Alternate take: I achieve constant-time access (mod key + digit) to all those things with 10 workspaces in i3.

I can't imagine having to see them all at once. Realistically, I'm only actually thinking about 1 or 2 of them at a time. If I need to check documentation, I'm no longer thinking about my build output. Slack, email, and calendar are disconnected from development tools. And if I need to do a quick context shift, I can switch over instantly.

I've never used i3 but have been intrigued for ages. I'm finding myself more and more "faking" a tiling window system on my work Mac. I generally open a separate zsh/tmux session in a vscode pane for each workspace, which works great. I'm now also adding a split window to the left for note taking, initially Gdocs but more recently just another vscode window for markdown files. I merge all my other coding workspaces into one window on the right, so I can have the same notes on the left but switch projects on the right with ease.

Curious if something like yabai would be even better but just haven't made the time to try it.

Have you tried Spectacle? https://www.spectacleapp.com

As a long time i3 user that switched to Mac, it gives me almost all the benefits while still integrating nicely with the general UI. It's also not nearly as steep of a learning curve and does not get in your way at all.

Thanks for recommending! I will check it out.

Edit: "Spectacle is no longer being actively maintained Download Spectacle"

I guess it still works for you though?

Spectacle runs just fine and is worth looking at. For me, it didn't really scratch the itch.

I find I'm a lot more productive if I can see everything I'm keeping in my head all at once. Virtual desktops are good for organization, but for me, don't substitute for a large display.

workspaces don't work for me. I constantly need to see 2-3 windows from different apps together and which 2-3 change constantly meaning to see them together I'd have to move the windows across workspaces every 10-20 minutes.

Documentation + editor

Editor + Terminal

Editor + Issue Tracker

Terminal + Issue Tracker

Issue Tracker + Testing Result

etc. etc.

I don't "context switch". My context is "getting shit done" and for me it requires access to many many windows at the same time.

Check out dwm. It has a different concept from workspaces called 'tags' which is close to what you are describing.

FWIW, moving a window to a different workspace is also constant-time (shift+mod+digit). Maybe I'd spend another half second positioning it among the tiles (shift+mod+vim navigation keys), but only if I'm just starting a project.

I do the same and have triple displays that is placed with ergonomics in mind, so workspace is like 3*n mostly.

There's no drawback for me except probably terrible carbon foot print..

Sorry, what impact does i3 have on your carbon footprint?

Not i3 - the energy consumption of running three large monitors.

But the OP's point was that using workspaces in a tiling window manager removes the need for so much physical real estate. If you have a very fluent i3-based workflow, the limiting factor becomes your own human capacity to focus attention, at which point a single decently large monitor (that can hold, say, 4 windows comfortably per workspace) is all you'd ever need.

3 monitors is just a workaround for a workflow problem that i3 can solve.

And the post I clarified says:

> I do the same and have triple displays that is placed with ergonomics in mind,

meaning that the author uses both i3 and triple monitors.

I use a laptop and two 27" externals, not with i3 but with an auto-positioning Hammerspoon that has a similar effect.

When I'm on smaller or fewer displays I can't fit everything I want up simultaneously.

Granted, I relatively often have a mobile app codebase, a backend API codebase used by the mobile app, terminal sessions pertaining to each of those codebases, and documentation for the tools used in either or both projects up all at once.

My eyesight isn't great, so all of those have fairly large font sizes.

Not every project needs that much context. When I'm hacking on my Emacs config, a two-pane split is about I can ask for (and one will do the job just fine).

that's also my philosophy (in sway). in my first workspace I keep all my terminals that belong to a specific task ws 2 for another task ws 3 for web browsing, ws 3 for irc|mail|signal etc ... and most of the time I am in fullscreen so I won't get distracted (by things like polybar/waybar etc) ... really did wonders for my attention and productivity.

I definitely agree with that take when talking about running two 4k monitors at full resolution, but it doesn’t address the size at all. The more reasonable approach would be to use two ~38-42” monitors.

One 32 inch 4k monitor massively improves my ability to get stuff done. I'm tempted to get another one to see how it goes.

I used to love "smaller" fonts and whatnot. Unfortunately my 45 year old eyes can't do it anymore. These days I stick with 2 32" at QHD. I've always used my laptop open for things like the terminal etc, but I find that's a bit too small unless I'm sitting directly in front of it (coffee shop etc)

Kind of funny that the idea of constantly flipping between a bunch of things increases productivity. I’d imagine if this person had instead limited themselves to a single 15” laptop screen their productivity would’ve increased over their baseline because they’d be focused on one thing at a time.

Honestly doubt it - I watch files/diffs side-by-side constantly - at 120 line length with a 15 inch MBP there's just no way even if I kill the explorer panel - I can just barely fit it when i zoom out one level from my comfortable font size and have the panel closed - but that's not a great experience for me.

My point was that committing to a change that you think will make you more productive is likely to make you feel more productive.

People don’t like to admit they’re wrong and really like to convince themselves they were right.

Don't see how it increases productivity compared to normally sized 4k screens? Can fit just as much into them?

Edit: Or might be able to not scale text as much. But that is the screen being too close I feel.

Slight skepticism should be applied to any productivity claim. There was research to determine if changing X in the office boosted productivity. But in the end it was found that X didn't matter, within reason. Changing any X boosted productivity and the benefits often diminished with time. I thought this was called the Hawthorne Effect but I am no longer sure.

Hawthorn Effect is right although it is disputed [1]. Interestingly, the interpretation that I remember is that productivity increased because the subjects were part of an experiment and being observed.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect

I am not sure if I understand this claim. It looks like this setup has the same density of information as a typical 27in 4k monitor.