0. An Infinitely Reliable Way to Organize in Notion and Instantly Find Anything You Have
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Bradley J introduces his organized Notion system, which is simple yet comprehensive. He explains his approach using the 'core 4' organization concept, dividing items into hubs, displays, and trackers. Bradley assigns specific colors to different types of information and uses consistent icons to streamline navigation. His system includes a 'last edited' view for easy access to recent work and categorizes pages into priority, processing, time-based, and category-based sections. This method ensures clarity and productivity, making Notion's vast capabilities manageable and user-friendly.
Takeaways
- 📚 Bradley J shares his organized Notion system, which is complex yet easy to understand, based on a specific set of rules.
- 🌊 He describes Notion as an 'immense sea of opportunities' which can be overwhelming, leading to disorganization if not managed properly.
- 📈 Bradley uses a 'core 4' organization concept, which classifies everything into four categories: Hub, Display, Tracker, and Item.
- 🎨 He assigns specific colors to different types of content: Yellow for notes, Green for actionable tasks, Red for projects, Orange for goals, Brown for organizers, Gray for functional items, and Blue for general views.
- 🔍 Consistent use of icons helps in navigation and understanding the purpose of different pages and elements within Notion.
- ⏭️ Each page includes a 'last edited view' to track recent activity, which is essential for not getting lost in the system.
- 🔑 Hub sub-pages are organized into four sections: Priority/Favorites, Processing/Status, Time-based, and Category-based.
- 🔗 Icons in a Hub reflect the relation to another database, ensuring visual consistency and ease of understanding.
- 🔄 The database icon always matches the Hub icon, and sub-pages carry the Hub's color and main icon for quick identification.
- 🛠️ Bradley emphasizes the importance of adjusting the display and tracker if productivity is not as desired, suggesting the 'core 4' concept can be universally applied for better organization.
Q & A
What is Bradley J's primary goal in creating his organization system in Notion?
-Bradley J's primary goal is to build a system that is highly organized and easy to understand, using a specific set of rules to prevent getting lost in the vast possibilities of Notion.
How does Bradley J describe Notion when he first started using it?
-Bradley J describes Notion as an immense sea of opportunities where one can create anything they want, but this freedom can also lead to disorganization and unproductivity.
What is the core 4 organization concept that Bradley J mentions?
-The core 4 organization concept classifies everything into four categories: a hub for storage, a display to show items, a tracker to organize items, and a method to track items in a specific way.
Can you explain the role of a 'hub' in Bradley J's organization system?
-In Bradley J's system, a 'hub' is a central location where items or information are stored, serving as the main repository for a specific type of content.
What does Bradley J use the color yellow to represent in his Notion templates?
-In Bradley J's system, the color yellow is used to represent a note or stored information, acting as a visual cue for users to quickly identify notes.
How does Bradley J utilize the color green in his Notion organization?
-Green in Bradley J's organization system signifies something actionable, such as a task or a to-do item.
What does the color red represent in Bradley J's Notion templates?
-Red is used to denote a project or an extended effort, something that requires more thought and planning.
How does Bradley J use the color orange in his organization system?
-Orange is used to represent goals or forward-looking items, indicating something that is focused on the future.
What is the purpose of the color brown in Bradley J's Notion setup?
-Brown is used to represent an organizer, similar to a box that helps in organizing and containing information.
How does Bradley J ensure consistency in his Notion templates?
-Bradley J ensures consistency by using specific colors for specific purposes, a set of icons with defined meanings, and a layout that includes a last edited view and categorized sections in each hub.
What is the significance of having a 'last edited view' in every page of Bradley J's Notion setup?
-The 'last edited view' helps Bradley J and users to quickly return to the most recently worked on items, providing a sense of continuity and ease of navigation.
How does Bradley J categorize his Notion pages into sections?
-Bradley J categorizes his pages into four sections: priority or favorite items at the top, processing or status-based items, time-based pages, and category-based pages.
What is the purpose of using specific icons in Bradley J's Notion system?
-Specific icons are used to create a logical system that helps users quickly understand the purpose of a page or section without having to read or think too much.
How does Bradley J handle relations between different databases in Notion?
-When there is a relation to another database, Bradley J uses the icon of the related database to indicate the connection, ensuring a visual consistency and easy understanding of the relationship.
What is the benefit of having a database icon match its Hub icon in Bradley J's system?
-Matching the database icon with its Hub icon helps in quickly identifying the type of content within the database and provides a visual cue for the user to navigate through the system.
How does Bradley J take advantage of Notion's lazy loading feature?
-Bradley J structures his system so that everything is behind a toggle, which means Notion's lazy loading feature only loads content when it is opened, making the system appear less overwhelming and more efficient.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to Bradley J's Notion Organization System
Bradley J introduces his Notion organization system, which he describes as complicated yet easy to understand. He emphasizes the use of a specific set of rules to maintain order, inspired by the 'core 4' organization concept applicable to both physical and digital spaces. This concept categorizes everything into hubs for storage, displays for showing items, trackers for organization, and a broad general view. He applies this to his digital Notion environment, using color coding for different types of information and icons for consistency. The goal is to avoid getting lost in the vast possibilities of Notion and to maintain productivity.
