Hey all! Hope you enjoy this one - I've received quite a few requests for a tutorial showing the full build process for adding PARA to Notion. If you'd like to use or study the finished template, you can get it here: thomasjfrank.com/templates/para-method-template-for-notion/ You'll also find this PARA structure in Ultimate Brain, which is a complete second brain for Notion: thomasjfrank.com/brain/ What new tutorials do you want to see in the future?
Thank you Thomas - How would approach notes assigned to a project that is indicative of an area, would I want thoses projects notes showing within the area notes too using a rollup feature? If so, what would be the best way to implement that?
@@hamishbamford9501 you'd do it in the same way as I show for Resources and Areas. You'd create a Project Area rollup in Notes, then make sure to add that to the filters in your Area Notes section of the Area template. I'd recommend making a separate view for this, as the default view we create in the video Groups by Resource. To keep things clean, you'd want to make a separate view where you can Group by Project instead. Hope that helps!
Hi Thomas - an other question - if I was wanting to collaborate on a particular project or area with others, ie so they could add notes and tasks within that particular project/ area is there a way for them to engage with just those specific linked database views - without them having access to the databases as a whole? If not has you identified a workaround for this?
@@hamishbamford9501 unfortunately no, and this is IMO Notion's biggest limitation at the moment. Full explanation here: support.thomasjfrank.com/general-faqs/nQCSGEMBrxGXh4632cPJWT/using-our-templates-with-teammates-guests-or-clients/aWQsvtJ5vGQTCM6MhMbfrc
Loved this. Took me twice the time to create than to watch, but that's a fraction of the time it took you to learn/develop this out. Deeply thankful. Truly. You deserve so much damn praise for what you are doing.
Wow. This is the most articulate comment section I've seen on RUclips. So many great comments, I liked them all lol. I guess that's why we're nerding out here on Notion & creating structure. Forreal, Thomas - this is fantastic. I just found you as I'm looking to take Notion to the next level and this is awesome. Subbed. Thanks for so many insights 🧠
Wow, I could not have discovered your guide at a better time! I have been working on my PARA dashboard for the past few months and am just starting to run into some scaling issues. This guide has saved me weeks of research, trial and error. Thank you soo much for all the thought and work you put into this!!
Huge THANK YOU for this resource - I’ve just managed to build this as a complete newbie to Notion, by playing you at 75% speed and pausing/rewinding every 5 secs. 😄 I feel like I’ve now got a basic understanding of how Notion works, and am tempted to buy your ultimate template. Thank you again - very watchable (without the constant jump-cuts that make most YT videos unwatchable for me) and great presenting/teaching style. You’re a gem, Thomas!
This was great. Literally took me like 6 sessions over a couple of weeks including procrastination to complete. I might eventually buy the ultimate brain now that I know what's going on with all the moving pieces. Thanks for all the free stuff you've hooked me up with over the years that actually has helped me be more productive without having to "medicate" my "adhd". You should really be satisfied with the knowledge that you are tangibly changing lives for the better.
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 📚 The PARA method (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archive) is a powerful way to organize your digital life and tasks. 02:25 📂 Creating a PARA dashboard in Notion helps you manage projects, areas, resources, tasks, and notes effectively. 03:49 🗂️ Notion's flexibility allows you to consolidate tasks, notes, and reference material for each project in one place, enhancing organization. 05:12 📝 Differentiate between projects (actionable), areas (life buckets), resources (interests), and archive (inactive items) in your PARA setup. 08:51 🗃️ Setting up various databases (tasks, notes, projects, areas/resources) with properties (status, type, archive) creates an organized structure. 14:59 📚 Implementing relations between databases (tasks to projects, notes to projects/areas/resources) links different elements for efficient workflow. 18:35 📄 Utilizing reciprocal properties allows bidirectional relations, enhancing the interconnectivity of your PARA system. 19:29 🛠️ Setting up projects in Notion using the PARA method. 19:56 🧩 Creating a relation within the same database for areas and resources. 20:25 📑 Setting page limits for resource properties to maintain organization. 20:51 📊 Using roll-up properties to find the root area of notes within resources. 22:12 🔗 Explaining roll-up properties' ability to reach through relations and gather information. 23:08 🏁 Creating templates for projects, areas, and resources in Notion. 24:33 📚 Organizing templates with quick links and toggle blocks for improved navigation. 26:23 📋 Utilizing the color setting and handles for multi-column layouts in Notion. 27:22 📆 Configuring properties and filters for effective task and note management. 29:39 📊 Grouping and sorting tasks by status for better project overview. 31:00 🧰 Setting default templates and using advanced filters for project and note organization. 31:55 🔗 Creating area and resource templates while planning for relational database views. 35:07 📚 Building area templates with board views for projects, gallery views for resources, and list views for notes. 37:52 🗃️ Grouping and filtering notes using roll-up properties and archive settings. 39:45 🛠️ ParaDash board: Grouping by base URL in Notion database for organization. 40:12 📊 Creating a dashboard structure in Notion using headings for tasks, notes, projects, and areas/resources. 41:40 🔄 Rearranging dashboard sections in Notion using horizontal lines for stacking tasks, notes, projects, and areas/resources. 42:08 📋 Implementing linked databases in Notion for tasks and notes, utilizing filters and customizing views. 44:27 🗃️ Setting up Inbox views in Notion with filters for tasks and notes, including Next Seven Days and Completed views. 45:51 📦 Creating an Archive page in Notion for completed tasks and archived notes, utilizing filters and linked databases. 48:15 🏢 Configuring a dashboard view for Projects in Notion, using groupings, card previews, and customization. 49:35 🌐 Creating linked databases for Areas and Resources in Notion, differentiating between areas and resources with filters. 53:41 🎨 Aesthetic tweaks to the Notion dashboard, customizing shown properties and optimizing the layout. 57:00 🔗 Conclusion and additional resources for enhancing Notion productivity and skills. Made with HARPA AI
Immensely clarifying for using Notion in general AND for adapting the PARA system to work with Notion. Thank you! I would be very interested to see you demo how to actually use it. How do you plan your day, your week, capture thoughts and web clippings, generate new ideas and insights from going through your dashboard, choose next actions and decide which projects and tasks to work on. That would be awesome. By the way, how you described Notion in one of your videos with Tiago (“it lets you program without having to code”) made it click for me.
