...which is incredibly annoying because I am trying to do work :(

On the positive side I just installed Launchy on it - a friend of mine introduced me to this cool little app ages back but I've only recently started using it properly. Basically its a program which, when you tap alt+space, pops up a text entry box: enter a program name, URL or file path and it opens it up for you.

I know it sounds pointless but it can shave quite a bit of time off the chore of opening programs. Once you get good at it you'll be firing off programs all over the place! It becomes habit too. I started using it alot on my main rig and when working on my laptop (till now without it) I kept hitting alt+space and wondering what the hell was wrong. I can now no longer use an other computer efficiently :P

http://www.launchy.net/ for the download