How to Get Started with Notion (without losing your mind)
Summary
TLDRThis script outlines a step-by-step guide to set up a productive Notion workspace, focusing on creating essential databases for tasks and notes, and building a command center dashboard. It emphasizes the importance of databases as the foundation of a well-organized Notion setup and introduces the concept of views for efficient task and note management. The guide also highlights the use of templates for streamlined note-taking and introduces a calendar view for a visual task overview, encouraging customization according to individual needs.
Takeaways
- 📝 Start by creating a blank Notion page and naming it 'Life OS' with an appropriate icon to set up your Life OS home screen.
- 🎨 Customize the appearance of your Life OS dashboard with colors and dividers for a clean and organized look.
- 💡 Utilize databases as the foundation of productive Notion setups, beginning with simple task and note databases.
- 📆 Set up a 'Task Database' with properties like due date and checkboxes for tracking tasks with deadlines and completed items.
- 📑 Create a 'Notes Database' with properties such as note type, creation time, and last updated time for efficient note management.
- 🌟 Organize tasks and notes into different views on your dashboard, such as 'Upcoming Tasks', 'Inbox', and 'Recent Notes' for quick access.
- 🔄 Use keyboard shortcuts like command/control left bracket to navigate between pages in Notion for a faster workflow.
- 📌 Build a 'Command Center' to consolidate views of your databases, allowing you to manage tasks and notes from a single location.
- 📅 Add a 'Calendar View' of your tasks for a visual representation of your upcoming to-dos and to track deadlines effectively.
- 🔧 Utilize templates to streamline the process of creating new notes or tasks, ensuring consistency and saving time.
- 🔗 Create 'Quick Links' on your Life OS page for direct access to important views, keeping your command center uncluttered.
Q & A
What is the purpose of creating a 'Life OS' home screen in Notion?
-The purpose of creating a 'Life OS' home screen in Notion is to set up a personalized dashboard that helps beginners organize and manage their tasks, notes, and other important information efficiently.
How does the speaker suggest naming the initial blank page in Notion?
-The speaker suggests naming the initial blank page as 'Life OS' to establish a central hub for organizing one's digital life within Notion.
What are the two essential databases the speaker recommends creating first in a Notion setup?
-The two essential databases the speaker recommends creating first are a 'Task Database' for managing tasks with due dates and an 'Notes Database' for organizing notes and information.
How does the speaker organize tasks in the 'Task Database'?
-The speaker organizes tasks in the 'Task Database' by adding properties such as 'Task Name', 'Due Date', and 'Done' (a checkbox for completed tasks), and sets the view to 'All Tasks' sorted by 'Due Date' in ascending order.
What are the three categories of notes the speaker mentions, and how are they used?
-The three categories of notes mentioned are: 1) Meeting or presentation notes summarizing learnings and findings, 2) Personal 'Thoughts' about ideas or plans that are not tied to a specific event, and 3) 'Research' notes which are clippings or summaries from external content like articles or videos.
How does the speaker create a 'Command Center' in Notion?
-The speaker creates a 'Command Center' by building out the 'Task Database' and 'Notes Database', then creating views within these databases that can be displayed together in a single location on the 'Command Center' page.
What is the purpose of the 'Inbox View' in the 'Task Database'?
-The purpose of the 'Inbox View' is to capture quick ideas or tasks without assigning a due date. Tasks in this view will appear when a due date is added and move to the 'Upcoming' view or 'All Tasks' when the task is due or has passed.
How does the speaker use the 'Recent Notes' view?
-The 'Recent Notes' view is used to display notes sorted by the 'Last Updated Time' in descending order, showing the most recently updated notes at the top.
What is a 'Template' in Notion and how does it benefit users?
-A 'Template' in Notion is a pre-designed structure for pages that can be used repeatedly to quickly create new pages with the same format and content. It benefits users by saving time and ensuring consistency across different pages.
How does the speaker suggest using the 'Calendar View' for tasks?
-The speaker suggests using the 'Calendar View' for tasks as a visual representation of upcoming to-dos, allowing users to see their tasks laid out by date and easily move tasks to different dates as needed.
