I have setup some applications to startup on each login (e.g., redshift-gtk, gtg) automatically but after adding these to startup applications (System -> Preferences -> Startup Applications) obviously the time taken to login has increased. Due to all this the time it takes for my panels, desktop etc to appear is too long - until which I am forced to wait.

I don't need these apps to be available immediately, but it would be good if they startup eventually, meanwhile the ubuntu menu/panel is available for running other apps that I might need to.

I tried using at command, with the intention of editing all startup applications to put the commands in the at queue, but this didn't work since the apps don't get the necessary environment variables (like DISPLAY).

Is this what nice command is used for? Any other ideas how I can accomplish this? If possible, I would like to avoid editing the startup applications commands, since this would mean a lot of effort to replicate on other machines I use.