I’m kinda obsessive about cleanliness on my computer. The inside contents just have to be so. I arrange most of my stuff into folders and do not like stuff like images, mp3s or documents to lie around unattended. My desktop has got to be cleared off as possible with all icons arranged neatly. Below you can see what my desktop currently looks like.
The only non application icon is a folder called “Work” and I leave it there on the desktop because it contains files related to work and specially stuff that I am working on now and other files from which I refer materials for the work I am currently on. It has powerpoint presentation slides, excel sheets, word documents and a few notepad files. The rest of my files are usually all arranged neatly inside the 4 partitions of my 320 GB HDD. I do like stray files to get away from their individual folders, like excitable puppies straying away from momma dog. I extend the leash and bring back said stray file into the folder where it belongs.
I hate the system at the office – it’s so cluttered with crap. The thing is that I share that system with two others and hence there is a lot of stuff that is not mine. I have removed the wallpaper on that system since the icons on the desktop are too many that you won’t be able to see it anyway. The files, none of which are mine, are scattered across the 3 hard drives and it looks like the aftermath of a sandstorm. My files are all neatly labeled and saved inside a folder in a section that is dedicated to my work stuff. I make copies of that main folder from time to time, usually once a week, and save it in another drive. If I need a file all I have to do is to look it up in my main folder or the appropriately named sub folders. The other two have to do frantic searches in Windows to get their files.