Brilliant. I'm getting your Ultimate Brain for sure, but I really want to learn Notion properly, so I'll rewatch this and copy all you do. You're an amazing teacher. I love that you go fast, yet always with perfect clarity. It shows trust in our intelligence, and we can always rewind and/or slow down the video when needed.
Thank you so much Thomas, this has honestly been transformational. I'm trying to build an online business and desperately needed a cohesive way to organise my thoughts and personal digital life. I watched this on 50% speed about 3 times and went back over to understand as I built along with you. I'm truly thankful for your help.
Thank you so much for sharing this. It was so helpful to follow along and see how you organize each area of the system and the logic behind it. Very helpful.
Thanks for explaning everything !! It made it possible for a complete notion noob like me to not only use your PARA template but also tweek it to my convenience, like adding a "to-do" section within the areas using the roll up method you explained for the notes, to be able to see the tasks within projects. I can't thank you enough, you're such a great teacher !
Hey Thomas, just wanted to say THANK YOU for this. I was so excited that you had done a PARA Dashboard. I've been working in Notion for awhile now and sat and spent one session building this out with you after reading Taigo's book. This gave me a better idea of how relations & rollups relate to each other from different databases. I like that you build out databases separately and do referenced databases on your dashboards. Going to start implementing that in my workflow as well. I also like the advanced filter options. Learned a lot, much appreciated!
Thank you! It took a minute...but your generous, thorough, smart tutorials have guided me to create a functional, organization system within the Notions ecosystem. I will now be more focused and intentional my both business and personal life.
Hey, this is incredible and the time that you’re putting into create and teach this it’s good. It’s just a bit too complicated for someone who just wants to start creating their own second brain 20:17
So glad I found this tutorial and template! You broke down the dashboards and categories into ways that makes so much more sense than a lot of other templates out there, it really feels like I can look at my brain and life on a simple automated sheet! Many thanks again
Thanks Thomas very usefull video but personally I think it would be very beneficial have a video center around the functionality of the template. After following your video on how to build the Second Brain I still find myself confused on how and where to add things. The video itself is already very compact with information about the inner workings of notion itself that individually picking apart the user functionality becomes somewhat cumbersome. I think a video showing you using it like adding, removing things from the resources, areas, and projects would be very useful.
Elite master class, thank you. I use this every single day and the iterations and customizations coming from this initial template have been mind boggling.
Build complete! Thank you very much Thomas. I'm sure I'll be even more thankful once I start migrating my notes from various platforms into this system!!
This was a very helpful tutorial, and I was able to follow it through and create my first notion template. Thanks! One thing I want to mention is that the rules filter has changed; it's different now from the tutorial. Other than that, it's a great tutorial! Cheers!
Hi Thomas! I came to say hi and let you know that I just got here -- and I'm loving it! I'm setting up my dashboard, excited to use your template to organize my life in 2025. Warm new year wishes from a follower in Brazil :)
Wow... wow... just WOW! Amazing how I could finally get to understand a little more of the complexity of Notion and start building my second brain thanks to this concise tutorial.. Thank you so much for such a valuable contribution 🙏 You rock!
Thanks so much for this tutorial Thomas! I am excited to use the template I created and happy to have learned so much about Notion functionality along the way. You are an excellent teacher providing concise and easy to follow steps at a decent pace. Just subscribed to your channel to expand on my Notion learning. Blessings!
The class is very good, but can be a bit frustrating. For instance at 24:35 the arrow key is used to create a toggle block but no verbal description of what key stroke is used to do that. If I add an arrow all I get is an arrow, no toggle block. You can hear some other key being pressed but since the keystrokes are not described I'm left wondering how to do it. After creating the quick links everything after that is in the quick links object. Can't see how to split it or add something underneath the quick links box. Very frustrating.
The next key press is a space key! That key can't show up because it's not a key combo - if every key press was displayed, it would be very distracting. Here's my markdown reference, which is a useful cheat sheet for many of these shortcuts: thomasfrank.notion.site/Notion-Markdown-Reference-29d5784d51324c1ba8adaf2f37e09003?pvs=4
The best part pf the tutoril, in my case, is to be able to see all relations, understanding why, and all the explaining. Thank you very much for everything.
Tremdously helpful to watch (and listen to your throught process of) the build while also being able to look under the hood of the built template and play around. Thank you! I'm heading over to watch your databases video.
HELP PLEASE: at @29:40, the next task he created to do a test task already has the "Project Template" prepopulated for Project. I follow all the steps but mine has "empty" for "Project". did I miss something?
