An analog version of the Now Page: The Now Dashboard

Jun 9

For a long time now, the Now Page has been popular on blogs. It’s made its way in and out of our lives, just like the popularity of blogs in general. It was invented by Derek Sivers as a place to share what’s going on in your life, usually on a website.

However, I’m in a space where I want to spend less time on my computer. No surprises here.

The thought of updating my Now Page every month or every week—or whenever I thought to update it—feels more like a chore than anything else.

Plus, let’s consider why we want to do a Now Page. Yes, if you’re a public figure, there are many people out there who want to know what you’re watching, listening to, etc. But honestly? For most of us, the Now Page is a landing pad for our own sanity. A place for us to feel seen, heard, and to put our own “stuff” out into the wild.

I have a new journaling practice I’d like to share with you, which I’d like to call the Now Dashboard. It’s a low-stakes, (probably) low-emotion journaling technique that will help you check in with yourself, see what you’re up to at any given time, and can be a nice place to benchmark your life if you update your Now Dashboard on a regular cadence.

Traveler’s Notebook planner sitting on desk with iPad and phone

What is a Now Dashboard?

The Now Dashboard is a place in your journal or planner where you can bookmark what you’re into in that current moment. For my first go-around, I chose to list out categories of things on my mind:

Watching - For TV shows, movies, YouTube channels, and other things that have the attention of my eyeballs.
Reading - Items in the form of the written word that catch my attention this week, like books, articles, or even social media.
Listening - Music, podcasts, or audio books. Though my brain doesn’t super love that an audio book can fit under the Reading and/or Listening categories.
Thinking about - Things I’m… thinking about, of course. But not necessarily acting upon.
Obsessing - Things that I’m thinking about AND acting upon. Ultimately, these are things that propel my ADHD brain forward and keep me moving (at all times).
Therapy - Topics I’m focusing on in therapy. Or, topics I’d like to talk about next session.
Grateful for - Obvious! Gratitude extends from the big (like aww how much I love my family) or the silly (headphones keep me sane).

Other topic ideas? Please share in the comments.

Where do you put the Now Dashboard?

So as you can see, I put mine in my weekly spread of my planner. This seems like the most natural cadence for me, since the items in my lists won’t likely change this week.

Other options:
Daily journal
Monthly planner
Rapid log
Some sort of bullet journal collection

Here’s my Now Dashboard—plus a quick list of “non-rule rules”

Before we get into the fun pics, let’s set a few rules for this Now Dashboard.

It’s never mandatory. If it starts to feel like a chore, just don’t do it.
Topics are flexible from week to week. Don’t write down a weak category just for the sake of completion.
Share or don’t share. No rules here. You won’t cease to exist if you don’t share it on social media. (Though I see the irony here.)
Include visuals in a mini collage, or not.
Stickers, colors, highlighters, etc, are all optional.

A quick note on the mini collage: I measured the remaining space in my spread and then made a simple digital collage, printed it out, and glued it into my planner. Visual representation of these things feels good for me!