For code-related tasks, I prefer the portability of my 13" laptop with multiple virtual desktops. When I find myself in a rut, I'll get up and relocate and regain productivity immediately.
I'll usually start my day at home in the office area, then move to a coffeeshop for the afternoon, then relocate to another later, then home again possibly in the living room or dining room. Sometimes I'll meet up with friends and co-work; just knowing that people around me are being productive helps me be productive too.
For things like consuming content, research, and making art/graphics, and relaxation, I prefer my 24" desktop at home.
Another interesting point is I feel like I have an association between the device and the types of activities I perform on them, to the point that I find it hard to write code on my desktop these days.
> Another interesting point is I feel like I have an association between the device and the types of activities I perform on them, to the point that I find it hard to write code on my desktop these days.
Do you have a similar association that you can only write code when you are on your 13"?
If you do, it sounds like you have trained yourself nicely to be productive.
It's hard to tell since I don't have an equivalent control device, but I believe I do. It feels like with the limited screen real-estate, where my code takes up about 60% of the screen and a terminal for the rest, I can focus a lot better when I do.
Every so often I'll still get distracted and start browsing HN, but that usually means I need to relocate or take a break from the computer.
I've also found (what I'm sure everyone knows and is thinking about but don't seem to mention in this thread) that the optimal number of monitors or screen resolution also depends on what tasks is being worked on as well as which tools are used.
Compare:
Tools like Squeak/Pharo Smalltalk requires a fairly large screen space for a single window since all the "windows" open within the native window and it's harder to work with overlapping windows within that space.
vs.
Dolphin Smalltalk which supports multiple native windows, where you can do alt-tab fairly quickly and with a culture of writing shorter methods, a smaller screen is viable.
or
when I am running vim+vimclojure, I use a wide vim window so i can run tabbed buffers on the left and the output on the right.
Related to productivity: I've tried experimenting with various approaches, including having online/offline time. Where I break up (primarily development related) tasks into online-information-doc-gathering and offline-coding tasks. Seems to work for efficiency, but I can't stick to it.
For code-related tasks, I prefer the portability of my 13" laptop with multiple virtual desktops. When I find myself in a rut, I'll get up and relocate and regain productivity immediately.
I'll usually start my day at home in the office area, then move to a coffeeshop for the afternoon, then relocate to another later, then home again possibly in the living room or dining room. Sometimes I'll meet up with friends and co-work; just knowing that people around me are being productive helps me be productive too.
For things like consuming content, research, and making art/graphics, and relaxation, I prefer my 24" desktop at home.
Another interesting point is I feel like I have an association between the device and the types of activities I perform on them, to the point that I find it hard to write code on my desktop these days.