Most productivity discussions start with a tool recommendation.
Notion.
Trello.
Jira.
Obsidian.
Linear.
The list never ends.
My current productivity system uses none of them.
It's a desktop wallpaper.
And a handful of empty files.
The Idea
I created a wallpaper with five sections:
- 📁 Apps & Docs
- 🔥 NOW
- ⏭️ SOON
- 📅 LATER
- ⏸️ HOLD
Then I started using empty files as project tokens.
Each file represents a piece of work:
- Deployment scripts
- Configuration changes
- Documentation
- Automation projects
- Testing activities
- Ideas worth keeping around
Instead of maintaining a task board in another application, I simply drag the token to the appropriate section of the desktop.
More Than a Kanban Board
At first glance, it looks like a personal Kanban board.
But there's a second dimension.
Horizontal Movement = Workflow State
NOW → SOON → LATER → HOLD
Moving a token horizontally changes its status.
Vertical Movement = Priority
Top = Critical
Middle = Important
Bottom = When Time Permits
Moving a token vertically changes its priority.
This means every item has two attributes:
- Status
- Priority
Without opening a single application.
Why It Works
The interesting part isn't the board itself.
It's the visibility.
Most productivity systems are pull-based.
You have to remember they exist.
You open the app.
You check the board.
You review the tasks.
You decide what to do.
This desktop system is different.
It's ambient.
Every time I minimize a window, my priorities are already there.
I instantly see:
- What I'm working on now
- What I'm doing next
- What can wait
- What I've consciously parked
The information is impossible to miss.
The Cost of Productivity Systems
Many productivity tools introduce their own maintenance overhead.
You end up managing the system instead of the work.
Creating tasks.
Updating statuses.
Maintaining labels.
Cleaning dashboards.
Reviewing boards.
Eventually, the system becomes another project.
My desktop board removes almost all of that friction.
Reprioritizing takes one action:
Drag an icon.
That's it.
Unexpected Benefits
It forces prioritization
Moving something from SOON to NOW is a deliberate commitment.
You can't pretend everything is high priority.
It reduces cognitive load
Items in HOLD are still visible but no longer competing for attention.
I've already decided not to think about them today.
It scales surprisingly well
Because the board is visual, I can understand my workload in a few seconds without reading a task list.
The Real Lesson
This isn't about desktop wallpapers.
It's about reducing friction.
The best productivity system isn't necessarily the most powerful one.
It's the one you'll actually use.
In my case, that turned out to be a wallpaper and a few empty files.
My personal Kanban board costs exactly:
0 clicks to open.
