Hey friend,

You don't need another Notion template.

You need a system and a workflow that works for you.

This week, I want to talk about how you can get more out of the time and effort you already put into Notion.

Let’s dive in.

If you’re like me 5 years ago when I discovered Notion…

You’ve downloaded a bunch of free, pretty templates (it ended up cluttering your Notion).

You’ve captured and saved lots of notes and ideas into Notion, but you can’t seem to find them when you need it!

You’ve spent more time tweaking your Notion layout, pages and databases, than using Notion to help you be more efficient with your working hours.

You’ve tried to build a “perfect” Notion setup, but got really overwhelmed with complexity. And it slowed you down (instead of speeding you up like all the Youtube videos promised).

After 5 years of using Notion to manage and track all aspects of my work and life, and helping dozens of clients do the same…

Here’s the big realisation.

The problem isn’t Notion (it’s just a tool).

The real problem is a lack of simplified workflows and systems that work for you.

The problem with Notion templates

Lets talk about the elephant in the room.

I’ve got a love hate-relationship with $20 Notion templates.

Don’t get me wrong, I think templates are great if you’re:

• Happy to use it exactly as it is.

• Able to take time to tinker and play around with templates.

• Trained on how to use it and can adapt it to your personal workflows.

• Experienced enough with Notion to know how to customise it to suit your needs (so you're not starting from zero).

• Using it as inspiration and a learning tool to see how it was designed on the back-end, so you can build or improve your own Notion setup.

Template are not great if you're:

• New to Notion (it can be overwhelming).

• Lacking in time to experiment and build something you like.

• Looking for customised workflows and systems in Notion that will work for you (because you’re struggling with your productivity right now).

• Not comfortable or experienced enough to adapt templates to make it work for you (you'll end up frustrated and feel like it’s a giant waste a lot of time).

What to do instead

Design a smart Notion setup that is a system with effective workflows, that work for you. This setup should focus on:

1. Giving you clarity

It should help you see at a glance the tasks and projects on your plate right now, in a clean and focused way.

2. Interconnected systems

What matters in your life should be connected in one integrated system, so nothing gets lost in the weeds.

That means your task, projects, notes, content creation, ideas, clients information, travel plans, household management etc. should be connected to each other where it makes sense and is within context.

So that relevant information is automatically resurfaced, when you need it.

(By the way, if you want to simplify, streamline and fix your Notion setup in 5 days, you’ll find my free course helpful)

3. Structure

The biggest mistake people make in Notion is having no structure for how data and information is organised.

Setting up the right structure from the start makes your Notion setup easily expandable and changeable as your goals, needs and wants changes in your life and work.

My Notion setup 5 years ago is quite different to what it is today. I’ve easily adapted my setup and workflows to adapt to the needs of my work, life and business.

4. Built for planning and taking action

The goal isn’t to use Notion.

The goal is to leverage Notion as a tool for getting the right things done, effectively and efficiently—so you have more time for life outside of work.

That means having a purpose for every database, page or dashboard you create.

And designing a workflow and process within Notion that helps you make plans and take action without burning out, getting overloaded or overwhelmed.

5. Run repeated actions on autopilot

There are workflows and routines in our life and work that can run on autopilot using built-in database templates, automation or AI tools in Notion.

Once you get clear on what happens regularly, you can turn those actions into autopilot process in Notion to save time and mental bandwidth.

For example, I’ve set up an automation in my Notion task database to automatically add routine tasks into my weekly plan at 3am on Sundays.

So when I sit down to complete my weekly review and planning process on Sunday afternoon or evening, those routine tasks are already in my calendar, and I plan the rest of my week around them.

Your next step: do this 5-Minute Notion audit

Not sure if your Notion setup could be more organised, efficient and productive?

Ask yourself these 5 simple questions:

• Do you have all your original database in one spot?

• Does each Notion Dashboard have a clear purpose?

• Do you feel no friction or frustration with using Notion?

• Can you find what you're looking for in under 3 seconds?

• Do you have a quick and easy way to capture new tasks, ideas, notes etc. into Notion?

If you answered NO to any of these, your Notion setup could use some improvement.

You can easily save 7 hours a week with some simple changes and tweaks to the structure, systems and workflows in your Notion setup.

That’s it for this week!

Want to help to get more out of the time, effort and resources you put into Notion?

Reply with your situation and I’m happy to send over some suggestion to help make Notion work better for you.

See you next week,

Janice CK

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