Getting more done with a single screen

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Summary

Jason Fried from 37signals uses only a 13-inch MacBook Pro and no external screens, and I’ve been doing the same since 2011. One full screen at a time keeps you focused, so you’re not distracted by multiple things. I use Safari for work and Brave for everything else. Give one screen a try, it works.

Raw

I was listening to a podcast from 37 Signals and Jason Freed, one of the founders of 37 signals, he was talking about, there was a tiny segment, he was talking about how he only uses a 13 inch MacBook Pro and no external screens. Now I do the same. I’ve been doing this for years. In fact, I think since 2011, I started using just the MacBook. MacBook Pro. And it was a 13-inch. I never wanted anything bigger. I didn’t need anything bigger.

And a lot of people, when I go to clients, when I talk to clients, a lot of people ask me how I can work just on a 13-inch MacBook. Well, it does depend on the type of work you do. You don’t necessarily need a second screen. I used to be in the music business where I used to install systems and I used to install multiple screens because they needed it for plugins and you know the the mixer and so on so they needed it same with uh um um video editors my words coming to me video editors they need multiple screens for specific things but if you’re working in the office unless you’re working on a massive excel sheet which yeah you might may need it you don’t need a second screen now i’ve been sitting here working on my laptop and it got me thinking about about this. That’s why I thought today was a good day to make this video.

Because I’ve realised that everything I do is a full screen. So I’m not distracted by anything else. So I don’t have two things going on or three things going on. Now if I need to move and copy paste, yeah, I use shortcuts. And again, Jason Free did touch on this. And it seems that we kind of work in the same way. Now he may have been doing it for a longer period than me, but this is the first time I’ve heard him actually talk about it.

So having one screen can actually get more done because you’re not, you’re focusing on one thing and you’re not distracted by lots of other things going on. For instance, I use Safari as my main web browser, but I use Brave as everything else. So my social media, watching videos, entertainment, I use Brave. If there are websites I don’t know, I’ll use Brave for it because it strips tracking better than Safari. But my Safari is the standard browser. Now, there are different reasons why I do that, but if you think about it, I don’t want to be distracted by Twitter and so on if I’m doing work, which is Safari. And, you know, social media and stuff, as I said, it was brave.

Same with email, it’s full screen. I’m concentrating on the email at that moment. Same with writing a note. It’s full screen because I don’t want to be distracted by anything else. So pretty much all the apps, the only app that isn’t full screen, is my Things 3 because I love it when it’s more screen. And I quickly write something and, you know, finish it. I don’t really focus too much on my to-do lists because I only have like three or four a day. If you have more than that, you’re crazy.

So pretty much every single app, apart from things that I use, is full screen because I don’t want to keep switching focus from one thing to another. I would suggest giving it a try. Some people use 15 inch laptops. Okay, fine, if you want to. I try to use a 16 inch and it was just way too big for me. I’m so happy with this 13 inch. I do all my video editing on it. I do my live streams on it. When I’m gaming, I do my live streams via this. You don’t need multiple screens and you generally don’t need a bigger screen to get anything done because, yeah, one screen, be focused. That’s probably the best way to go. Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Anyway, enjoy your Thursday. I’ll see you tomorrow.