I’ve written before about using Notion, but I wanted to give deeper insight into why I choose to Notion, and what about it makes me love it so much.
In 2021, I used an app called ToDoist, because I wanted to be more organized and get my stuff done. I wanted to be like those “on top of it” people that I would see on social media, and while I work hard at not comparing myself to others (nor do I suggest that others do the same), seeing someone’s “ideal self” in a post makes me want to do the same. I would say that it’s kind of like body doubling but not. But I digress.
While ToDoist was good, it didn’t work for me, and that’s fine.
I have since switched to Notion and have been using Notion for a year now. Or at least, that’s how it feels. No, haha, I just checked my email and have been using Notion for a year.
Yes, there is a pretty high learning curve to Notion, but even with the struggles at learning how to use it (haha, I’m referring to my struggles, not struggles on Notion’s side), it works better with my personality and with what I want to use it for. It’s been so helpful, and not only that, it’s something that I can use, and other people are so forthcoming with creating templates.
Did I probably get a little too crazy with finding templates? Yes. Yes, I did. Templates are great because they help me fine-tune my workspace, and make it into something that works for me, instead of me getting lost amongst all of my not-yet-organized mess.
So let me tell you about it. It’s such a great tool.
To be perfectly upfront, I have a task on my to-do list in Notion to sit down and finish organizing myself in Notion.
Especially now that I have a brand new template that I am so excited to use! I got it as part of the masterclass I attended recently, hosted by Danielle of Her Messy Bun and Consciously Creative. And even just watching her show and explain what all the different things can do (the masterclass is by far one of the best masterclasses I have ever attended), I was itching to dive in and start moving all of my tasks over and creating databases that would work with her template. Have I done it yet? No, but that’s okay. It’s a work in progress.
But enough about the templates.
Why do I love using Notion?
Maybe because it has such a high learning curve? I’m only half-joking about that. It has a learning curve because there is so much you can do with Notion, so much potential for what you can do.
Even when I struggled on my own, finding templates and still learning what could be done, I could already do more than any previous app or productivity tool I’ve tried.
Not only that, but because I am more in control of the design and use of my workspace, I can actually try things and remove things that didn’t work for me. Do you know how refreshing, how freeing that feeling is? I didn’t have to force myself to fit into a design, I could make a design that worked for me.
What are some things that are crucial for me in Notion?
I need to have the freedom to see both a weekly and monthly view, and have multiple databases that feed into those views. That might seem simple and be something that could be acquired elsewhere, but I’ve only seen it in physical planners, and in Good Notes, the IOS app for iPads. As someone who does not have an iPad, it was disappointing that I couldn’t find an option that had both a web and mobile version. That is, until I heard of Notion.
Something else that is important to me is the amount of space for all of my projects. That is probably one of the reasons that I’m slow to sit down and reorganize all the things, because I have different areas of my life and I want to give them all the space without cluttering them together. The only time I want to see an entire, full grouping of the tasks, is in either the weekly or monthly view. If I’m working in a particular area in my Notion workspace, I don’t want to get distracted by other tasks that aren’t as urgent.
As I’ve been putting more time and effort into Notion, the more time I’m spending in Notion. Haha, what I mean by that, is that in the beginning, I wasn’t using Notion that much, but it’s true. The more I’ve used it, the more I have come to rely on it. And it has been so helpful in keeping everything put together so that I can accomplish the projects I want to do.
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