Getting by with only one monitor

Question

There is a lot of conventional wisdom, especially among programmers, about the benefits of having more monitor space in order to be more productive. Rather than throw out a pile of links, I'll put just one here, a link to an article that has lots of links in it.

Sometimes, however, we just don't have the luxury. I have multiple monitors at home, but only one at work (a 19" wide), and neither the spare cash to buy myself a second one nor permission from On High (tm) to acquire one with company money. So that's the way it is.

What I'm wondering, from folks who only use one monitor (whether by choice or by necessity), is what techniques, tools, and practices you use to keep limited screen real estate from being a thorn in your side. I've been using VirtuaWin for a little while now, and it helps, up to a point. I use Alt-Tab so liberally that I'm a little worried about breaking the keys. But there have to be other techniques and software out there for alleviating the downsides of not having much space to work with.

Answer 1

Aside from what was already recommended, the only other thing that I can think of is multiple computers. This is easy if you have a work-provided laptop and desktop, and you can share the mouse and keyboard between the two with Synergy. My typical use-case for multiple monitors is similar to spreading your work out across your desk. I'll have one window up for reference material on one monitor and my work area on the other. Though this is not good for cases when you want to stretch your workspace window across multiple monitors.

Other than that, I think you're doing most all that you can.

Answer 2

Change your expectations.

There was a time, long ago, when people felt they were living large on a single 640x480 screen. (That's pixels, not characters, btw.) And then the screens got bigger, and the pixels got smaller, but still many were limited to a single monitor, and they were happy. Even today, thousands of our brothers and sisters work happily on machines like the 15" MacBook Pro.

How did anyone ever get by in those barbaric olde tymes? How do people suffer through it still? It's all about expectations. Some have never experienced the boundless freedom that comes with measuring screen real estate in pixel-acres. Others have, out of choice or necessity, opted to live a simpler, more modest life. They open only those windows which help them work, eschewing the constant harassment of endless e-mail, Twitter, and instant message feeds. They switch between code and debug views rather than keeping both visible at all times. They spend time tiling the windows that they do need so as not to waste a pixel. They avail themselves of virtual desktops and other modern conveniences only when they lead to actual improvement. And they take joy in their ability to take their entire setup with them to Starbucks or a nearby meadow.

A day will soon come when eye-tracking laser devices deliver pixels directly onto our retinae to provide work space in every direction for as far as you can see, even as there will be no actual screen. And we will become accustomed to that, and shortly thereafter we will wonder how anyone ever worked before.

Answer 3

Sometimes the oldest techniques are the best; limit your code to 80 columns in width, and insist that others do the same.

Answer 4

I wouldn't worry about breaking your keys.

Depending on your workflow, there are some solutions. If you are like me and you always have the internet browser pointed to MSDN/Technet or something like that, then arrange the text editor with word wrap. Personally, I rarely use the solution explorer. Usually, I fire up the find command and it will pick out the file I need to work on.

I'd also try an always on-top/transparency program instead of a virtual desktop program. I find more use out of keeping something temporarily on top/transparent than constantly rearranging windows. I find it even more useful than a virtual desktop, since I find myself switching between arrangements of running programs rather than between sets of running programs.

But I have yet to find a decent Window Layout saver. . .