Behind the Scenes: Designing a Dashboard That Doesn't Overwhelm

When I designed the Minimalist Dashboard template, I had one rule: no more than seven items on the screen at once. Why seven? Because that’s about the number of things our brains can hold in working memory.

Most dashboards try to show everything — upcoming tasks, calendar, notes, goals, habits, project status. But that’s information overload, not productivity. Instead, I focused on what you need right now: today’s priorities, a quick capture area, and a weekly overview.

The rest is one click away. That’s the magic of a good dashboard: it hides complexity until you need it. If you’re staring at a wall of text every time you open Notion, it’s time to simplify.