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5 Desktop Wallpapers that will increase your productivity

One often overlooked aspect of using your computer productively is the desktop. Instead of having a pretty picture of the beach, try using one of these wallpapers.


  1. GTD

    2. If you’re a fan of the GTD (Getting Things Done) methodology, this is the wallpaper for you. Grab it (or one of the others) from here.

  2. Layered Desktop

    3. Available in both light and dark, the Layered Desktop wallpapers allow you to group your icons by categories.

  3. EZ Access Desktops

    4. Though the colors may not suit your taste (there are 6 to choose from) – with a little work using your favorite image editing software (like the GIMP) and you can create your own.

  4. Panels

    5. Similar to the EZ Access Desktops, the panel method outlined here allows you to group icons according to category.

  5. Google Calendar

    6. Lifehacker explains how to use Google Calendar as your Desktop Wallpaper in Windows.

Posted in Other.

23 comments

By Ross McKillop – July 22, 2008

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23 Responses

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  1. Dana says

    Ohmygod I love this idea! So much better than the useless image I have now.

    July 22, 2008, 10:23 am
  2. David Bradley says

    Yeah, great ideas. I implemented this months ago and find it very useful for boosting productivity. It’s important if you’re using one of the panel type layouts to have an icon layout saver otherwise they can all get reset when you mess with screen settings in different applications, for instance.

    July 23, 2008, 1:50 am
  3. Rahsheen Porter says

    Definitely an awesome tweak I never thought about. I don’t store things on my desktop so the GTD flow-chart is great. In XP, I just hit Win+D to view the desktop and remind myself to get back to work :)

    July 24, 2008, 8:22 am
  4. sean808080 says

    great stuff…i’m sticking to my fancy graphics though.

    July 24, 2008, 8:27 am
  5. Ron says

    … and here I thought I was the only one with this idea. I took it a step further.

    I took some of those “pretty pictures” and Photoshopped them putting in grouping areas for icons. That way I get both, the pretty pic and organization.

    I’ve done it to several pics, and occasionally will add.

    July 26, 2008, 12:13 pm
  6. Loren says

    I’ve never considered a background for anything other than looking cool.

    July 27, 2008, 9:13 pm
  7. David Bradley says

    What would be nice, would be to have a dynamic background that actually locked icons into specific labeled/colored areas with each panel resizing depending on how many icons it has to accommodate…or I guess I could just use Microsoft’s new program launcher and avoid the issue altogether.

    August 19, 2008, 10:50 pm
  8. david tan says

    very interesting and useful

    December 12, 2008, 6:35 am
  9. Matthieu says

    Excellent ces 5 Wallpapers!

    July 31, 2009, 8:22 am

Continuing the Discussion

  1. Life Clerks » Layered Desktop Wallpaper Organizes Your Icons [Wallpaper] linked to this post on July 22, 2008

    [...] Flickr user Gabriel Radic has an elegantly simple solution for organizing icon clutter. His “Layered Desktop” background, free to download in high resolutions, divides your computer space into four areas—an aluminum board, a ruled sheet of paper, a sticky note, and wooden background. The idea is to treat the elements like you would a real desktop, putting temporary or urgent matters on the note, things you haven’t yet organized into the outer parts of the desk, and personal or work projects divided between the board and sheet, for example. The background works best on screens up to 1440 pixels wide. Looking for other subtle organizers? Hit the via link below for four more ideas. Layered Desktop [via Simple Help] [...]

  2. 5 Wallpapers para aumentar nuestra productividad « Ubuntu Life linked to this post on July 22, 2008

    [...] Enlace | Simple Help [...]

  3. Chestii, trestii | ovisebdan linked to this post on July 23, 2008

    [...] 5 wallpaper-uri care iti vor spori productivitatea [...]

  4. jopettitt.com » Blog Archive » Layered Desktop Wallpaper Organizes Your Icons [Wallpaper] linked to this post on July 23, 2008

    [...] Flickr user Gabriel Radic has an elegantly simple solution for organizing icon clutter. His “Layered Desktop” background, free to download in high resolutions, divides your computer space into four areas—an aluminum board, a ruled sheet of paper, a sticky note, and wooden background. The idea is to treat the elements like you would a real desktop, putting temporary or urgent matters on the note, things you haven’t yet organized into the outer parts of the desk, and personal or work projects divided between the board and sheet, for example. The background works best on screens up to 1440 pixels wide. Looking for other subtle organizers? Hit the via link below for four more ideas. Layered Desktop [via Simple Help] [...]

  5. 5 wallpaper per aumentare la propria produttività - Geekissimo linked to this post on July 24, 2008

    [...] Via | Simplehelp [...]

  6. Nice desktop icon organizer « Reticulate linked to this post on July 24, 2008

    [...] Layered Desktop Wallpaper Organizes Your Icons Flickr user Gabriel Radic has an elegantly simple solution for organizing icon clutter. His “Layered Desktop” background, free to download in high resolutions, divides your computer space into four areas—an aluminum board, a ruled sheet of paper, a sticky note, and wooden background. The idea is to treat the elements like you would a real desktop, putting temporary or urgent matters on the note, things you haven’t yet organized into the outer parts of the desk, and personal or work projects divided between the board and sheet, for example. The background works best on screens up to 1440 pixels wide. Looking for other subtle organizers? Hit the via link below for four more ideas. Layered Desktop [via Simple Help] [...]

  7. Papéis de parede para aumentar sua produtividade | Zona Cyber linked to this post on July 24, 2008

    [...] 5 Desktop Wallpapers that will increase your productivity – Simple Help – O Simple Help fez uma ótima seleção de papéis de parede para o computador, capazes de organizá-lo melhor. Basicamente, eles criam áreas específicas para o usuário separar os ícones no desktop por tipo. Para quem usa muito a área de trabalho para guardar arquivos, é uma boa pedida. [...]

  8. 利用桌面提高你的工作效率 | The Live™ linked to this post on July 31, 2008

    [...] 原文:5 Desktop Wallpapers that will increase your productivity [...]

  9. Weekend Reading at kylelibra.com linked to this post on August 1, 2008

    [...] 10 Habits that Bosses Love Convert Youtube to Mp3 10 Skills You Need to Succeed at Almost Anything 5 Desktop Wallpapers that will increase your productivity [...]

  10. WebWorkerDaily » Archive Clearing the Cache: The Desktop Edition « linked to this post on August 1, 2008

    [...] SimpleHelp offers 5 Desktop Wallpapers to increase your productivity [...]

  11. PostMania - Tem sempre algo novo » Blog Archive » 5 wallpapers para aumentar a produtividade e organizar seu desktop linked to this post on August 1, 2008

    [...] Link: 5 papéis de parede para aumentar a produtividade [...]

  12. Proyecto Autodidacta » Archive » Un papel tapiz para ordenarlos a todos… los iconos linked to this post on April 30, 2009

    [...] idea no es mía. Apareció hace unos días en una entrada de Lifehacker que, a su vez, reseña a otra de Simple Help como fuente original. Se trata de un papel tapiz o wallpaper diseñado de manera que esté dividido [...]

  13. Your desktop wallpaper can help you be productive? « iWilco linked to this post on October 11, 2009

    [...] [Simple Help - 5 Desktop Wallpapers That Will Increase Your Productivity] [...]

  14. webd+ » Início de carreira – organização linked to this post on October 14, 2009

    [...] para desktop: prateleira, 5 modelos, 6 modelos (icnlui carinha do [...]



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