What is the final tip the speaker provides for enhancing the 'Life OS' home screen in Notion?
-The final tip the speaker provides is to create a 'Quick Links' section on the 'Life OS' home screen that refers to the 'Calendar View' of tasks, allowing for easy access to the task calendar without cluttering the main command center page.
Outlines
📝 Setting Up Your Notion Life OS
This paragraph outlines the process of creating a Notion Life OS home screen from scratch. It begins with naming a blank page 'Life OS' and choosing an icon. The paragraph details the creation of a dashboard with two simple databases: one for tasks and one for notes. The author shares their personal Life OS setup as an example. The focus is on the importance of databases as the foundation of productive Notion setups, and the paragraph concludes with the initial setup of the 'Task Database', including properties like due date and task name.
📅 Building the Task Database
The second paragraph delves into the specifics of building the 'Task Database' in Notion. It explains how to create a table view, set up properties such as due date and task name, and organize tasks with sorting options. The paragraph also covers how to add new tasks, adjust column visibility, and sort tasks by due date. The author provides tips on using keyboard shortcuts for navigation and introduces the concept of an 'Inbox View' for capturing ideas without a due date, emphasizing its importance in task management.
📓 Organizing the Notes Database
This paragraph focuses on creating and organizing the 'Notes Database' in Notion. It describes the process of setting up properties like note type, creation time, and last updated time. The author categorizes notes into three types: meeting notes, thoughts, and research, and explains how to use colors to differentiate them. The paragraph also introduces the concept of views, showing how to create a 'Recent Notes' view that sorts notes by the last updated time. The author emphasizes the simplicity of setting up the notes view compared to the task view.
🔧 Customizing Your Command Center and Using Templates
The final paragraph discusses the customization of the Notion 'Command Center' and the use of templates for efficiency. The author explains how to create a 'Quick Links' section for easy access to different views and introduces the calendar view for a visual representation of tasks. The paragraph highlights the benefits of using templates to streamline note-taking and action item listing. It concludes with a brief overview of how databases power Notion setups and encourages viewers to ask questions and subscribe for more content.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Notion
💡Life OS
💡Dashboard
💡Databases
💡Templates
💡Views
💡Task Management
💡Note-taking
💡Keyboard Shortcuts
💡Productivity
Highlights
Start with a blank Notion page and create a life OS home screen in 12 minutes.
Use two simple databases to power the essential dashboard for beginners.
The life OS home screen setup is similar to the presenter's current setup, demonstrating its effectiveness.
Databases are the cornerstone of productive Notion setups, so start by building out databases before returning to the dashboard.
Create a 'Task Database' with due dates and a 'Notes Database' with categorization for effective task and information management.
Utilize the 'Done' checkbox property for tasks completed and sorting by due date ascending for prioritization.
Implement keyboard shortcuts like command or control left bracket to navigate back a page for efficiency.
Create a 'Command Center' dashboard to centralize views of tasks and notes in a single location.
Develop views such as 'Upcoming Tasks' and 'Inbox View' for task management, and 'Recent Notes' for easy access to updated information.
Use filters and sorting options to tailor views to display tasks and notes based on specific criteria like due date or last updated time.
Leverage the power of Notion's templates to streamline the note-taking process and reduce repetitive tasks.
Customize the 'All Views' within a database to have a default template for new notes, enhancing productivity.
Explore different database formats like table and calendar views to visualize tasks in various ways.
Create a 'Quick Links' section in the Command Center for direct access to important views without cluttering the main page.
The potential for Notion setups is virtually endless, allowing users to build out core databases and tailored dashboards to fit individual needs.
The presenter's fast-paced tutorial is packed with practical tips and tricks for new Notion users to quickly set up and begin using the platform effectively.
