Take Control of Your Life With the Notion Wiki

It may sound counterintuitive, but sometimes you need something else to help yourself get organized, even if you’re tired of all the apps and services you’re already arguing with. Notion is a versatile workspace app that helps you avoid overwhelming yourself with all the parts of a particular project, even if the project is as vast as your daily life.

Whether you just want to lay it all out on a page or like the Kanban board mechanics on the right more, Notion provides the templates and tools you need to keep track of deadlines, links to Google Docs, Dropbox Files, random images from the web, and more.

Notion is free to use and has apps for your browser , Windows , Mac , iOS, and Android . A free subscription is substantial enough for a lone worker, although you’re limited to 1000 blocks and files no larger than 5MB. If you think you need more, $ 4 a month for a personal account gives you unlimited block storage, file upload limits, and access to version history. For those who might want to use the app to manage a small team, that’s $ 8 / month per person for everything that goes into a personal account, plus admin tools that include robust editing permissions.

If that sounds like something you want to try to organize your life, here are some tips on how to use Notion to keep track of everything from tedious household chores to invoicing clients. You can also try the Notion simulator before downloading the app to check if you like the interface.

Start with a template

You don’t need to know anything about Notion to start using it. Once you start it, decide if you want to use the pre-filled template or start from scratch.

You can choose from over a dozen ready-made templates right on the New Page screen. Some of the templates are designed for general business purposes such as tracking sales and hiring new employees; others are personal, such as keeping track of their weekly agenda with checklists and archiving articles you think should be cut into a shared reading list. There are also empty templates, but they are not available in the “Templates” option. Scroll down the New Page screen to the Database section and you’ll see skeleton layouts for things like a spreadsheet, a Kanban-based board, or a simple list.

If you’re still not entirely sure where to start, consider how others have used Notion to organize their work and personal lives. There are many resources for using Notion for specific use cases; Medium looks at how writers can make the most of the app, while community sites like Notion Pages contain all sorts of customizable templates. If you think you can use Notion for something, you probably can.

Customize Notion the way you like

The central premise of Notion revolves around content blocks. A block can be text, images, links, a checklist, or a bulleted list. You also don’t get stuck on your first block selection, because as projects change and your needs evolve, you can quickly move data around and add or subtract blocks.

To build or edit a block, hover over the content area and select the six-dot symbol to reveal more options. You can search by content type in the search box at the top, or you can select the “Convert to” dropdown option to select from the content list. You can also change the colors of certain blocks to make them stand out from your mass of information. And blocks can be linked, so use the Copy Link option if you need to share some outside of your workspace.

Import what you already have

You may hesitate to think about porting your work from one platform to another, but Notion helps make this task less complicated with its import function. You can transfer data from text files, Word and Excel files, Trello and Asana accounts, Dropbox and Google Docs. Any content you upload is also not counted towards your workspace limit.

There are some caveats about the import function. I tried loading some of my most used Google Sheets files and some of the cell-specific formulas didn’t translate too well. With a little subtlety, I can achieve the desired effect, but it doesn’t look like apples to apples.

Pay attention to your exchange preferences

There are several security settings for free users, although by default no one can see your notes unless you’ve linked them and registered your emails with Notion. It is also possible to enable sharing for individual pages and notebooks accessible from the sharing menu.

Please note if you are posting sensitive information as “open access” means that anyone with the link can access the page, whether or not they are logged in with Notion, and the content becomes indexed by search engines.

Use Notion to keep track of all the little things

Half the fun of using Notion is making it productive. For example, if you tend to document every phone call and appointment, you may find a blank calendar template especially useful because it retains notes attached to the actual day you received them. That way, when you go back in time to find something, you have a standard five-week calendar visual aid to guide you.

I like to use this particular template to register my hours every business day. When I’m ready to take stock at the end of each month, I export and save the data as a table so I can see when I answered the phone, how long I was at my desk, and what notes related to the tasks I had. in that day.

Grab a browser extension for easy cut

I have a habit of pasting my favorite parts of articles I read on the Internet into a blank text file and then forgetting where I saved them, which doesn’t help much when I want to recall them later. If you are also notorious for copy and paste, use the Notion browser extension to extract citations from links and save them to a specific work page. You don’t even need to format it after submission.

Use emoji as much as you like

Whether you’re a visual type or need an excuse to interact with emojis in the workplace, Notion lets you use them to categorize your pages. Smilies can be useful when working with a long list of links, and they help add a little flair to each page. You can also use header images for each page, either from the preloaded library or by uploading your own.

Leave yourself reminders

Of course, the best way to stay on top of things is to remind yourself well when they should. Notion has a reminder feature to keep you informed of upcoming tasks and appointments on your calendar. However, I would not use it as my primary scheduling methodology, because alerts are limited to platforms where Notion is installed.

Block your data

When you’re done filling out your notes page and you’re ready to move on to your next project, be sure to “lock” your details so that you (or anyone else) don’t accidentally edit them. To enable this in a desktop app, look for the menu button in the top right corner of the page and enable database locking. You can then unblock and re-block the content as needed.