Tips and Tricks: Increase Productivity with Two Monitors

Bill Gates said it best: "Once you have that large display area, you'll never go back, because it has a direct impact on productivity."

He was, of course, referring to the advantages of having multiple monitors connected to his computer. And if anyone knows about how to get the best out of a computer, it's Bill Gates.

More and more people are hooking up dual monitors to their computers because of the dramatic effect it has on their efficiency. Many view their added monitor as an inexpensive, simple way to upgrade their PC without the burden of any new, expensive hardware.

The benefits of two monitors are vital to improving your workflow:

Multitask. Two monitors afford you the luxury of multitasking. Have your email open on one screen and instantly receive messages while you navigate a website or complicated spreadsheet on the other. Skype with a colleague on one screen while looking at various websites on the other. View one large document across both screens without shrinking it down to an impossible-to-read size. The opportunities are endless. Dual monitors eliminate the annoying, incessant clicking between browser windows.

View with Ease. Ever view two different documents side-by-side and get frustrated at how far down you have to shrink them in order to do so? Having two monitors allows you to look at those documents in large, easy-to-read fonts vs. shrinking them down to fit side-by-side on a solitary monitor.

Save Paper. Instead of printing out large, cumbersome spreadsheets in order to see them in their entirety, you can view different parts of these documents on two different screens, presenting the entire document in one snapshot.

It's relatively cheap and easy to install two monitors. Most of today's graphics cards and motherboards support two monitors. And with monitors costing nearly seven times less than they did 10 years ago, it's the cheapest upgrade you can get!

About Dyan James

Dyan has been researching, writing, copyediting, and proofreading articles across a variety of industries since 1998. She further developed her interest and talent for covering technology while working with the guys at DCG Technical Solutions, Inc. Whether writing from scratch, copyediting or simply polishing, Dyan has mastered the art of turning rough copy or a plain idea into an eloquently written piece.