🎨 Color Coding and Icon System in Notion
Bradley J explains his color coding system in Notion, assigning specific meanings to colors such as yellow for notes, green for actionable tasks, red for projects, orange for goals, brown for organizers, gray for functional items, and blue for a broad general view. He also details a specific set of icons that he uses consistently throughout his Notion setup to avoid confusion and to streamline the process of finding and organizing information. The icons represent different functionalities like navigation, quick notes, status trackers, and processing views, which help in maintaining a logical and efficient system.
🗂️ Organizational Structure and Consistency in Notion
The video script delves into the detailed structure of Bradley J's Notion system, where every page has a 'last edited view' to help users quickly return to their recent work. He organizes his hubs into four sections: priority favorites, processing or status-based, time-based, and category-based pages. This structure helps in maintaining an overview of tasks and projects. Bradley also discusses the use of relational icons that match the database they are associated with, and how database icons always match their respective hub icons. This consistency in iconography and color coding helps users to instantly recognize where they are within the Notion environment and what actions they need to take.
🔍 Final Thoughts on Notion Organization and Layout
Bradley J concludes by showing how his entire Notion layout is organized behind toggles to take advantage of Notion's lazy loading feature, which only loads content when it's opened. This makes the system appear less overwhelming and more manageable. He reiterates the importance of the 'core 4' organization concept and encourages viewers to explore it further if they are struggling with organization and productivity. He invites questions and looks forward to discussing more in future videos.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Organization System
💡Notion
💡Core 4 Organization Concept
💡Hub
💡Display
💡Tracker
💡Color Coding
💡Icons
💡Last Edited View
💡Database
💡Consistency
Highlights
Bradley J introduces his organized Notion system based on a set of specific rules.
The system is designed to avoid the feeling of being lost in the vast opportunities Notion offers.
Core 4 organization concept is applied to both physical and digital environments.
Everything can be classified into four categories: Hub, Display, Tracker, and Item.
The bookshelf analogy is used to explain the concept of Hub, Display, and Tracker.
Colors are used to signify different types of information: Yellow for notes, Green for tasks, Red for projects, etc.
Icons are standardized to maintain consistency as the system grows.
Every page includes a 'Last Edited' view to track the most recent work.
Hub sub-pages are organized into four sections: Priority, Processing/Status, Time-based, and Category-based.
The importance of using consistent icons for navigation and understanding the system's structure.
Database icons always match their Hub icons for easy identification.
Sub-pages carry the color and main Hub icon to show their relationship within the system.
The system leverages Notion's lazy loading feature to only load content when needed.
The Core 4 organization concept is recommended for further exploration to improve productivity.
The video concludes with an invitation for viewers to ask questions if they have any.
Transcripts
howdy howdy my name is Bradley J and
today we're going to be covering my
quite complicated but surprisingly easy
to understand organization system I've
built every single notion template
pretty much the same but with their own
little flare and it's because I'm able
to use a highly reliable specific set of
rules to organize my entire system so
just going through it um little
backstory when I started notion I got
really lost and I don't know if you can
get that feel but notion is an immense
sea of opportunities you can create
whatever you want whenever you want and
that can kind of be to your detriment
where you're creating too much and
you're trying to expand and design and
you're not actually being productive so
what I did is I wanted to stick to a
specific set of rules similar to a
website so that my I don't get lost
anytime I'm in a specific place I know
exactly where I am based on these set of
rules so if you haven't learned about
the uh core for organization concept it
is a basic concept that applies to
literally everything both physical and
digital and as a brief uh overview of
what the core 4 is is um every single
thing can be classified as four
categories you either have a hub which
is where items are stored
or you have um a display which shows
those items and a Tracker that organizes
those in a certain way uh if we're
looking at this bookshelf behind me the
way that would work out is they a book
is an item of course um within the book
shelf which is the Hub of books so you
have the hubs items and then the book uh
bookshelf itself is the display the way
that those books are shown and whether
you decide to track it by height uh
genre or however you decide to track it
even by color that is your tracker and
you can build literally anything out
that way the kitchen is made of many
hubs you have your hubs of silverware
you have your hubs of cups or whatever
you want to get to but realistically it
applies to everything and I've used that
same concept uh within my digital notion
uh environment uh carrying that on
though as we see I want to rely on a
specific set of rules everywhere I've
tried to expand it to other areas and it
works pretty well anywhere you see
yellow you can rely on that to be a note
or stored information just instantly
know that hey it's a it's a sticky note
you know like the old old school sticky
notes just take one off put it where
it's going to be and never use yellow
for anything else keep it keep it pretty
simple uh next up is uh green something
actionable a task or a to-do item uh red
is a project or extended effort
something that you have to think about
um like a video kind of like YouTube is
already thought of uh orange is goals or
something forward looking uh something
in the future um Brown is an organizer
kind of like a box you see that makes a
whole lot of sense doesn't it uh gray is
something functional as you look around
a lot of stuff functional is TE
technically gray look at my dark
background and blue is just a broad
General view I'm working in purple as
something else but those are kind of
hard to classify and I figured why not
have a little fun with it and use it for
what whatever you want you want
something pink make it Pink all right
carrying it on um outside of color I've