Transcripts
to help you get started in notion
without losing your mind we'll begin
with a completely blank notion page and
in just 12 minutes or so you have your
very own life OS home screen up and
running it comes with one essential
dashboard to help beginners get started
and this dashboard is powered by two
extremely simple databases and to prove
to you this is literally how I started
using notion years ago this is my
current life OS home screen and as you
can see it's basically set up the same
way so let's get started first we give
this blank page a name name life OS and
we choose an icon I like to use the Ying
Yang icon here we press enter we press
we press # twice space for heading two
dashboard forward slash blue you can
choose whatever color you want I'll
choose blue background here enter and
triple hyphen 1 2 3 to add a divider I
just think that looks super clean and
then double hashtag again one two and we
choose we type a database here for slash
gray gray background and triple hyphen
again 1 2 3 now the most common advice
you'll hear from experienced users is
that databases are the Cornerstone of
productive notion setups so we're going
to first build out our databases then
come back to the dashboard Pages go
ahead and type in for SLT and select the
table view under database here and then
we're going to actually select the data
source and select a new database we're
going to name this task database and
because I don't want a table taking up
half my screen I'm going to choose this
button here and I'm going to turn this
into a page so I can now click into the
task database and work on this in a
clean page I'm going to choose an icon
and let's choose a check mark here like
so and this is going to be task uh this
property I'm going to change this
property from multi select to date
because we want tasks are attached to
due dates I like to select the month
date year because I was unfortunately
unfortunately brought up in the US and
time format 24 hours and this is going
to be renamed to do date like so let's
decrease the size here a little bit and
the final property we're going to add is
a checkbox because we want to check uh
tasks that have already been completed
and I'm we're going to rename this oops
sorry clicked too fast there to done and
pro tip with checkbox properties you can
actually just hide the property name I'm
going to drag this to the left here so I
can like click this like so right oops
and I'm going to change this table name
to all tasks and I will select a bullet
point drop-down menu like so so it looks
a little bit cleaner let's add some
tasks just for placeholder purposes
first is watch Appo Vision Pro review
you and number two is sell kidneys to
afford it uh due date let's say for the
sake of argument today is when I'll
watch a review tomorrow or on in 2 days
I will sell my kidney oops there we go
let's actually clear this up next we're
going to book a flight to San Francisco
to complain to Tim Cook
directly and as you can see this has
wrapped columns turned on so I'm just
going to go to the three buttons here
click uh layout and toggle off wrap all
columns I just think this looks cleaner
I'm going to choose a due date here to
be two weeks from now and since this is
a task database we're going to add a
sort by due date ascending so that the
next due task is shown up top and if
you're using notion yourself you will
not see this save for everyone option so
you can choose to ignore it for this
entire tutorial and now if I choose to
add a new task uh like and comment on
Jeff's video and said that due to today
you'll see that it automatically jumps
up top and that's it we're done with the
task database now we can either click
the life OS button here to go back a
page or I recommend getting used to
keyboard short cets as soon as possible
so command or control left bracket to go
back a page and we're going to not now
start building our next not taking
database so for slash table same exact
process as before select a table View
new database we're going to name this
notes database and so last time we're
going to click this and turn into a page
to have notion the notes database rather
be in a standalone page add an icon and
I like to choose one of the writing
icons here like so and when it comes to
properties we're going to rename this to
note we're going to change this to date
actually and you'll see why in a little
bit like so full date month date year
and 24hour let's decrease the size of
this a little bit and then we here we're
going to add uh Select Property type and
we're going to tr we're going to type
note type and we'll come back to this in
a little bit we're going to add the
fourth property is created time so you
know when the note was created let's
choose the exact same time format and
we're going to add a last updated time
so how recently the note was updated
we're going to change that and there you
go you might be confused as to why
there's another date property here for
example if I had a one-on-one meeting
with my manager I'm going to start the
note today but the meeting is for
tomorrow so the creative time wouldn't
accurately reflect that I personally
have three categories of notes the first
notes type is when a meeting occurs or a
presentation happens and you're taking
down notes summarizing your uh learnings
and findings the second type of notes
for example let's say my friend tells me
about his trip to Iceland I'm like oh
think about traveling to Iceland sounds
like a beautiful place to go and let's
say this is happening like next week in
the future this would count as a thought
for me like thoughts right no meeting
