Shanghai Tech WriterTechnical Writing, Technology, WordPress, Web 2.0, National Instruments, LabVIEW, Shanghai, China

As mentioned in the previous post about my workspace configurations, one of my most productive configurations is the way I setup my Windows taskbar. I have two toolbars on my taskbar—the quick launch toolbar and a “Useful” toolbar.

The two toolbars occupy a very small section of my taskbar. I use two tiers for my taskbar because I usually have 8-10 windows/programs open at a time, so I need as much available space on the taskbar as possible.

Quick Launch Toolbar
The quick launch toolbar is made available by right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting Toolbars»Quick Launch. I added all the applications/tools I use frequently to this toolbar. Previously, I used to have the quick launch toolbar stretched out so that I see all the icons and am able to open any application right away. Now, I minimized the size of the quick launch toolbar so that only six icons appear with » at the top right hand corner. Clicking on the » immediately displays the rest of the icons in my quick launch toolbar. This is like a customized version of the Windows Start»All Programs menu, except without all the clutter of applications that are never used. One thing to note about the quick launch toolbar and why this is more useful than placing the same icons on the desktop. Windows taskbar is always accessible regardless of how many applications/windows are open. This makes it easy to open an application without having to minimize all the windows to look for an icon on the desktop.

Useful Toolbar
By right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting Toolbars»New Toolbar, you can add any folder you want as a toolbar! As mentioned earlier and in a previous post, I have a folder on the desktop called “Useful.” I placed all my frequently accessed files, folders, and miscellaneous shortcuts inside this folder. Then, I added this folder as a toolbar to my taskbar, which functions similarly to the quick launch toolbar! I minimized the size of this toolbar so that only the word “Useful” appears with » at the top right hand corner. By default, the customized toolbar should appear on the right side of the taskbar, but I moved it to the left side next to the quick launch toolbar. Clicking on the » immediately displays all my frequently accessed items for quick launch. Again, this setup is much easier to use then placing the same files/folders/shortcuts on the desktop. I can open files immediately without having to minimize all the windows.

With this taskbar setup, I am able to access everything I need from one location and maintain a very simple and clean desktop! This is my idea of easy, simple, productive, and clean.