Two monitors doesn't work great for me because I always feel like one is "primary" and one "secondary", where all the crap like Slack and email that distracts me goes, which just hurts productivity.

I switched to an ultrawide, and though it's about the same amount of screen space I tend to organize it differently, keeping mostly on-task stuff visible. It's real nice to have 3 tabs of related code and an iOS simulator running as well as a console without having to tab switch.

Yeah, the main thing that I find occasionally useful with a second monitor, really, is when I need to go back and forth quickly, for instance when copying and pasting from one data source to another, or checking one thing against another.

And then the thought that comes up, of course, is, don't copy or verify data that way. Automate it.

I used to use three huge monitors at work, but since working at home during Covid I've found that I not only like typing on my HP laptop's built-in keyboard better than on my full-sized mechanical keyboard, but I mostly prefer just using the laptop's display to using multiple displays, and for exactly the reason you gave -- I'm better off automating things and serializing work from the command line. I've made aliases for opening the web sites I need from the command line and usually just kill them when I'm done with them, instead of using tabs. It really does have a kind of head-clearing effect.

I have tried dual monitors many times and I really don't prefer it over one large, high-resolution monitor. I have a 2019 5k iMac, which I run both macOS and Windows (for work) on, and it's damn near perfect.

I agree. I used to use 2-3 monitors. But now I can get by with one. I think it helps me to focus. Even having slack or email gets distracting since you'll see it update. So I have it hidden behind other apps in my main monitor.

Sometimes I do use a second monitor to put anything I might need to reference. But most of the time, it's blank.

I'd suggest explicitly keeping those apps off the second monitor. I like keeping reference documentation and running notes there.

Main monitor for work, second monitor for active reference materials. No slack, no email. I am much more effective this way.

Cheat sheets or reference material is great on a second monitor.