The Ultimate Productivity Tip for Logo Designers
Posted on June 29th, 2010 by Duane Kinsey | 12 Comments already! Join the discussion
Picture this. You sit down in front of your computer in the morning, eager and ready to get some work done. Suddenly, you realise that a couple of hours have passed and you are still on TweetDeck, trawling though Google Reader and checking emails.
You wonder to yourself, what on earth happened to the last 3 hours…
I am sure that the situation above will sound familiar to many of you. It was a regular problem for me, that was until I changed one simple thing.
Use the tip I am about to share with you and it could change your life. I now start the day with a real sense of purpose, and my productivity levels have greatly improved.
While I have directed this post towards logo designers, no matter what your profession happens to be, this can work for you.
Ready to see what I am talking about? Look down.
Before – The Cluttered Desktop
After – The Minimalist Desktop
What, that’s it?
Yep, that’s it.
Having all your applications on the desktop is convenient, however there is always the temptation to get side-tracked. Additionally, while pretty backgrounds are nice, they can be distracting. This is something I didn’t realise until I removed mine.
Choose a single colour for your background (I prefer black or white), and place your single most important application for getting work done right smack-bang in the middle of your desktop.
Try it now and thank me in the comments later.
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ha ha good on you! still wouldn’t work for me. I have a sound alert attached to my emails and I can here it from anywhere in the house. Plus I keep flitting between my PC, Mac and Macbook .. crazy crazy! The most effective thing I found that really works for me is to shut down Tweetdeck, since Twitter is my number one time guzzler. It works like a charm everytime!
Oh no, I wouldn’t anything done at all if I had sound alerts on my emails! I don’t know how you do it.
I try to batch my emails at 10am and 4pm. I started doing that after I read the Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss a couple of years ago.
Tweekdeck is a huge time guzzler for me as well. I am trying to become more disciplined and batch that as well, but sometimes I just can’t help myself.
I used to kid myself and make the excuse that networking on Twitter was ‘work’. While it is important to network, the only thing that you can call ‘work’, is what brings in the money.
Good point! I always clear my desktop once a month, but files keep adding up and after a few days its full again. Happy to see that you are using a PC.
Hey Elina, it is really hard to maintain a clear desktop, but it is just so satisfying to turn the computer on in the morning a not have anything there to distract you.
Yes, I use am a PC user. We are a dying breed in the design world ;)
Great tip, logobird, thanks! :) It’s gonna be hard to give up my desktop…maybe just one icon at a time :)
Hi Lisa, it’s hard initially but well worth it. Let me know how you go.
Great tip! I dislike the extra menu clicks for when I need a program, but I use Fences, which gives me the ability to make the desktop appear empty/disappear with a double-click. Sometimes that’s all I need to start fresh and dig in.
Also, I’ve decided that the one con to Tweetdeck, the memory hording, is actually a benefit. It forces me to close the program when I have Illustrator open, exactly what needs to happen for me to focus. :)
*waves hello to another PC-using designer*
Hey Alicia, I have also just discovered recently what a memory hog Tweetdeck can be.
I love your perspective of looking at it as a benefit! Tweetdeck and trying to be productive is never a good mix.
*waves back* :)
I use Fences (Windows only) from Stardock (http://goo.gl/jfzN) – with one twoclick You got all Your icons hidden…
Thanks for the tip about Fences Peter. Have never come across it before. Looks very useful.