Wow. I don't know how to thank you enough. You are the absolute best in Notion tips (I wonder if the Notion guys themselves are so good at teaching like you). Best tutorial I have ever seen. Thank you so much
My man FLEW THROUGH this. WHEW. I'm on my 20th time watching in 5 months trying to get this right. LOL. I almost paid for the one on your site. I see your trick sir! LOOOOL. Can't wait to use this!!!!
Perfect timing! was just done with understanding the P.A.R.A method from Tiago's Second Brain Quickstart guide. Going to spend the weekend building this! Thanks Thomas!
I love this tutorial I have had Notion for ages but never really used it because I didn't know how many options I actually had. I would say I am an absolute beginner and yet I understood most of it very well and was able to build my own database. But Notion has made an update and some things are different now. We have more options, which is good, but some of the things in the video, such as some of the codes, can only be implemented if you really get your head around them. But I have managed to do that. Many thanks for the video and for any tips. :)
Thank you so much for this tutorial Thomas. It helped me to make my own 2nd Brain on Notion. Apart from PARA, I also added a section for Daily Journaling, and a few widgets like Pomodoro, Countdown, etc.
1. Thanks for this detailed tutorial. 2. to complete the process, show some examples of digesting thoughts, tasks, notes and other stuff along the PARA system 3. Is it wise to split the Area to smaller areas when it contains too many tasks to do? for example, a House Area is quite vast to the number of things to do, and maybe it is better to make different areas like "Home:Garden" "Home:Renovation" "Home:saloon" and such... ? or at Work on a mega-project that I carry on?
@38:54 you create a OR rule where you choose ; root area -> any-> contains-> area template. But i dont have that option, i can only choose a value not the template... if followed you tutorial to the letter i think and with this i got stuck.
I know this is late to answer this, but it may help someone going forwared. I ran into this same situation and the step I missed was the Rollup Property in the Notes Database. I set the type as Rollup, Related it to Area/Resource, but didnt set the Property to Root Area, instead it was set to Name. Once I changed the Property to Root Area, it worked as expected in the OR Rule.
This is very good! especially when you bought Thomas's template and realise it has so many function which you have not idea how to utilize them. by buiilding a basic one you know more how those works!
Quite a marathon tutorial there. Thanks for all the effort. Looking forward to giving this a fair shake. I've been using Craft for a year or so and I'm feeling the Notion pull lately.
This is an amazing tutorial. Building PARA system in Notion helps me understand how the Ultimate Brain template works. I feel more confident making changes to UB!
Thanks a lot for the tutorial I did miss something in archiving Area/Resource Part and I realized that when I built the dashboard 🙃so at the end I got the template from the link just to make sure everything will work fine.
Thank you for the excellent content... I think in the main diagram of the PARA method, we need to consider a relation between Tasks and Areas. For instance, you work out for your health, and this concurrent task is directly related to the Health or Personal area of your life.
The way I handle this is by creating a Project for each Area called Ongoing. You could also directly relate tasks to areas, but in my experience it makes things a bit clunky. Too many properties to mess with for each task.
@@ThomasFrankExplains Where would you store those projects? do you leave them on the not stated board? having a lot of ongoing projects there looks weird
At 33:40 you copy/pasted the view from Notes to Web clips. It looks like the filter has copied as well. When I copy/paste, the filters dissappear and I have to set them up again. Is there a way to set this up that filters also duplicate?
Hey Thomas... it's Kelley again... I had the wrong video but the right timestamp! LOL! Sorry about that... here's what I was after at 12:49. Where can I get that link mentioned?
Hi Thomas. Super informative video, thank you so much! Just a comment to the adding test task to the template (29:40). Something may changed in notion since you recorded the video, but when I try to add test task in the project template the task won't show in the list. However, when I do it on a real project created from the template that works.
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 🏗️ *The PARA method, encompassing projects, areas, resources, and archive, is a comprehensive system for digital life organization.* 00:29 📑 *The video guides through building a complete PARA system in Notion, covering tasks, notes, and essential sections like projects, areas, resources, and an archive.* 01:28 🧠 *The PARA system is available as a free template and is also part of the "Ultimate Brain" template, offering a complete second brain setup in Notion, including a robust task manager, note-taking system, and more.* 02:25 📊 *The PARA dashboard includes inboxes for quick capturing, essential PARA sections like projects, a merged areas/resources database, and an archive for completed or irrelevant items.* 03:49 🛠️ *Notion's flexibility allows integrating tasks, notes, and reference materials for projects, unlike using separate tools for different aspects of a project, enhancing organizational efficiency.* 04:17 📂 *PARA's structure - projects, areas, resources, and archive - provides an effective system for organizing tasks, ongoing interests, and archived information, adapted for Notion's database-based nature.* 07:02 🔍 *Tasks and notes can be related to projects, resources, or areas within Notion's flexible structure, offering diverse options for organizing information.* 08:51 🧭 *Structuring databases within Notion allows creating interrelations between tasks, notes, projects, areas, and resources, facilitating a holistic organizational system.* 14:59 🗃️ *Implementing checkboxes like "archive" allows segregating completed or irrelevant items, streamlining the management of active and archived content.* 18:35 🔄 *Establishing relations between databases, such as notes with projects, areas/resources, and projects with areas, enables seamless organization and management of information within Notion.* 19:29 🔧 *Setting up "projects" within the Notion database involves creating a relation between areas and resources, ensuring each resource has a designated root area.