A Shorter Path

Fancy point and click interfaces were designed to make things simple for the non-technical user. It may be a good starting point, but if you are still using a mouse to launch programs, control the browser and look for files, do yourself a favor: install software that lets you do it from the keyboard. Seriously.

I use Launchy. There are others.

After setting up some shortcuts for what you do 90% of the time, you may find your flow changing, from piloting a little pointer all over the screen with a clicky hockey puck, to using a few (usually two) keystrokes to get just about anywhere.

Here's the workflow that covers about 80% of my daily interactions with the computer:

No searching for icons on the desktop, no looking for bookmarks, no hunting around in start manager and all programs. In less than a second I can launch any application I commonly use or browse to any sites I frequent.

This might not seem like a big deal, but if you try it for a day or so, you realize just how dorky that little hockey puck actually is.

You can also clear off icons and folders from your desktop. Maybe replace them with a zen fountain....