Build a focus dashboard

Most new-tab dashboards quietly drift toward being a feed reader — one more thing to scroll. The focus dashboard goes the other way: a Pomodoro big enough to lean into, a todo list short enough to clear by lunch, and a scratchpad for the thinking. Nothing that pings, nothing that paginates.

The build

Five widgets, with the Pomodoro as the anchor. The full layout:

A Scratchpad fits naturally below if you keep journaling notes or code snippets — bump the Pomodoro down to 4×4 and put the Scratchpad underneath at 8×4.

Step by step

1. Start fresh. E to edit, X out anything in the way. Or load the starter dashboard first — it's already four of these widgets.
2. Add Clock at top-left. 4 wide, 2 tall. Settings: keep the date long, turn seconds off (less ticking, less noise). Date set to Long is more humane than the short version first thing in the morning.
3. Add Quote next to the Clock. 8 wide, 2 tall. Open its settings and pick one or two categories — narrowing to Philosophy or Productivity keeps the tone consistent. Optional: set Auto-rotate to 30 minutes if you like a new quote between focus phases; leave at 0 if a single anchor for the day feels better.
4. Add Todo on the left. 4 wide, 5 tall. Settings: Sort done to bottom on (default); Show created time on, so anything stale gets a small nudge. Add today's tasks. Be honest about what fits.
5. Add Pomodoro on the right. 8 wide, 5 tall. This is the deliberate visual weight — a large ring you can read from across the room. Settings: Chime for the alarm; volume around 40%; Auto-start next phase off (you want a moment to breathe between phases). Turn on Countdown in tab title so you can switch to a working tab and still watch the ring drain.
6. Esc . You're done. Press Start on the Pomodoro and pick the first task.

Pairing the Pomodoro with the Todo

The most useful rhythm with this layout is the simplest one: a Pomodoro phase per Todo checkbox. The widget arrangement nudges you toward it without enforcing it — Pomodoro is the eye-magnet, Todo is right next to it, and the rest of the dashboard is unobtrusive enough to fade.

A few habits that pair well:

• Start a phase before you start the task. Decide, then commit. Anything that takes less than 25 minutes is allowed to get the phase to itself.
• Don't interrupt mid-phase to add to the Todo. The Scratchpad's there for that — drop the thought in, come back to it when the phase ends.
• Use Clear done at the end of the day. Hits the reset button on tomorrow. Done tasks aren't proof; they're bookkeeping. (If you want them as evidence, export the layout first.)

Optional add: a Scratchpad below

If you write a lot during the day — meeting notes, paragraphs you'll paste somewhere else, a daily journal — drop a Scratchpad below the main row at 8 wide, 4 tall. Set the font to Serif for longer-form writing or Mono if it's mostly code snippets. Word count optional but quietly useful.

The Scratchpad's content lives on the device — so this works for "morning pages" and similar private writing without worrying about it leaving the laptop.