happened uh no presentation occurred it
was just me thinking by myself oh I
should do something or this was
interesting and the third category of
notes is if I clipped uh a YouTube video
or online article for example intro to
uh AI by Google
and let's say this happens 2 weeks from
now I would categorize this as research
and you could change the colors of all
these notes by clicking through button
here let's say notes is uh blue thoughts
is yellow and research we can let it
remain gray and finally let's change the
view name to all notes and similar to
last time let's select the bullet point
one and we can sort by date uh
descending this time so that the most
recent note recent notes are are shown
up top save for everyone or just save if
you're using notion by yourself now that
we have these two databases let's build
out our first dashboard so for slash
page this time instead of a table enter
and we're going to name this Command
Center let's select an icon let's do the
activity icon right like so and this is
a personal preference but whenever I
create a new page I like to press enter
SL BREC Chrome to show the current page
location then enter again hyphen hyphen
hyphen to add a divider line I just
think this looks super clean then uh top
right we're going to choose as three
dots and we're going to actually turn
this page to full width to give us more
space to work with uh hashtag hashtag or
yeah pound sign pound sign space for
heading to and we're going to choose uh
weekly task view here for SL blue again
uh hyphen hyphen hyphen we can select
these two elements command D to copy and
paste move the newly created elements to
the right here like so drop it and we're
going to move the divider line back up
here we're going to change this to notes
view this next part is what makes notion
so powerful we will now create views of
the two databases we just created so
that we can see our Tasks and notes in a
single location this is why this is
called the command center starting with
the weekly view section for SLT we we're
still going to select the table view
under databases but unlike last time
we're going to select the task database
we built earlier in this video and we're
going to choose to copy an existing view
all tasks now before we do anything else
you want to actually left click on all
task and make a duplicate view so you
have the all task view still there and
then we're going to play around with
this new view we're going to rename this
to upcoming I want to see the upcoming
task in the next seven days we're going
to change the icon here to an i icon and
then we're going to select uh the filter
to done is unchecked so that all
uncompleted tasks will be visible right
we're going to save this and we're going
to add another filter because I want the
upcoming 7day task to be visible only so
we're going to choose the due
date go in start date is on or before
drop- down menu
one week from now so all tasks between
today and the next week will be shown
we're going to save for everyone and
we're going to make sure the sort due
date is still ascending so the next task
will be shown first so let's say cell
kidney that's due 2 days from now if I
were to select 3 weeks from now it
disappears right commen Z we bring it
back so that's how this works to clean
this up a little bit we can actually
click filter to get rid of all the
filter and stord options options and
we're going to click the three dots here
and hide the database title now we can
toggle between the upcoming View and the
all task view the third and final view
we're going to build is something called
the inbox View and it's very important
for task management and this is how it
works let's first go to the all task
view again we're going to left click
Three Dots and make another duplicate of
the all task view we're going to name
this inbox and we're going to select the
mailbox icon like so and the only only
filter option here will be the due date
is going to be empty is empty now the
way this works is you can quickly
capture any ideas or tasks you have in
here without assigning a due date
because sometimes you don't know when
the task has to be due and you can find
them all here the second you add a due
date so let's go through an example uh
rehearse for next
presentation the due dat is empty right
now but if I select it next week it
disappears and if we go to upcoming it
shows up rehearse for next presentation
right so let's go uh let's actually
command Z go back to the inbox view so
all tasks without a due date will be
shown here we can click the three dots
and hi the database title and I like to
move the inbox view oops to the middle
here so now you have three views
upcoming inbox and all task moving over
to the notes view this going to be super
simple compared to what we did with
tasks for slash table we're going to
select the table view under database and
we're going to select the notes database
we just created and we're going to copy
an existing view all notes and if you
remember this is sorted by the date
descending so first let's hide this
database title to make it cleaner and
we're going to click on all notes here
and we're going to make a duplicate view
again and we're going to change this
we're going to rename this to recent
notes so recently updated notes I'm
going to choose an icon so clock let's
choose a clock something like this maybe
and in instead of sort by due date uh
sort by date descending we're going to
sort by last updated time descending say
for everyone here so let's say uh this
this meeting my manager is happening
tomorrow but if I just change this to
even though the date is still scheduled