* 20:51 🔄 *Creating a roll-up property allows visibility of resource notes within the area dashboard, enabling filtering by the root area containing certain notes.* 23:35 📊 *Structuring templates for projects, areas, and resources within Notion involves creating specific layouts, such as toggles for quick access and list views for tasks and notes.* 31:00 🗂️ *Templates set as default in Notion databases auto-populate when creating new items, streamlining the process and ensuring consistency.* 35:07 🛠️ *Designing templates in Notion for areas and resources involves using different views like board view for projects, gallery view for resources, and list view for notes, all filtered to show relevant content.* 39:45 📑 *Building PARA in Notion involves organizing by base URL, grouping notes, and filtering properties for effective categorization.* 40:42 🛠️ *Creating a dashboard structure in Notion involves organizing sections like tasks, notes, projects, areas, and resources using a column layout and manipulating their order for display.* 42:08 📊 *Utilizing list views for tasks and notes, board views for projects, and gallery views for areas and resources optimizes the visualization of information in Notion.* 43:30 🗃️ *Filtering tasks in the inbox based on specific criteria like project association and completion status streamlines task management in Notion.* 46:19 📌 *Establishing filtration in the note inbox by empty areas, empty projects, and unarchived notes helps maintain organization and categorization within Notion.* 47:17 📂 *Utilizing board views for projects and gallery views for areas/resources, setting card previews, sizes, and groupings enhances visual representation in Notion.* 51:00 📚 *Creating an archive page in Notion involves setting up linked databases for completed tasks, archived notes, projects, and areas/resources for effective categorization.* 53:41 🎨 *Aesthetic tweaks in Notion include customizing page layouts, showing/hiding properties within databases, and adjusting display settings for a cleaner interface.* 57:00 🚀 *For a comprehensive productivity system in Notion, advanced templates like the Ultimate Brain offer robust features, active support, and an engaged community for an elevated user experience.* 58:26 📖 *Learning resources on notion fundamentals, databases, formulas, automation, and API integration are available on Thomas Frank's website for users to enhance their Notion skills.* Made with HARPA AI
Need some help here. I'm at the 30:53 mark where you create set the project template as default and then create the "Burn the Sails song" project. I've followed along step by step but when I create the new project it does not duplicate the template. What could I be doing wrong?
Thanks!! Really awesome tutorial!! I just created one of this and enjoyed the process. I will try to put a Habit Tracker and a Recurrence Review Study Tasks :D
If anyone knows how to possibly troubleshoot this: @ 29:46, when I try to create a “Test Task” it does not show up in the list view. Additionally, when creating the task the project relation shows as empty and not “Project Template.” I’m assuming I’ve messed up a relation when creating this task list view, but not sure. Any help is much appreciated! @ThomasFrankExplains
First of all, thank you so much for the WAY you teach. I'm very particular with how I learn and you my friend have a sincere knack for education! In fact, I've bounced back and forth between your channel, RedGregory's and BetterCreating's and it's yours that I consistently return to. Also, thank you SOOOO much for introducing us to Whimsical! I just signed up for a student account which gives me free access beyond the typical free account. Lastly, I thought you might find this "Whimsical"... see what I did there? :) When explaining the PARA acronym, I explain "Archive" as the place where completed STUFF (keeping it family friendly now) goes to die. :-)
Hey There, So I've been doing this whole demo from start to finish and it took me quite longer than expected. I followed everything carefully but somehow at 50:28. If I go to the Area RSS Template it doesn't show the option for me to link it back. So basically in my current AREA TEMPLATE there is no option for linking it and there is no gallery as seen in the video? I've made a mistake somewhere and tried to figure it out but I can't. Please help.
Thank you! I just found out about the idea of a second brain and I’m thinking of doing it. As a really organized person I find this helpful to sort all my notes and ideas in one place. I’m having a hard time to sort them lately because I was using separate apps which also made it hard for me to find them when I need them. It’s overwhelming lately that it made me uninstall them and stick to Notion instead.
At 30:00 he sorts by "Due" i only have "Date", did I miss something? I don't see "Due" as an available property?
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I'm super confused. | Notes - Areas & Resources | I'm using your "Note-Taking System" as my daily diary where I take Notes & Thoughts every day. Also, I have a Knowledge Hub (AKA Resources). Add to that projects and tasks. (I think they're working pretty well thanks to you.) My confusion is in "Notes" and How you merge "Areas & Resources" I'll keep trying to get them all connected and working together. --- You Are AWESOME. I'm speechless. Thank you so much, Thomas
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I'm watching it for the third time. The Notes section is where things start to confuse me. for notes, and things that come out of my head as you said, I use your Note-Taking System (Which I love as my daily diary) How I can move it to this Databases Master page? that's the first part. I think.. The second part is the stuff I clip out from around the web. I use another Database for that I call it Knowledge Hub. I'm still figuring things out here... will keep watching 🥰
If you're using my current note-taking system template, I'll note that it's VERY old. It came out in 2020 before Notion had released a lot of its current features, which is part of the reason it uses multiple databases for notes. This template (along with Ultimate Brain) uses a single Notes database. Then, Areas and Resources can act as "tags" or "folders" for your notes to keep them organized. Additionally, web clips also go into the Notes database. The only thing that differentiates them is that they have their URL property filled. Hope that helps!
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@@ThomasFrankExplains I'm still here trying to figure things out. at minute 23:55 You mention excatlly the part I'm confused with.
