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15 dashboards that reveal how we work at MakeUseOf

Whatever platform you're on, your desktop can reveal a lot about how you use your computer. 5 Better Ways To Use Your Windows Desktop Than For Shortcuts 5 Better Ways To Use Your Windows Desktop Than For Shortcuts Your desktop space is too precious to be cluttered with shortcuts. We show you how to make better use of it. Your desktop makeover will increase your inspiration, creativity or productivity. Read more . It might even give us a peek at your personality and completely fool us.

Maybe you keep your Windows desktop meticulously clean, but your physical desktop is a mess. If you're curious to see how MakeUseOf team members use their desktops, check them out now.

The desktop genius

Several members of our team fall into this category. You might consider their desks messy, but we all know true genius lies in navigating chaos. Also, who has time to clean when they have work to do?

Definitely not our resident developer and DIY editor. James Bruce . This is what your Mac desktop looks like after ordering.

15 dashboards that reveal how we work at MakeUseOf

Recognize a system? James says there is one. In defending him, he has a good point:

Fortunately, James has some colleagues he can trust. First of all, our Smart Home editor. Briallyn Smith .

15 dashboards that reveal how we work at MakeUseOf

Briallyn describes his desk as a tragedy..

Although she admits that her desktop computer isn't functional, Briallyn also realizes that she relies heavily on the search tool. 9 Tips for a more minimalist and efficient Mac experience. 9 Tips for a more minimalist and efficient Mac experience. His Mac's interface is clean and beautiful as it is, but with a few tweaks here and there, you can polish it up a bit more for a more enjoyable desktop experience. Read more . We think he has a few tricks up his sleeve..

Ian Buckley The desktop looks deceptively clean, but admit the chaos lies just below the surface.

15 dashboards that reveal how we work at MakeUseOf

The workstation desk

While our geniuses seem to just download everything to their desktops, these people use their desktop for specific projects.

Khamosh Pathak he describes his desk as "some special kind of hell."

15 dashboards that reveal how we work at MakeUseOf

The Khamosh Desk is a bulletin board for current projects and articles. He exports edited images for his articles and wireframes for UX projects to the desktop, so you can drag them into a chat, email, or browser window. Every once in a while, when it gets too crowded or you need screenshots of articles, Khamosh cleans the desktop of it.

If you have any ideas for Khamosh, please leave a comment below!

Rohan Naravane The desktop has two main purposes. Take screenshots first, “because on a Mac that is the default destination when you use the Cmd + Shift + 3 or Cmd + Shift + 4 shortcut.” Also, use his desktop. “as a temporary area to hold files and folders that I need to attach and email.”

15 dashboards that reveal how we work at MakeUseOf

Like most of you who know how to use a decent file management tool like Finder 8 Finder Tips for Mac Newbies 8 Finder Tips for Mac Newbies Navigating files and folders with the native Mac Finder file browser is quite easy, but there are many more functions hidden behind menus and keyboard shortcuts. Read More to the point that he temporarily denies her existence. On the rare occasions that he is confronted with the many files on his desktop, he selects them all and places them in a folder called “Desktop”. Obviously, that folder resides on his desktop..

Before heading to the comments, Rohan notes that it's possible to automatically save screenshots to a specific folder. 8 Smart Folders You Need On Your Mac (And How To Set Them Up) 8 Smart Folders You Need On Your Mac (And How To Set Them Up) A Mac Smart Folder lets you group similar files from all over your machine. Here's how to use them and some great examples to get you started. Read More

Bohed , Our art director, has a dual screen setup, thus two desktops.

15 dashboards that reveal how we work at MakeUseOf

Like Rohan, he lets his Mac automatically save all screenshots to the desktop.

Our tech editor explained Gavin Phillips has reduced its size from a dual 24" screen and 17" laptop to a single monitor. Apparently, writing and editing require less screen real estate than market research.

15 dashboards that reveal how we work at MakeUseOf

Gavin likes to see a different background every few hours. Outsource your wallpaper to create an awesome dynamic desktop Outsource your wallpaper to create an awesome dynamic desktop Imagine that you would boot Windows to an awesome wallpaper every day. We show you how to use Reddit and John's background switcher to set up a dynamic desktop that updates automatically. Read More

Meanwhile, our Linux and Security editor. Christian Cawley It leaves no doubt about his taste in music..

