Several months ago I finally got a second monitor. After a couple days I don’t know how I ever did it with just one. I believe I have become much more productive especially as I usually have remote desktop open on one of them. If you need some proof that it can help your productivity to help convince your boss to get you a second or even a 3rd monitor I came across the a blog entry by Jeff Atwood at Coding Horror. In the post he references a study at the University of Utah.

Researchers at the University of Utah tested how quickly people performed tasks like editing a document and copying numbers between spreadsheets while using three different computer configurations:

1. single 18-inch monitor
2. single 24-inch monitor
3. two 20-inch monitors

Here’s what they found:

• People using the 24-inch screen completed the tasks 52% faster than people who used the 18-inch monitor
• People who used the two 20-inch monitors were 44% faster than those with the 18-inch ones.
• Productivity dropped off again when people used a 26-inch screen.