Green Computing

Building a Green Device Portfolio 99

users to run two or more screens at a time. Using multiple screens does tend to

increase productivity, but it can be overdone. At one company, many users have

a laptop screen and two widescreen external monitors turned on simultaneously.

No one can pay attention to that much screen space at once, and the effort to

“monitor” email, instant messaging, Facebook, and so forth, while “working”

has been shown to drastically reduce productivity.

Consider balancing user desires with efficiency. For instance, you might

consider limiting most users to a laptop and one external monitor. Encourage

users to turn off the external monitor while quickly checking email and more

focused tasks, and to turn it on again when ...