How to get productivity out of Spaces?

[akm3]

I understand how to enable and configure spaces, but I haven't been able to integrate it into my workflow. I'm kind of forcing it I guess, but does anyone have any examples of how they've added Spaces to their workflow and increased productivity?

I just seem to do better having a zillion windows open and using Expose to get to the ones I need. When I have spaces enabled, I have to remember which space has which applications, and it gets confusing.

Should I just give up? Am I missing something? Is there something obvious I should try? Help me make use of this feature!

 

[blurb23]

I don't use Spaces myself, nor is this really that great of an example, but it might help.

I've noticed that others using Spaces often dedicated one Space to researching, another to actually using the applications they need (be it Pages or whatever), and then a third to "personal" stuff like iTunes, Adium, etc.

And if you're computer is multi touch enabled, download Multi Clutch and set a command like Rotate or even 4 Finger Swipe to switch between spaces, making it a lot easier.

 

[highjumppudding]

i tried using spaces, desperately. didnt like it. didnt make sense to me with my work flow. if i am not using something, i just minimize it or HIDE it. not all features are for everyone. if can see if being useful if you wanted to designate a space for individual apps if you are a constant multitasker but i didnt find a use for it. i do mostly pro work and couldnt find a use for it. i tried. but didnt make sense with my workflow.

 

[aristobrat]

To make Spaces easier to use, I assigned it to my top-right hot corner. I just fly my mouse up there and it shows all windows in all Spaces. Makes finding what I'm looking for super simple, and I can drag apps between Spaces on the fly.

At work, I keep my VMWare Fusion XP machine in its own space.

At home, I like to keep Quicken in its own space because it uses a maddening amount of different windows for just one app.

 

[nadyne]

On my work computer, I have set up four Spaces.

In my first Space, I keep my email application (I use Entourage) running all the time. I chose this application because it's the single app that I use the most, and it's the one that I always have to return to during my day.

In my second Space (the one I get to by hitting control-rightarrow from the first one), I have whatever I'm working on that isn't email -- that's usually a document in Word or a presentation in PowerPoint.

In my third Space (the one I get to by hitting control-downarrow from the first one), I keep Safari open. I refer to Safari a lot during my work day, so it's nice to have it always there.

In my fourth Space (the one that is hardest to get to from my first one), I keep iTunes open, and I have iPhoto set up to open in that Space as well. I don't use these all the time, but it's nice to be able to relatively quickly get to them.

In all Spaces, I have Twitterific and Messenger available at all times. That means that I don't have to figure out which Space they're in when I get a new message.

But that's just my set up, I'm sure that other folks have other ideas ...

At home, I haven't set up Spaces yet. My home use of my Mac is pretty light, certainly compared to my work use, so I haven't been concerned enough about productivity to set it up.