Increase your productivity by increasing screen space

It has come to my attention that some people out there (like Peter Legierski) believe that having a bigger monitor and/or more monitors is distracting and does not increase productivity. They are wrong. And here is why:

Scenario - You are developing a web application using Node.js and MongoDB. Here is the list of windows you should have open:

1. IDE (I like eclipse but most others work just as well)
2. Web browser for API documentation
3. Web browser for live testing and/or CSS editing (Chrome is amazing for live editing CSS *will try Firefox soon, here is an article detailing the process)
4. MongoDB terminal instance open to make sure the database is functioning properly
5. Node.js terminal instance open to debug and make sure things run smoothly and so that you are alerted when things go bad
6. File browser for quickly moving files around
7. CPU, Network, and RAM monitor - this is so that if one of your apps goes haywire and starts blocking a whole thread (and since you have 8 cores you don't notice immediately) you can react quickly. *note that it may suffice to just have the monitoring widgets in your Gnome2 panel (Gnome2 FTW)
8. Working terminal for installing dependencies on the fly and for all your other Linux needs

As an experienced web developer I can say that none of these windows are optional if you want development to go as smoothly as possible (except for the web browser for api/documentation). Not all of them have to be visible at once, but being able to see more at the same time allows you to react more readily when things start behaving erratically. These windows are not distractions, they are more like a sixth sense if you will (btw, you already have more than 5 senses). They do not attract attention unless they need to. My view is only slightly skewed by the fact that since I have 5 monitors I can have all of these windows visible at the same time.

(note: Alt-Drag is the easiest way to move windows around, middle click sends windows to the back, Ctrl-W closes most windows, Ctrl-D closes terminal windows) - Debian Squeeze