📨 My DIY Ride-or-Die
I organize and operate 90% of my life within an app called Notion.
You may have heard of Notion referred to as project management software, a productivity tool, or a note-taking app. While all of those things are true, at it’s core Notion can be whatever tool you need it to be, for whatever purpose you need it to serve. And you can use the majority of its features for free.
It’s not the latest productivity hack, it’s a giant blank page that you can mold to the way you work. It’s your very own DIY home base.
Documents, spreadsheets, projects, tasks, all in one space.
Moving my notes, data, project planning, and even habit tracking into Notion was like suddenly being able to see what’s in front of me without having to dig through a pile of papers.
It also made it fun.
Even if you prefer another platform or workspace, centralizing your information and documents can have a huge impact.
This is what my daily dashboard looks like right now:
Everything I need to do today or tomorrow along with my current projects. I also have a sidebar for quick links and anything I need to add to often.
The important distinction is that this makes it easy for ME. CURRENTLY.
Over the past few years this page has changed and morphed as my work does, as I think about things differently, and no single project page has to look the same. I’m not locked in to one format or kanban display.
I know this aspect can be especially important for neurospicy folks - being able to custom organize, filter, and focus on key information is a huge benefit of Notion.
Why this matters for you or your team:
You know that joke, “this could’ve been an email”?
My remix is “this should’ve been in Notion.”
Instead of wasting thirty minutes in a meeting, you’re wasting entire systems scattered across 14 unlabeled Google Sheets no one has opened since March. Finding notes again is a gamble and every spreadsheet is a new reinventing-the-wheel nightmare.
Notion gives you one place to find and share everything.
Notion isn’t just for big teams. It’s also how you start running your business like a business instead of duct-taping Google Docs together.
Centralized info – all your clients, projects, and notes in one home base. Sync information from other platforms or create forms directly in Notion.
Clean navigation – future-you doesn’t have to play detective and you can create views how YOU like to display things.
Simple permissions – easily share a workspace with your whole team, or limit a guest to a single page.
Scales with you – when you grow your team, the system is already ready.
This is the difference between feeling like you’re winging it and feeling like you’ve got your sh*t together.
How To Get Started
Create a new page, choose “Database” at the bottom and name it something like Spaces or Areas - it will give you the option to choose from different templates - feel free to play around! - but I’d suggest starting with a blank database so you can really explore what works for you.
Add pages for each area of your business or life - however you think will be useful. Think: Products, Marketing, Video Production, Clients, etc. Think of these like topics that a project could be related to.
The reason I suggest making a database rather than standalone pages is that it makes it easier to relate these pages to future projects and tasks later on. In this context, you can think of a database like a grouping of pages that all have the same header - in this case, Spaces.
Click into each of those pages and add links to what you already have created elsewhere - If you already have documents, spreadsheets, notes, etc. on other platforms, start dumping all of that information into its related page. Paste links or create new pages within each space.
Explore page formatting by creating columns, headings, subpages, and more.
You don’t have to immediately set up complex databases with tasks and projects to get Notion working for you quickly. The important thing is starting to centralize everything in one place.
I had previously attempted this in apps like Evernote or Asana, but Notion was easily the winner for me.
Next week I’ll share my basic home base template with you but for now, here are some resources if you want to learn the basics:
Using the workspace and sidebar - the basics of navigating and organizing in Notion
Building with Blocks - how to design simple, great pages that are more than just text
Connecting Knowledge in Notion - tools for fitting everything together
The Bigger Picture
The earlier you build systems that make sense, the less painful it is later. You don’t need a whole ops department to get organized, you just need tools that respect your time.
Even if it’s just you or a small team right now: you deserve systems that make sense.
Want this in your inbox? Subscribe to TODAY TODAY for weekly emails.