The Jeff Pulver Blog: Question of the Day: How often is your computer’s desktop a reflection of your real desktop?

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May 14, 2007

Question of the Day: How often is your computer’s desktop a reflection of your real desktop?

After staring at the crowded desktop of my laptop and then looking across my crowded desk, I’m wondering what the relationship is between the desktop on someone’s computer and the desk they work from.

Do people who have relatively uncluttered desktops on their computers the same people who have neat and tidy desks? Or are there people who have neat and tidy computer desktops have actually pretty messy desks? Or is there no correlation whatsoever?

While I may prefer at times to work with an “organized mess”, it is a still a place where I know where things are. It is just when someone cleans up my office and puts things away for me when I feel as if I don’t have a clue where anything is. And I feel the same way whenever I cleaning up the desktop on my computer.

Tags: Question of the Day, Jeff Pulver

Posted by jeff on May 14, 2007 06:58 AM | Permalink

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Nothing a like. My computer desktop is clean with only 2-3 items where as my actual desktop has piles of crap all over the place. It just seems to be place to throw everything.

Posted by: Clintus McGintus at May 20, 2007 04:58 PM

About the same in terms of organized chaos, but have no relation in content....

Posted by: Gudmann Bragi at May 15, 2007 10:39 AM

Slightly related, I did some research last year into attitudes towards desktop sharing as we were seeing more and more colleagues working flexibly and in virtual teams, but loosing the shared visual experience you get working together in an office 'I see what you mean'. The spectrum of responses varied between 'my desk top is my identity' to 'my desktop is my private space - how dare you look at it'. We like to share desktops www.yuuguu.com/blog/?p=94

Posted by: Philip Hemsted at May 15, 2007 06:23 AM

I find my computer desk stays more organized. Entropy seems to move slower in cyberspace. Then again I tend to spend much more time putting things where I like them and automating tasks. I imagine if I had an automatic desk tidying assistant for my real desk the whole office would stay pristine. Perhaps I should create a job listing...!

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Posted by: Lance Weber at May 14, 2007 10:25 PM

The desk at the Gray Place is a weird mix of random artifacts from my travels. A few business cards that weren't added to the database, some receipts, a postcard or two. I know where everything I need is, though that's rarely related to what's on my desk.

My laptop is fairly organized. I use the desktop there as a "work in progress" area, and then file away. My real world desktop NEVER has works in progress. Just random junk. But then, I don't work well with paper.

Great question!

--Chris...

Posted by: Chris Brogan... at May 14, 2007 01:40 PM

My laptop desk is clean, my desktop less so, the actual desktop even less. Each tends to be a place where various worlds collide, with the actual desktop being filled with more real life and virtual life stuff in comeptition for scarce space and attention.
This said, filing has never been my strong suit, but if you leave things in your in box long enough, they magically become trash!!!

Posted by: whitney hoffman at May 14, 2007 01:39 PM

I use the organized mess strategy on my desk and on my desktop. The difference is that I can usually find things on my desktop thanks to meta search tools.

Posted by: John Swords at May 14, 2007 11:59 AM

I don't really bother with the desktop on my computer. Various icons land on it over time, but I launch programs from quick launch or from the start menu, and documents that need to be used always go into my documents...in short, the desktop icons aren't used for anything.

Every 6 months I go and clean up all the icons, usually just deleting the unused ones, so yes, my computer desktop can get pretty cluttered.

My physical desktop is quite bad. The entire thing is one big inbox of things that need to filed away, bills that need to be paid, periodicals that need reading, or hardware that needs to be installed in my computer.

Posted by: dave siegel at May 14, 2007 11:56 AM

You said it, Jeff, with "...it is a still a place where I know where things are."

**My Windows Desktop is a virtual smorgasbord!**

Posted by: K² at May 14, 2007 11:50 AM

I find I go in cycles. I start with an uncluttered desktop (virtual and real) about once every month or so. Then over time I save/stack/place things on my desktop(s). Eventually it reaches the point where there is no more space and I am forced to clean it all up and the cycle begins all over again.

Posted by: Jesse Chenard at May 14, 2007 10:39 AM

Mine is a bit different - my desktop is a mess, my computer desktop is better, but my folders are neatly organized.

Posted by: Kfir Pravda at May 14, 2007 10:07 AM

One of my machines is running with dual monitors - my desktop icons are so numerous that it spread across both monitors - I also have two working desks in my office, and my mess is spread across both of them as well.

For "temp stuff" folders - I do those too.
I also have a couple cardboard boxes sitting on my floor - those are my real life temp folders, filled with stuff that I'm not sure where it belongs.

Posted by: Michael Bailey at May 14, 2007 10:07 AM

I also create temp folders but the mess seems to always reappear...

Posted by: Jeff Pulver at May 14, 2007 08:46 AM

My physical desk is always a mess, but my computer desktop is always clean and organized. I HATE having files and folders all over the desktop. Drives me nuts.

Anytime that it fills up with stuff I either delete things or drop them right into a "temp stuff" folder that is always on any computer I have.

It will be interesting to see what others say.

Posted by: C.C. at May 14, 2007 08:32 AM

May 14, 2007

Question of the Day: How often is your computer’s desktop a reflection of your real desktop?

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