I’m new toNotion (3 days new 😂)and I find your video helpful, intimidating yet fascinating. I’ve successfully set up the databases but it gets complicated from there. Have anyone actually use this system and if so how easy/ difficult is it to Track all your projects , tasks etc
10:52 I honestly always thought that I was the only one who's mind had strictly assigned colours to things, but i guess that's the beauty of colour coding. Since grade 9 (2015 or 2016) I have been using a yellow highlighter for definitions (the word) and blue for the explications. And they have to be a specific shade, and otherwise I'll opt to use pencil until I get the right shade highlighter again😂💔
Thank you so much. I'm really grateful for these videos and guidance. As it was coming together I couldn't believe you made this so I could actually create something like this! 🥰 Would you be open to adding and showing us how to incorporate the Eisenhower Matrix into the dashboard? For someone who receives a Lot of incoming tasks throughout the day and has to determine very quickly which bucket it needs to go into, this might be super beneficial because it'd be so visual. Thank you for everything! 🌅💕
i really liked your video, it’s really nice how you fluently use the software while explaining the important concepts… i still don’t see any utility in joining the areas and resources databases, but i’ll try to adapt it and implement it in my language… saludos desde chile!
Heyyo! Followed this from scratch and loved it! (even made my personal site in notion because of this video) Two questions in this system: A: When I'm assigning tasks to projects, I have some old archived projects that show up, do you ever move projects to another database when they're truly archived so that they don't show up in the search results? R: What's the proper way to use resources? Should that be a link I want to read/view later? Or is it something that I can use in the future? Is a resource ever 'done'? Overall struggling with the RA 🤣 Thomas, you truly rock, thank you, Bry
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Hey all! Hope you enjoy this one - I've received quite a few requests for a tutorial showing the full build process for adding PARA to Notion.
If you'd like to use or study the finished template, you can get it here: thomasjfrank.com/templates/para-method-template-for-notion/
You'll also find this PARA structure in Ultimate Brain, which is a complete second brain for Notion: thomasjfrank.com/brain/
What new tutorials do you want to see in the future?
Thank you Thomas - How would approach notes assigned to a project that is indicative of an area, would I want thoses projects notes showing within the area notes too using a rollup feature? If so, what would be the best way to implement that?
@@hamishbamford9501 you'd do it in the same way as I show for Resources and Areas. You'd create a Project Area rollup in Notes, then make sure to add that to the filters in your Area Notes section of the Area template.
I'd recommend making a separate view for this, as the default view we create in the video Groups by Resource. To keep things clean, you'd want to make a separate view where you can Group by Project instead.
Hope that helps!
Hi Thomas - an other question - if I was wanting to collaborate on a particular project or area with others, ie so they could add notes and tasks within that particular project/ area is there a way for them to engage with just those specific linked database views - without them having access to the databases as a whole?
If not has you identified a workaround for this?
@@hamishbamford9501 unfortunately no, and this is IMO Notion's biggest limitation at the moment. Full explanation here: support.thomasjfrank.com/general-faqs/nQCSGEMBrxGXh4632cPJWT/using-our-templates-with-teammates-guests-or-clients/aWQsvtJ5vGQTCM6MhMbfrc
@@ThomasFrankExplains Thank you, that video resolved a lot of confusion for me.
Loved this. Took me twice the time to create than to watch, but that's a fraction of the time it took you to learn/develop this out. Deeply thankful. Truly. You deserve so much damn praise for what you are doing.
Thanks so much Bruce!
Thanks!
Wow. This is the most articulate comment section I've seen on RUclips. So many great comments, I liked them all lol. I guess that's why we're nerding out here on Notion & creating structure.
Forreal, Thomas - this is fantastic. I just found you as I'm looking to take Notion to the next level and this is awesome. Subbed. Thanks for so many insights 🧠
Wow, I could not have discovered your guide at a better time! I have been working on my PARA dashboard for the past few months and am just starting to run into some scaling issues. This guide has saved me weeks of research, trial and error. Thank you soo much for all the thought and work you put into this!!
Huge THANK YOU for this resource - I’ve just managed to build this as a complete newbie to Notion, by playing you at 75% speed and pausing/rewinding every 5 secs. 😄 I feel like I’ve now got a basic understanding of how Notion works, and am tempted to buy your ultimate template. Thank you again - very watchable (without the constant jump-cuts that make most YT videos unwatchable for me) and great presenting/teaching style. You’re a gem, Thomas!
This was great. Literally took me like 6 sessions over a couple of weeks including procrastination to complete. I might eventually buy the ultimate brain now that I know what's going on with all the moving pieces. Thanks for all the free stuff you've hooked me up with over the years that actually has helped me be more productive without having to "medicate" my "adhd". You should really be satisfied with the knowledge that you are tangibly changing lives for the better.
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:00 📚 The PARA method (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archive) is a powerful way to organize your digital life and tasks.
02:25 📂 Creating a PARA dashboard in Notion helps you manage projects, areas, resources, tasks, and notes effectively.
03:49 🗂️ Notion's flexibility allows you to consolidate tasks, notes, and reference material for each project in one place, enhancing organization.
05:12 📝 Differentiate between projects (actionable), areas (life buckets), resources (interests), and archive (inactive items) in your PARA setup.
08:51 🗃️ Setting up various databases (tasks, notes, projects, areas/resources) with properties (status, type, archive) creates an organized structure.
14:59 📚 Implementing relations between databases (tasks to projects, notes to projects/areas/resources) links different elements for efficient workflow.
18:35 📄 Utilizing reciprocal properties allows bidirectional relations, enhancing the interconnectivity of your PARA system.
19:29 🛠️ Setting up projects in Notion using the PARA method.
19:56 🧩 Creating a relation within the same database for areas and resources.
