Notion Templates

 

Now that you’ve wet your feet with Notion, let’s look at all the built-in options available.

Notion starts you off with some pre-made pages to show choices in the app. The first is Getting Started. On this page, there are basic instructions on how to use the app and some tips and tricks. It also has several instructional videos and a link to fifty more on YouTube. If you plan to embrace this app, I’d advise you to watch them.

Next is a Personal Home page. This spot has some ideas for organizing your tasks, data, and other life items. The purpose of this page is not only to put your ducks in a row but to show how to use sub-pages to keep things neat and crisp with four sub-pages. Next, the movie page has two checklists side by side. The recipe page has the start of a simple database. It illustrates a simple way to get started with databases embedded in the page. Yearly Goals has simple lists which we already covered. Last is Travel Plans, again with a simple database you can customize to your own needs.

The Task page is a super checklist. The page is in Board View to see all the cards (task lists) at once. It has four checklists across the page with titles. As authors, we juggle many tasks at once. The setup on this page shows what needs to be done and what is being finished. You can add more lists to the four currently on the page. Or add sub-pages with specifics to each task. You can change up the card sizes and add images, too. Get very fancy by turning it into a database with due dates, partners, and social media queues.

The next template page has a journal with multiple sub-pages. It’s a gallery database. Writing directly on to Notion is easy by adding a card/page and then typing. The daily reflection sub-page has built-in some ideas about what to reflect on and how to organize thoughts. Again, all pages are customizable to make the app work for you.

There are more templates at the bottom, on the left menu. Click Templates and peruse the fabulous list of options. They are divided into several categories, each with multiple templates to choose from. Categories include Design, Student, Engineering, Human Resources, Marketing, Personal, Product Management, Sales, and Support. The Other category has choices for teams and meetings. If the sixty choices here are not working for you, click the link on the bottom of the right menu to browse more templates at Notion’s webpage. Categories there include Reading and Writing, Home and Living, Free Lance, and more.

I know this post is more a “what’s in there” than “how-to.” Here are some things to keep in mind as you explore these templates. You can always convert back to the template. The original will still be available even if you created intricate changes. Either hit Undo or start over, dragging your data with you. You can also convert elements within a page into something else if you change your mind. Say you need to make a checklist a toggled list. Highlight, click on the first element of the pop-up box. The list will say Turn Into and change it back or into something new.

Don’t be afraid to play.

Notion is a fully functional project manager you can customize for writers. Next week, we’ll brainstorm some uses for Notion.