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Stalled desk widget

Spot the in-progress desk that has gone longest without a change, three days or more, and open it from your dashboard in one click.

All plansUpdated

The Stalled desk widget catches work you started and then stopped. It shows one desk: the desk marked In progress that has gone longest without a change, once it has waited three days or more. Click it to open the desk and get it moving again, or decide it can be finished or put away.

Use it if you tend to start many things at once, or if you lead work where a quiet desk is easy to miss.

Before you start

  • The Stalled desk widget is available on every plan.
  • It needs no AI. It works from your desks' status.
  • It only looks at desks that are In progress. A desk becomes In progress when you click Start in its header. See Track a desk's status and time.
  • The widget works on your Home dashboard and also on Office Home, People Home and Brain Home. Each dashboard can hold one Stalled desk widget.

Add the Stalled desk widget

  1. Open your Home dashboard. Click Home in the side menu, or click the Desk tab.
  2. Click Customize at the top right of the page. The widgets show an outline and the greeting fades back.
  3. Click Add widget. The widget gallery opens over the page.
  4. Click the Smart chip, or type stalled in Search widgets.
  5. Click Stalled desk. Its page shows a live preview of the widget with your own desks.
  6. Choose a size with the arrows either side of the preview, or with the dots under it. The size name shows underneath: Small or Medium. Small is chosen to start with.
  7. Click Add widget. The widget appears at the end of the board and glows for a moment so you can find it.
  8. Drag the widget to where you want it. The other widgets move aside to make room.
  9. Click Done.

If the Stalled desk card in the gallery has a tick and says Already on your home, this dashboard already has the widget.

What counts as stalled

A desk shows here when all of these are true:

  • Its status is In progress.
  • It is not archived.
  • The desk itself has not changed for three days or more. Changes to the desk itself include renaming it, changing its status and moving it to another room.

If several desks qualify, the widget shows the one that has waited longest. Tasks on your desks count as well when their status is In progress.

What the widget shows

  • An hourglass and the desk's name.
  • in progress, untouched since followed by how long ago it last changed, such as 4d ago. After about a week it shows the date instead.

Click the desk in the widget to open it.

When nothing qualifies, the widget says Nothing stalled., followed by a short note that everything in progress has been touched recently.

Small and Medium show the same thing. Medium gives a long name more room.

Deal with a stalled desk

  1. Click the desk in the widget. The desk opens.
  2. Decide what the desk needs:
    • Carry on. Pick up the work where it stopped.
    • Finish it. If the work is done, click Done in the desk's header. The desk leaves the widget, and the next stalled desk, if there is one, takes its place.
    • Put it away. If you have stopped on purpose, change its status or archive it. See Track a desk's status and time and Archive, trash and restore rooms and desks.

Change, resize or remove the widget

Click Customize first. Each widget then shows small buttons on its top-right corner.

  • Change the size. Click the size button. It shows the current size, SM or MD, and each click moves to the next one.
  • Move it. Drag the widget to a new place on the board.
  • Remove it. Click the × button (its tooltip says Remove Stalled desk). Your desks are not changed.

Click Done when you have finished. See Customize your Home dashboard.

Good ways to use it

  • A weekly sweep. Glance at it on Monday morning and clear one stalled desk before starting anything new.
  • Next to One thing now. The One thing now widget shows what matters most; Stalled desk shows what you have let slip. Together they make a short morning check.
  • See every quiet desk. This widget shows one desk at a time. The Attention widget has a Stale desks section that lists quiet open desks together. Attention can also nudge you about quiet desks. See Desk nudges, notifications and the Attention count Coming soon.

Common questions

A desk I worked on yesterday shows as stalled. Why? The widget looks at changes to the desk itself, such as its name, status or room. Working inside the desk's widgets does not count as a change to the desk. If the work is still going, carry on. When it is finished, click Done in the desk's header and the widget moves on.

Why does my To do desk not show? Only desks marked In progress count. Click Start in the desk's header to mark it in progress. If it then sits for three days without a change, it can show here.

Can I see more than one stalled desk? Not in this widget. For a list, use the Stale desks section of the Attention widget.

Still need help? Contact support at [email protected].