20:25 📑 Setting page limits for resource properties to maintain organization.
20:51 📊 Using roll-up properties to find the root area of notes within resources.
22:12 🔗 Explaining roll-up properties' ability to reach through relations and gather information.
23:08 🏁 Creating templates for projects, areas, and resources in Notion.
24:33 📚 Organizing templates with quick links and toggle blocks for improved navigation.
26:23 📋 Utilizing the color setting and handles for multi-column layouts in Notion.
27:22 📆 Configuring properties and filters for effective task and note management.
29:39 📊 Grouping and sorting tasks by status for better project overview.
31:00 🧰 Setting default templates and using advanced filters for project and note organization.
31:55 🔗 Creating area and resource templates while planning for relational database views.
35:07 📚 Building area templates with board views for projects, gallery views for resources, and list views for notes.
37:52 🗃️ Grouping and filtering notes using roll-up properties and archive settings.
39:45 🛠️ ParaDash board: Grouping by base URL in Notion database for organization.
40:12 📊 Creating a dashboard structure in Notion using headings for tasks, notes, projects, and areas/resources.
41:40 🔄 Rearranging dashboard sections in Notion using horizontal lines for stacking tasks, notes, projects, and areas/resources.
42:08 📋 Implementing linked databases in Notion for tasks and notes, utilizing filters and customizing views.
44:27 🗃️ Setting up Inbox views in Notion with filters for tasks and notes, including Next Seven Days and Completed views.
45:51 📦 Creating an Archive page in Notion for completed tasks and archived notes, utilizing filters and linked databases.
48:15 🏢 Configuring a dashboard view for Projects in Notion, using groupings, card previews, and customization.
49:35 🌐 Creating linked databases for Areas and Resources in Notion, differentiating between areas and resources with filters.
53:41 🎨 Aesthetic tweaks to the Notion dashboard, customizing shown properties and optimizing the layout.
57:00 🔗 Conclusion and additional resources for enhancing Notion productivity and skills.
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Now i make u 100 😂😂❤
Immensely clarifying for using Notion in general AND for adapting the PARA system to work with Notion. Thank you! I would be very interested to see you demo how to actually use it. How do you plan your day, your week, capture thoughts and web clippings, generate new ideas and insights from going through your dashboard, choose next actions and decide which projects and tasks to work on. That would be awesome.
By the way, how you described Notion in one of your videos with Tiago (“it lets you program without having to code”) made it click for me.
Brilliant. I'm getting your Ultimate Brain for sure, but I really want to learn Notion properly, so I'll rewatch this and copy all you do. You're an amazing teacher. I love that you go fast, yet always with perfect clarity. It shows trust in our intelligence, and we can always rewind and/or slow down the video when needed.
Thomas, this is incredible. The fact that you provided the template is absolutely outstanding. Thank you so much.
Everything sounds so complicated to newbies but you made it really comprehensive. thank you and also thank you for the free template!
Would be great to see HOW you’re actually working with the template, what information you put where and the strategy behind it 👍🏻
Totally agree!! I see how this is built, but I can't see how this all works in your favor.
Thank you so much Thomas, this has honestly been transformational. I'm trying to build an online business and desperately needed a cohesive way to organise my thoughts and personal digital life. I watched this on 50% speed about 3 times and went back over to understand as I built along with you. I'm truly thankful for your help.
Thank you so much for sharing this. It was so helpful to follow along and see how you organize each area of the system and the logic behind it. Very helpful.
Thanks for explaning everything !! It made it possible for a complete notion noob like me to not only use your PARA template but also tweek it to my convenience, like adding a "to-do" section within the areas using the roll up method you explained for the notes, to be able to see the tasks within projects. I can't thank you enough, you're such a great teacher !
Hey Thomas, just wanted to say THANK YOU for this. I was so excited that you had done a PARA Dashboard. I've been working in Notion for awhile now and sat and spent one session building this out with you after reading Taigo's book. This gave me a better idea of how relations & rollups relate to each other from different databases. I like that you build out databases separately and do referenced databases on your dashboards. Going to start implementing that in my workflow as well. I also like the advanced filter options. Learned a lot, much appreciated!
First time that I can complete a tutorial on RUclips. Amazing and super-detailed!
Thank you! It took a minute...but your generous, thorough, smart tutorials have guided me to create a functional, organization system within the Notions ecosystem. I will now be more focused and intentional my both business and personal life.
6:37 Goals
19:02 relations
23:42 Quick links & Mobile, Templates
25:50 Optik
27:00 Self-Referencing Filters Templates & Tasks in Projects
Hey, this is incredible and the time that you’re putting into create and teach this it’s good. It’s just a bit too complicated for someone who just wants to start creating their own second brain 20:17
Wow a full hour! This’ll be the Bible of how to organise your life in Notion 👏🏻
Elizabeth Filips has a great one as well 👍
@@xavthomasyes
So glad I found this tutorial and template! You broke down the dashboards and categories into ways that makes so much more sense than a lot of other templates out there, it really feels like I can look at my brain and life on a simple automated sheet! Many thanks again
Thanks Thomas very usefull video but personally I think it would be very beneficial have a video center around the functionality of the template. After following your video on how to build the Second Brain I still find myself confused on how and where to add things. The video itself is already very compact with information about the inner workings of notion itself that individually picking apart the user functionality becomes somewhat cumbersome. I think a video showing you using it like adding, removing things from the resources, areas, and projects would be very useful.
I hope u have more subscribers, your channel is really helpful and detailed, i love it so much
You are a hero thank you so much for this Template!
