Nowadays almost any type of activity is associated with computers, especially when it comes to working. It is hard to list high-paying positions that do not require at least some time spent at the computer. Besides, they are used for entertainment and competitions. 

The number of tasks and activities one needs a computer for is so huge that for some, one monitor is not enough anymore. For instance, gamers need Discord to be launched and active and play games at the same time. And there are also other cases when a second monitor is a necessity or even a must-have. So, without further ado, let’s go through the three signs you really need to get a second monitor. 

You Study or Work Remotely

Remote studies mean that one has to attend online lectures and workshops. Quite often, one needs to see the whole screen of the speaker to make sense of the notes or illustrations. But they also need to check with their own notes, ebooks, and Google, as well as type some info in a document. And there is more to the studies in general.

For example, any student who needs to write a research paper has to countercheck the literature used a lot. That is a must for correct referencing. Unless one tends to buy essay and papers, this part takes a lot of time. And a second monitor is a real timesaver in this case. Basically, it serves as an ebook that doesn’t interfere with the rest of the tabs. 

Besides, we no longer live in the era when students use libraries on a regular basis. Digitalization, the pandemic, hectic way of life – all these factors make online databases much more relevant. So, let’s suggest you are assigned a literature review paper. 

For this one, you are going to need to draft a whole Methodology chapter and appendices. Those should describe how you searched for the literature, like what keywords are used, what search parameters you chose, and how many results were found after this and that search query. 

These are not that easy to track. Even professional essay writers from the best essay writing service reviews need a lot of time to draw the data without mistakes. Switching from the text editor to the browser back and forth and looking for the details is tiresome and takes much more time. More so, it distracts you from the information on the screen. Meanwhile, with two monitors, you only need to move your eyes from one side to another.

Let’s take another example: you are an editor or translator. Such specialists work with numerous tools and software. What’s more important, machine translation and editing tools are popular even among professionals – they check the proofread and polished texts to make sure they didn’t miss the slightest thing. To avoid the tabs piling up on your screen, a second monitor is highly recommendable. Still, it is bearable to work without it… until you need to contact someone online.  

It is typical for remote work to be full of online meetings and clarifications, even when those are quite short. Human interaction is still hard to be fully substituted with a single screen. Going over the details of an issue or discussing an order may require visual support. Still, you also need to see the person on the other end. So, for the sake of preserving good business relationships, get one more monitor.

A Lot of Miscommunication During Online Interaction

This issue is quite widespread among customer support representatives and everyone who uses Zoom and similar software for online meetings. CSRs have to check and follow up on client requests using their CRM, googling something, and checking with colleagues in the chat. They also need to have instant access to the tool used for calls to verify who they are talking to. 

It means they should have at least three open windows at a time. To avoid confusion and customer dissatisfaction because of a long response and slow support representative, such specialists must use at least two monitors. It is a widespread practice, and some even have three.

Online meetings via Zoom are a separate issue. If that is a conference with a lot of listeners, the speaker must consider the chat messages. In general, that is recommendable for every meeting. Unfortunately, speakers often have to close the chat window to get a better view of the windows they use and/or screencast. As a result, there is a lot of confusion. 

For example, the speaker forgets to screencast another window they are talking about, and the audience sees a blank page and sends messages trying to tell them about this, but all in vain. So, if this kind of problem is common for you or you hold meetings quite often, do invest in a second monitor to improve the quality of the calls.

You Look For the Necessary Window Longer Than You Use It

That is typical for messy users or… coders. The piles of folders, files, and search requests when completing a tech project seem to be endless. Although code editors are equipped with tab dividers, those are barely enough.

Most programmers with one monitor end up spending more time closing, opening, and looking for un/necessary tabs than actually coding. That is why, even if you don’t have anything to do with coding but still work with a bunch of tabs, it is a must to have another monitor to save your time and effort.

Final Word

So, the list of signs is quite short, isn’t it? Basically, you know that you need another monitor when you deal with a lot of different content that requires constant attention. Using two monitors is especially recommended for the following:

• editors,
• translators,
• designers,
• programmers,
• online teachers,
• traders,
• content creators.

Yet, mostly, it depends on your workload and the types of tasks. And who said you can’t use the second monitor to watch movies on it while doing your main job?