Sometimes, when we’re having productivity issues, we pine for the days when computers weren’t hooked to anything but the power jack and the printer, and could barely run one program at a time, let alone the couple dozen we keep open. There was something nice and pure about a full screen devoted to a single task.

Well, thank God for Merlin Mann yet again, as by combining three small interface hack programs, he’s found a way to emulate full-screen mode on a Mac. The little add-ins (1) hide the menubar unless you hit it with your mouse (MenuShade); (2) automatically hide programs unused for X amount of time (SpiritedAway); and (3) provide a BackDrop to obscure anything else floating around. It sounds basic and silly, but we’ve just tried it on a lark and we’re pretty darn happy with it. Enjoy.