding my IMs/music/browser and terminal. Now instead of moving my head to see other windows I press ctrl+alt left/right and the windows move in to the space I am already looking. Effective use of workspaces feels just as productive as multiple monitors did but my neck is always facing forward.
That's a problem with two monitors, specifically if you try to place them evenly. Neither monitor is centered.
Designate one of them as the 'main' monitor, and put anything you need to work with for long periods of time on that. Add an office chair, so you can swiwel to look straight at the other(s) instead of twisting your neck. And you'll find there's no such issue.
I just wish I could find a good series of monitors with matching vertical size and dot pitch but different aspect ratios. My best use case would be a 27" 16:9 primary monitor directly in front of me with a 4:3 secondary on the right or left. It would be fantastic to put a 1920x1440 next to my 2560x1440 center display with them being the same physical size.
