Some people shrink the window to half-sized, and have one year on the right and one on the left (in my opinion, shrinking it helps anyways - it is quicker to scroll up and down).

Others (including me) use Dual Monitors so they are both open.  Most computers are capable of that, so you would only need to buy another monitor (and have space on your desk to put it).

Yeah, I understand that trying to front-load any work now can make things less busy later.