Rainbow-Colored Desktops

Pixabay

I have a love-hate relationship with the multiple desktop options available on my MacBook. Mostly, I love them, because they allow me to lay out all of my works-in-progress, allocating each its own work space.

It's an I need to see it person's dream.

But...the desktops also allow me to lay out all of my works-in-progress, allocating each its own workspace. Yes, I know I said that already, counting it as a plus, but it's also a drawback and the other end of the double-edged sword that is my love-hate relationship with multiple desktops. The alternative, you see, would be actually closing the files. Y'know. Giving them names and putting them away.

But we all know what happens when someone with an I need to see it personal style puts away things that aren't yet complete, right?

They don't get done. Away = forgotten.

The trouble with using all of these desktops is that it drains my Mac's battery. All those open documents and tabs make my laptop work much harder than it should have to.

Lately, I've been wondering if this plan has the same effect on my battery, so to speak. When every desktop contains things to do...(Don't ask me how many desktops I have open. I'm an honest person and would prefer not to be tempted to put that to the test).

Well, you get the idea.

But, is it really better to put them all away and hope I remember what to do? Yes, I know there are alternatives -- lists, for example -- and they're worth considering. Or at least they were until...

One day a week or so ago, it occurred to me that I could change the colors of my desktops to match the file folders in which I store the hard copies for each of these projects. Purple for my organization book. Green for my school-related stuff. Beach wallpaper for the story I was brainstorming on the beach. I've played with desktop wallpaper before but, for some reason, it never occurred to me to take my color-coding quite this far.

Foto-Os via Pixabay

Suddenly, my system made even more sense. Those open files had logical homes that were immediately clear to me because I'd individualized each one. Looking for the draft of my course syllabus? Try the green desktop.

I may never put a computer file away again. And, while I think that's a bad thing as far as my Macbook's battery is concerned, for an I need to see it person with many irons in the fire, it's a very, very satisfying thing indeed.