I’m a little late getting in on the Productivity Tips submission at the Instigator Blog, but better late than never. 
When I was thinking of ways to be more productive, I didn’t want to dwell on the typical “meditate and visualize” advice. I wanted to come up with and share something unique. Not only that, but I wanted to be as specific as possible. So, I decided to focus on computer work, since I love doing anything on the computer.
The Desktop
First of all, most people completely waste their desktop. There are neat little widgets and gadgets that you can put on it, and those can be helpful in some ways I suppose. I used to have the “Konfabulator Widgets” on my desktop before they were “Yahoo Widgets”. Anyway, when I’m sitting at the computer, the only time I minimize my windows and actually see the desktop is when I’m looking for something…….whether it be an application icon or a file. No matter how nice the photo I’m using, I really don’t look at it that much. This is the typical Windows XP desktop:
Why waste all that space on some picture you never really look at, and keep all your files in your Documents folder? Why not make everything more accessible? OK, maybe not everything, but the files and apps that you use most often. I’ve come up with a solution for this that makes everything much easier and quicker to get to. To my knowledge, this idea is original…….
How do you separate everything out like that? Well, I just created an image, using my favorite photo editor, for my desktop and separated it in six color-coded sections. Then I labeled each section with text. The image should be the same size as the screen resolution you use on your desktop. My screen resolution is set at 1280 x 1024, so that’s the size of my desktop image. Once the image is made and is set as your desktop background, just drag the icons and files on your desktop to the section you want them in.
So what are your best productivity tips? This is a meme that may actually give some great advice. Ben has already had well over 100 submissions on this project, so there are some great tips. Check it out at the Instigator Blog.
**Update: Here is a variation that may be a little easier on the eye. The point is to make a background image that works for you! I’m now offering several variations of these backgrounds for download if you don’t want to make your own!
Tags: How To, Productivity by Anthony ∗ 39 Comments »
Recently, while taking part in the Instigator Blog’s Ultimate Guide to Productivity, I introduced a new way to organize your desktop to make your most often used files and folders more accessible. I started thinking about the fact that not every one who uses a computer knows how to make that background image, so perhaps offering a few of them for download would be a good idea. 
Then, AgentSully left a comment with that same thought, which prompted me to go ahead with the idea. Not only that, but I’ve also come up with a way to use this method of organization and still enjoy a desktop picture! The only thing is, each picture has to be customized. So now I have several variations available for download on my new desktops page. If these do well, I will offer more in the future.
Do you ever feel like the best part of waking up, really is Folgers in your cup?
