That's what I do except I use TotalSpaces[1] to use the trackpad to swipe up, right, down or left to each workspace.
You can set applications to open on specific desktops, or any desktop. This combined with moom[2] really makes macOS a pleasure to work with and alleviates the need for multiple monitors.
There's been a lot of talk of people switching from macOS recently and while it's not unfounded I'd struggle replacing this setup.