To boost your writing productivity, get a second screen.
If you already have a second monitor on your desk, pat yourself on the back and ignore the rest of this article. If you don’t have one, read on.
I must admit that I’m a real skinflint when it comes to investing in equipment for my home office. In the case of having a second screen on my desk, I should feel at least a little ashamed, as I finally picked one up for less than $150. Hardly a huge expense.
Does it make a difference to my productivity? I’m pretty sure it does.
If you think about it, your computer desktop is just a pile of virtual paper, with one document piled on top of another. If you want to work on one document while referring to another, you have to keep clicking between the two. Only one document can be at the top of the pile.
I used to overcome this problem by printing out any pages I would be referring to frequently. That was a pretty wasteful and expensive way to do things.
Since I purchased my second screen, things have been running much more smoothly.
Here are some of the ways in which I benefit from having two screens.
- In the image above I have a Word document open on my laptop, while on the other screen is the mindmap of the project I am writing. I now just have to glance at the right hand screen to stay on track with what I am writing. On the left side of the second screen is my to-do list for the day. So I can keep that visible at all times too.
- Earlier today I had Dreamweaver open on my laptop, and an excel spreadsheet open on the second screen. On the spreadsheet I had a long list or urls I needed to change on one of my websites. Having the second screen allowed me to highlight, copy, drag and drop the urls, without having to click from one file to the other.
- A few weeks ago I was giving a live webinar. I worked from my slides on the laptop and had a large digital clock counting down the time on the second screen. I could keep track of it in my peripheral vision.
Having the second screen is by no means essential, but it does allow me to work with my computer files more efficiently, and also keeps my desk free of paper.
A couple of years ago the price of a second screen may have given you reason to pause, but at under $150 there is really no reason not to get one.
This is particularly true if, like me, you work on a laptop with a fairly small screen.
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