Since I am trying to figure out how to work, in the most efficient way, with the issue queue in Drupal I came accross a really useful application from github named github for mac : http://mac.github.com/
What I currently do is to create a branch for every issue I’m involved in and gui-wise I switch between the different patches. I found out that this speeds up my GIT workflow and does not distract me too much.
Also Some quick GIT tips that might help you in the issue queue process :
Applying a patch
patch -p1 < #numberissue-description.patch
git apply < #numberissue-description.patch
Making a patch
git diff 7.x-1.x > #numberissue-description.patch
Updating to a new version of the online branch
git stash //stashes your custom code into memory
git pull origin 7.x-1.x //updates the branch as if nothing happened
git stash pop //applies your changes to the latest branch
ps: You can remove the patch file or even the whole branch when you have uploaded it. No need to keep track of everything when d.o does that for you already.
You hardly need anything else,
let the patching begin!