Elite master class, thank you. I use this every single day and the iterations and customizations coming from this initial template have been mind boggling.
Build complete! Thank you very much Thomas. I'm sure I'll be even more thankful once I start migrating my notes from various platforms into this system!!
Thank you for the detailed explanation and the free template!
This was a very helpful tutorial, and I was able to follow it through and create my first notion template. Thanks! One thing I want to mention is that the rules filter has changed; it's different now from the tutorial. Other than that, it's a great tutorial! Cheers!
Hi Thomas! I came to say hi and let you know that I just got here -- and I'm loving it! I'm setting up my dashboard, excited to use your template to organize my life in 2025. Warm new year wishes from a follower in Brazil :)
Wow... wow... just WOW! Amazing how I could finally get to understand a little more of the complexity of Notion and start building my second brain thanks to this concise tutorial.. Thank you so much for such a valuable contribution 🙏 You rock!
Thanks so much for this tutorial Thomas! I am excited to use the template I created and happy to have learned so much about Notion functionality along the way. You are an excellent teacher providing concise and easy to follow steps at a decent pace. Just subscribed to your channel to expand on my Notion learning. Blessings!
The class is very good, but can be a bit frustrating. For instance at 24:35 the arrow key is used to create a toggle block but no verbal description of what key stroke is used to do that. If I add an arrow all I get is an arrow, no toggle block. You can hear some other key being pressed but since the keystrokes are not described I'm left wondering how to do it.
After creating the quick links everything after that is in the quick links object. Can't see how to split it or add something underneath the quick links box. Very frustrating.
The next key press is a space key! That key can't show up because it's not a key combo - if every key press was displayed, it would be very distracting.
Here's my markdown reference, which is a useful cheat sheet for many of these shortcuts: thomasfrank.notion.site/Notion-Markdown-Reference-29d5784d51324c1ba8adaf2f37e09003?pvs=4
The best part pf the tutoril, in my case, is to be able to see all relations, understanding why, and all the explaining. Thank you very much for everything.
Tremdously helpful to watch (and listen to your throught process of) the build while also being able to look under the hood of the built template and play around. Thank you! I'm heading over to watch your databases video.
Thanks Thomas for this really in-depth guide. I followed your video to build the template and I'm shocked at what I've managed to build. Amazing!
I really enjoyed making my dashboard while following your guide, thank you!💜
HELP PLEASE: at @29:40, the next task he created to do a test task already has the "Project Template" prepopulated for Project. I follow all the steps but mine has "empty" for "Project". did I miss something?
Wow. I don't know how to thank you enough. You are the absolute best in Notion tips (I wonder if the Notion guys themselves are so good at teaching like you). Best tutorial I have ever seen. Thank you so much
My man FLEW THROUGH this. WHEW. I'm on my 20th time watching in 5 months trying to get this right. LOL. I almost paid for the one on your site. I see your trick sir! LOOOOL. Can't wait to use this!!!!
The best Notion teacher ever! 🙏🏻
Very very things I watch on youtube are life changing. This is!!
Perfect timing! was just done with understanding the P.A.R.A method from Tiago's Second Brain Quickstart guide. Going to spend the weekend building this! Thanks Thomas!
I love this tutorial I have had Notion for ages but never really used it because I didn't know how many options I actually had. I would say I am an absolute beginner and yet I understood most of it very well and was able to build my own database. But Notion has made an update and some things are different now. We have more options, which is good, but some of the things in the video, such as some of the codes, can only be implemented if you really get your head around them. But I have managed to do that.
Many thanks for the video and for any tips. :)
Thank you so much for this tutorial Thomas. It helped me to make my own 2nd Brain on Notion. Apart from PARA, I also added a section for Daily Journaling, and a few widgets like Pomodoro, Countdown, etc.
1. Thanks for this detailed tutorial.
2. to complete the process, show some examples of digesting thoughts, tasks, notes and other stuff along the PARA system
3. Is it wise to split the Area to smaller areas when it contains too many tasks to do? for example, a House Area is quite vast to the number of things to do, and maybe it is better to make different areas like "Home:Garden" "Home:Renovation" "Home:saloon" and such... ? or at Work on a mega-project that I carry on?
@38:54 you create a OR rule where you choose ; root area -> any-> contains-> area template. But i dont have that option, i can only choose a value not the template... if followed you tutorial to the letter i think and with this i got stuck.
I know this is late to answer this, but it may help someone going forwared. I ran into this same situation and the step I missed was the Rollup Property in the Notes Database. I set the type as Rollup, Related it to Area/Resource, but didnt set the Property to Root Area, instead it was set to Name. Once I changed the Property to Root Area, it worked as expected in the OR Rule.
Your teaching is excellent! Thank you for this content
Shot out from Brazil
This is very good! especially when you bought Thomas's template and realise it has so many function which you have not idea how to utilize them.
by buiilding a basic one you know more how those works!
Damn! Such a good crash course to Notion. Thanks a lot!
Quite a marathon tutorial there. Thanks for all the effort. Looking forward to giving this a fair shake. I've been using Craft for a year or so and I'm feeling the Notion pull lately.
Thank you so much for this tutorial! Helped a lot👏.
I successful constructed my second brain! Thanks a lot man 🤝
Love this and all the stuff you make. Followed along and very satisfied with what I've been able to build.
Thanks!
This is an amazing tutorial. Building PARA system in Notion helps me understand how the Ultimate Brain template works. I feel more confident making changes to UB!
thank you for your video, just finished setting up my second brain thanks to this video.
