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makeitrainyesterday at 3:42 PM1 replyview on HN

I’ve had a 38” ultrawide for about a decade.

I’d say monitor position and ergonomics matter way more than screen size.

Navigating a stack of apps with alt+tab, ctrl+tab is extremely efficient. I only miss the extra space when looking at spreadsheets or comparing things in different windows.

Some laptops have a pitiful screen height, avoid those.

Ultrawide is an extra screen size that many web devs forget about. Good design can take advantage of it. But some fluid designs look terrible without constraints.

I ran a vertical setup, with a monitor above my laptop. Not a bad way to go if you want more space for auxiliary apps.

Focus is essential for productivity. Do whatever it takes to get there.


Replies

bluefirebrandyesterday at 4:02 PM

> Focus is essential for productivity. Do whatever it takes to get there.

I'm posting this because it's something I went through in my career and I hope it helps someone who is in a similar situation

I was undiagnosed ADHD until my 30s. In high school and university I was able to brute force my way through and get reasonably good grades. I had a really rocky start to my career in software. I was always getting middling performance reviews along the lines of "You're really good when you're working, but your productivity is terrible". Meanwhile my stress level was crazy high despite not exactly doing lots of overtime or anything else

Even treated, ADHD can make focus very difficult. Undiagnosed, it is devastating

Bringing it back to the words I quoted, I agree entirely. Focus is essential for productivity. Part of doing whatever it takes to get there might mean getting diagnosed and medicated