Tricks to turn your monitor into a productivity engine

Monitors can make working all day more comfortable and ergonomic, but many people simply place the purchased display on their desk and use it to extend their laptop screen. However, our monitors can help us in many more areas than this.

1. Adapt the layout to our needs

In many jobs, we perform multiple tasks – for example, we also handle spreadsheets in addition to text editing – often for long periods of time, without interruption. Therefore, it is recommended that we choose a monitor that we can comfortably rotate and adjust depending on the task at hand.

For programming or text editing tasks, it is worth rotating the monitor to pivot (portrait) mode, so we can see significantly more of the vertically arranged data rows, meaning we have to scroll less. For graphics and video work, two horizontally arranged monitors are generally recommended: one can be used to display the active workspace and the other to display the preview or toolbars. For working with tables, depending on their type, both portrait and landscape layouts can be useful.

For example, the LG Ergo Dual stand comes with two displays that can be conveniently placed in any arrangement – even one above the other – and the positions of the two monitors can be easily changed. In addition, you can flexibly adjust their height and tilt angle individually, which is especially useful during long, focused work.

2. More monitors = more options

If you have multiple monitors, the Windows key + Shift + left/right arrow will be your favorite key combination: with this you can immediately send the active window to the other monitor. And if you want to see multiple windows on one display, the Windows key and the arrows can be your best friends: with this feature, you can place windows on both sides of the screen and in the corners, so you can see multiple processes on one screen, and you can also quickly switch between full-screen and windowed views.

3. Virtual desktops

Creating virtual desktops is a real magic that can increase your efficiency. Think of them as separate “islands” that help you organize your different types of tasks: one for communication channels like email and work chat, another for spreadsheets, and a third for creative work.

With the Windows key + Ctrl + D combination, you can create a new, clean desktop—as if you had just turned on your computer—where you can organize processes related to a specific task type or project. Switching between them is made easier by pressing Windows key + Ctrl + left/right arrow, which allows you to switch between desktops at lightning speed, so that context switching does not break your work session.

4. Use focus mode

We are all familiar with the phenomenon when pop-up notifications prevent us from concentrating on the task at hand, and as a result, we end up finishing our work much more slowly. With the Win + N key combination, we can bring up the Notification Center in one move, where the “Do Not Disturb” mode is turned on, and pop-up notifications do not appear. This can be a particularly useful solution when we are in a presentation situation.