The answer (for me): 1 thing per workspace most the time. maybe 2 things side by side on a landscape oriented monitor or 2 things on top of each other on a portrait oriented monitor. And: 2 or 3 monitors.

"I want the primary thing I'm working on to be right in front of me, not all over the place." is exactly why people use tiling window managers. The screenshots where people have dozens of apps all shown on a single monitor are mostly memes or to flex their uncommon layout engine.