An Organized Desktop is an Organized Mind

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I finally have real-world use case for Virtual Desktops.

I will preface this by admitting that I’m a simple user. Or so I thought. I have 2 monitors, on which there is a specific organization. Outlook takes up ~65% of my right monitor, full-screen justified to the left. Desktop shortcuts and items (of which there are under a dozen) are found only on my left and primary monitor. As you might have guessed, I do IT-related things; namely, I remote into servers and computers. When that activity begins, I full-screen it on my right monitor, to allow active note-taking or email previews to populate on the left. This may be useless for you to follow, but I aim to exemplify that there is already some method to my madness.

Recently though, I’ve been struggling with what I call “Pignotti-Syndrome.”  I have way too many windows and Word docs and browsers and browser tabs open at once. Internet Explorer used to be a place that contained only my work-related tabs, while Firefox was used for personal browsing. But … these lines have started to blur, based on where websites or web-based applications function best. And this has threatened the very core of my mindful compartmentalization.

Insert, Virtual Desktops.

I won’t get into the how-to of using this Windows 10 feature. Microsoft did it, here. But I will tell you why it’s become so useful.

I use a VD for work stuff. Work email, Outlook calendars, QuickBooks, remote desktop sessions, this blog post draft, and seemingly one-million browser tabs for technology-related things. And, separately, in a Virtual Desktop world far, far away from this one, I keep some personal stuff. Emails from my dog-walker about a schedule. An Etsy page with vinyl storage options. Car rental costs for an upcoming trip. Those windows and tabs add up too, and I don’t need or want to toggle into any of it when I’m in work-mode.

I need separate buckets for my separate tasks. Work goes in one, non-Work goes in the other. Thank you, Virtual Desktops, for keeping the peas away from the carrots.