also decided on a specific set of icons
and this is really handy because as your
system grows you waste a lot of time
trying to think of the best icon for the
best page and it just kind of doesn't
accomplish anything so you get lost um
or you can stay into a logical system
and anywhere you see the navigation well
it's onpage navigation anywhere you see
that writing it's going to be quicknotes
database favors priority category and
you can work down there because they
have a specific meaning so that icon is
only ever used once you understand that
the status tracker is going to show you
a board that determines where that item
is in the process same thing with
processing most things have a way to get
it into a different place or assign a
date property to it that's what the
processing view is for so anytime you
see that shuffle it's telling you to get
it into where wherever you want it to go
and just carrying on down it just it
makes a whole lot of sense using
consistent icons
hope that makes sense so far we're going
to get pretty deep pretty quick so
moving it on um every single page within
this um my stuff has a last edited view
um again I got lost a lot so I figured
in a database the one consistent view
would be the view of what I was just
working on I want to get back to it
don't I most likely unless it's an
archive but it still be know still be
good to know and have a history of where
I just was so anywhere you are any view
is going to have the main hubs or the
main database's last edited view um
sorted from whatever it is on top to
last uh whatever you just viewed on top
down to what was viewed last on bottom
of
course moving on forward I have to show
you this one because it is a little bit
in depth so additionally each Hub sub
page are grouped into the same four
sections the top is a priority favorite
uh priority favorite or important
meaning that if you have something
specific you want it on the top of your
view in tasks that's task due today or
tomorrow it's going to show you task due
today of course because we want to know
what what's on our plate for right now
so we can get to that uh next up is
processing or status based it's going to
be group by those let me show
you um let's go to the notes hub
so you have the favorite on top the only
one main favorite for this Hub down
bottom you have processing and Status
where you'll be able to see the board um
for the different categories um next up
if you continue down is time based um
such as the whether you have properties
in this one it's just recent because
it's a note um you have recent web Clips
as well but if we were to come over to
the all projects area you would be able
to see that there's more time based
pages in here uh projects by the month
by the quarter by the year so on uh next
up is category based all activities uh
group based on where you process them so
for example um whether it has um tasks
Associated to it it's going to be in
progress or not whether it's in the
status of doing it goes to the in
progress status U moving on down
whatever area that project is associated
with if it's related to work you're
going to see it under the work area as
you see here we have two starting areas
life admin has the life quick tasks
projects work admin or work area has the
work quick tasks project and just for
the sake of things why don't we move
that to recurring because that's most
likely going to never go away something
to rely on as again uh moving on down
you see the goals and projects and it
carries on these are the category
um that these these pages are in so kind
of makes sense uh keeping it moving we
are getting to the end of the rules and
you'll kind of see how it all comes
together here soon so the the last few
consistencies that I have is if you are
in a notes Hub or if you are in a hub
and there is a relation to another
database the icon used will be the icon
of the other database so for example if
you're in the notes Hub and a page is
related to the projects Hub the icon
will be a project icon let me open it up
and show
you oh no here all right so we are in
the notes Hub and the relation for the
projects by notes you'd be able to see
it right here it takes on the crane
which is the project of course down here
uh the the project takes on the icon of
the area very easy to rely
on um moving it on down the database
icon will always match their Hub icon
this one is best to show you in the task
database or the tasks Hub because
everything is a check kind of makes the
most sense so if we add a new task you
will see it pop up as a check because
that's the database that it's part
of and all sub pages will carry the
color from The Hub and use the main Hub
icon as a header if we come down here
you will see that the notes processing
it carries on the icon that I showed you
guys earlier but it also shows the the
main hubs icon which is the the note and
it also shows the color to instantly
show you that you're there if we come
over to the full processing and go to
the projects processing you'll see the
exact same thing to be like okay I'm in
the projects area I know exactly what I
need to do where do I want to be and
then you're able to go directly to it
it's very handy and just to show you one
more time it does carry on over
everywhere you go so that is pretty much
everything in my system uh to show you
it everything is behind a toggle to take
advantage of Notions inherent uh lazy
loading it's not going to load
everything we have here it does look
pretty massive but realistically it
doesn't load until you open it as you
saw there there and then it brings in
all of the functionality we're able to
really stack on a whole lot of just
power into this single page because of
that feature and I'm really impressed
with how it it's all coming together and
really it just makes a lot of sense so
this is my entire layout if you haven't
heard of the core 4 organization concept
I encourage you to go look into that a
little bit more it does make sense and
it does apply to everything if you have
an item that doesn't belong in the hub
move it out of that Hub and you can get
organized if you can't if you're still
not as productive as you want maybe
you're not able to see it and you need
to adjust the display and say you're
still not as productive as you are well
it might be time to get a new tracker
and organize it a little bit better get
all those done and you're still not able
to do it well we got different questions
for you so that's the Hub track method
this is the entire life Hub and
essentially notion template formula that
I use to organize everything I have hope
this makes sense if you guys have any
questions feel free please leave them
talk to you guys soon see you in the
next
video
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