15 dashboards that reveal how we work at MakeUseOf

The UK's most prolific tech journalist primarily uses shortcuts from his vertical taskbar. His Windows taskbar should be vertical. Therefore, your Windows taskbar must be vertical. Why. The default position of the Windows taskbar is at the bottom of the screen. But a vertical taskbar might be better for you. Let's find out why. Read more . Meanwhile, the desktop is home to games and digital download services that are "sensiblely bundled," Cristiano says.

The lean desk

This is essentially two different mindsets in one. First, we have people who appreciate a stylish, clutter-free desk. And then we have the minimalists.

Judging by his taskbar, James Frew It's not a minimalist hardcore, but it definitely has style.

15 dashboards that reveal how we work at MakeUseOf

James appreciates a clean and organized Windows desktop How to Clean Up Your Windows Desktop Once and For All How to Clean Up Your Windows Desktop Once and For All Clutter is more damaging than he thinks. A tidy Windows desktop makes things easier to find, more pleasant to look at, and reduces stress. We show you how to tidy up your desk. Read more . Mainly because he likes it. “being able to minimize all my windows and look at my minimal rotating backgrounds.” All of his downloads, files, and other stuff go into the Downloads folder, from where James finally sorts them where they belong. A waste of time, if you ask the other James...

Joe Coburn The nickname around MakeUseOf is superjoe. And just like how geeky he is, his Mac desktop is also out of this world.

15 dashboards that reveal how we work at MakeUseOf

Now don't let the desktop fool you! He likes to keep his desktop clean because he often uses multiple USB and network drives (#macproblems). However, if you could see his actual desk, you'd recognize Joe's genius :

Bertel King Jr. He shared two screenshots. First of all, he showed a very elegant and clean desktop..

15 dashboards that reveal how we work at MakeUseOf

Slightly distressed by all the crowded desks (“I don't know how you guys live.”) And inspired by the writer's beautiful Chrome OS photo, he went looking for a new wallpaper. This is what he came up with:

15 dashboards that reveal how we work at MakeUseOf

Solid Grey. Is this art?

To keep the desktop clean of him, Bertel saves everything directly to the corresponding folder. Anything that doesn't have a destination remains in Downloads. Simple.

Joe Keeley He likes to keep his desk as neat as possible. That means no icons or temporary files, just the Recycle Bin.

15 dashboards that reveal how we work at MakeUseOf

Joe uses the taskbar to store shortcuts for programs 3 Better Ways to Store Your Files Than on the Desktop 3 Better Ways to Store Your Files Than on the Desktop Did you know that storing files directly on your desktop can hurt your productivity? Desktop storage is simple, but it has hidden drawbacks that he may not know about. Could you do it better! Read More

Now for the most minimalist desk, imagine James Bruce's desk with absolutely nothing on it. What you get is Akshata Mac desktop.

15 dashboards that reveal how we work at MakeUseOf

Akshata says:

Those Mac people clearly like the default mountain background.

The author's desktop

Tina Sieber uses a trick to keep the Windows desktop clean:it hides all desktop icons.

15 dashboards that reveal how we work at MakeUseOf

To still have access to whatever's on the desktop, she maintains a taskbar toolbar 7 Useful Toolbars You Can Add To Your Windows Taskbar 7 Useful Toolbars You Can Add To Your Windows taskbar The Windows desktop can be a super productive workspace. Native toolbars can help make you even more efficient by putting shortcuts and information at your fingertips. Let's take a closer look. Read More Tina's real challenge is dozens of browser windows and tabs cluttering up her taskbar.

Between chaos and order

Our team covers the entire spectrum. And that is what a good team should do. You need all kinds of people to produce great work.

Team members who haven't contributed to this article have previously shown you how to make your Windows desktop unique How to change the look of your Windows 10 desktop How to change the look of your Windows 10 desktop Just upgraded to Windows 10 and you are wondering how you can personalize and personalize it. We help you turn your desktop into a virtual Windows experience, step by step. More information or how to make Windows darker? Do you prefer dark themes? 7 Tips to Make Your Windows Desktop Even Darker Do you prefer dark themes? 7 Tips to Make Your Windows Desktop Even Darker Dark colors can help with eye strain, and they're stylish, too. A dark Windows theme is a good start. Here's how to make your Windows desktop as dark as possible. Read more . You can do a lot of cool things with your desktop.

Your turn! How does your desk look? Share a screenshot in the comments, tell us what's special about it, and if we motivate you to change anything about it, we'd love to hear from you too!