for tomorrow but because the last
updated time was just now a couple
seconds ago it's going to it's going to
jump to the top and speaking of this
looks a little bit messy so I'm just
going to actually click the three dots
here and we're going to choose
properties and we're going to deselect
these two to keep this view cleaner this
does not mean we're deleting the column
but rather just hiding them so click and
click so now within the notes view if
you click on the filter option to get
rid of the sort um options we see the
note title the note date and the note
type and we can even tidy this up a
little bit more as you use notion more
and more you'll figure out what other
sections you want to add to your command
center for example for me I have the
exact same upcoming weekly task view
here right but I have other sections as
well let me know in the comments if you
want an entire video on this hq/ Command
Center of mine in the meantime let's
move on to a must no feature all
beginners should use templates for
example in your notes view if you click
here or click the new button here you'll
be greeted with an empty page team
meeting and you have to populate
everything yourself the date oh it's on
okay not Saturday Monday day the note
type is going to be notes and it's going
to be uh key takeaways blah blah blah
one 2 3 um notes and then you have to do
this again again every single time a
much more efficient way is to first
let's exit out by pressing escape
clicking the drop- down menu here next
to the new button and choose new
templates and we're going to press
command control enter to expand this to
full screen click the three dots and
we're going to click full width and
let's title this oops new notes new note
choose a meaningful icon let's say
something related to writing again like
a pencil I like to have the note type
moved up below the date and we can
actually choose the date to dynamically
reflect the date you create the note so
today and I like to hide the creative
time and and uh last updated time uh
last edited time rather to keep this
clean and with then the page content
itself um hash hashtag heading to key
takeaways I like to use this the purple
color let's switch it up right now three
hyphens I'm going to select this like I
did before command and control D to make
a copy of this move this to the right
and this is going to be oops this is
going to be titled action items I'm
going to move this up top and down here
heading to again notes and we're going
to have gray hyphen and we're going to
have one bullet point one here we're
going to have a number here because
there's one 2 3 takeaways and for Action
items I'm going to have a check boox
back in our Command Center view we can
select the drop down menu and choose
this new note template we just created
to be the default for All Views within
notes database escape and now whenever
you press the new button a new note will
be generated with our template the three
section headers are automatically
populated and we can start taking notes
uh Jeff's intro to notion video This is
going to be a research note type because
you're watching this video right now
it's a nice video to learn from action
items uh like and uh subscribe so this
dashboard is more than enough to get you
started but it wouldn't be a Jeffs video
without a bonus tip so back in your life
OS page let's create a new page and
title it tasks view wait Jeff we already
have an upcoming tasks view in the
command center yes but I've only shown
you one database format in this video so
far and that's the table format back in
these this newly created task view we're
going to do this let's add an icon let's
use another check mark not the exact
same one as before uh personal
preference enter for/ bread Chrome and
hyphen hyen hyphen and now we're going
to give a heading to calendar view and
let's CH this blue hyphen hyphen Hyphen
for SLT table view database and we're
going to select the exact same task
database as before copy an existing view
all tasks except this time instead of
table under layout we're going to choose
the calendar view let's toggle off the
database title again let's click X here
and now oh let's click Three Dots and
make a full width so it's nice and big
now although this takes up more screen
real estate so you don't want this in
your command center this is a much more
visual representation of your upcoming
to-dos and we can even go a step further
click Three Dots here go go to
properties and show whether uh show the
uh done check mark property by clicking
the I icon here and I actually don't
want the task to disappear because I
want to see which task have been
completed in this calendar view and I
can even move the tasks to other dates
like so as needed now back in our
Command Center we can create a new
section uh command D to make a copy of
this section header name this quick
links enter
hyphen hyphen hyphen to add a divider
and use the at button to refer to the
task view we just created like so so
that we can quickly click in and view
our task in calendar format without
again cluttering up our main command
center page all right hopefully it's
clear to you now how most notion setups
are powered by databases you take some
time to build out a few core databases
once then you create dashboards and
Views tailored to your own individual
needs the possibilities are literally
endless I know I talk a bit fast so if
you have questions leave them down below
subscribe to see how I set up my notion
workspace see you on the next video in
the
meantime have a great one
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