Thanks a lot for the tutorial I did miss something in archiving Area/Resource Part and I realized that when I built the dashboard 🙃so at the end I got the template from the link just to make sure everything will work fine.
Thank you very much for such a detailed video. Learned a lot from you. Thanks again!
This tutorial has been essential in taking the concepts of Forte's book and developing my second brain. Thank you so much!
Thank You Thomas, your tutorial is amazing, didn't even realize till 30 mins.
Amazing that you even dive into Regex. I'm thoroughly surprised. Thank you!
It's amazing tutorial. It opened my mind for a bunch of ways to use Notion for any other areas
Your channel is sooo underrated. Keep up your great work!
Love it when a creator chooses to sectionize videos like this and is transparent at the beginning-- earned a sub!
Thank you for the excellent content... I think in the main diagram of the PARA method, we need to consider a relation between Tasks and Areas. For instance, you work out for your health, and this concurrent task is directly related to the Health or Personal area of your life.
The way I handle this is by creating a Project for each Area called Ongoing.
You could also directly relate tasks to areas, but in my experience it makes things a bit clunky. Too many properties to mess with for each task.
@@ThomasFrankExplains Where would you store those projects? do you leave them on the not stated board? having a lot of ongoing projects there looks weird
i wish i could like this twice. so good!
Thanks for making this video!
Really helped me understand Notion, and now I have a system I can tweak to my liking!
Wow! Thank you so much this is amazing!
At 33:40 you copy/pasted the view from Notes to Web clips. It looks like the filter has copied as well. When I copy/paste, the filters dissappear and I have to set them up again. Is there a way to set this up that filters also duplicate?
Hey Thomas... it's Kelley again... I had the wrong video but the right timestamp! LOL! Sorry about that... here's what I was after at 12:49. Where can I get that link mentioned?
Hi Thomas. Super informative video, thank you so much!
Just a comment to the adding test task to the template (29:40). Something may changed in notion since you recorded the video, but when I try to add test task in the project template the task won't show in the list. However, when I do it on a real project created from the template that works.
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:00 🏗️ *The PARA method, encompassing projects, areas, resources, and archive, is a comprehensive system for digital life organization.*
00:29 📑 *The video guides through building a complete PARA system in Notion, covering tasks, notes, and essential sections like projects, areas, resources, and an archive.*
01:28 🧠 *The PARA system is available as a free template and is also part of the "Ultimate Brain" template, offering a complete second brain setup in Notion, including a robust task manager, note-taking system, and more.*
02:25 📊 *The PARA dashboard includes inboxes for quick capturing, essential PARA sections like projects, a merged areas/resources database, and an archive for completed or irrelevant items.*
03:49 🛠️ *Notion's flexibility allows integrating tasks, notes, and reference materials for projects, unlike using separate tools for different aspects of a project, enhancing organizational efficiency.*
04:17 📂 *PARA's structure - projects, areas, resources, and archive - provides an effective system for organizing tasks, ongoing interests, and archived information, adapted for Notion's database-based nature.*
07:02 🔍 *Tasks and notes can be related to projects, resources, or areas within Notion's flexible structure, offering diverse options for organizing information.*
08:51 🧭 *Structuring databases within Notion allows creating interrelations between tasks, notes, projects, areas, and resources, facilitating a holistic organizational system.*
14:59 🗃️ *Implementing checkboxes like "archive" allows segregating completed or irrelevant items, streamlining the management of active and archived content.*
18:35 🔄 *Establishing relations between databases, such as notes with projects, areas/resources, and projects with areas, enables seamless organization and management of information within Notion.*
19:29 🔧 *Setting up "projects" within the Notion database involves creating a relation between areas and resources, ensuring each resource has a designated root area.*
20:51 🔄 *Creating a roll-up property allows visibility of resource notes within the area dashboard, enabling filtering by the root area containing certain notes.*
23:35 📊 *Structuring templates for projects, areas, and resources within Notion involves creating specific layouts, such as toggles for quick access and list views for tasks and notes.*
31:00 🗂️ *Templates set as default in Notion databases auto-populate when creating new items, streamlining the process and ensuring consistency.*
35:07 🛠️ *Designing templates in Notion for areas and resources involves using different views like board view for projects, gallery view for resources, and list view for notes, all filtered to show relevant content.*
39:45 📑 *Building PARA in Notion involves organizing by base URL, grouping notes, and filtering properties for effective categorization.*
40:42 🛠️ *Creating a dashboard structure in Notion involves organizing sections like tasks, notes, projects, areas, and resources using a column layout and manipulating their order for display.*
42:08 📊 *Utilizing list views for tasks and notes, board views for projects, and gallery views for areas and resources optimizes the visualization of information in Notion.*
43:30 🗃️ *Filtering tasks in the inbox based on specific criteria like project association and completion status streamlines task management in Notion.*
46:19 📌 *Establishing filtration in the note inbox by empty areas, empty projects, and unarchived notes helps maintain organization and categorization within Notion.*
47:17 📂 *Utilizing board views for projects and gallery views for areas/resources, setting card previews, sizes, and groupings enhances visual representation in Notion.*
51:00 📚 *Creating an archive page in Notion involves setting up linked databases for completed tasks, archived notes, projects, and areas/resources for effective categorization.*
53:41 🎨 *Aesthetic tweaks in Notion include customizing page layouts, showing/hiding properties within databases, and adjusting display settings for a cleaner interface.*
57:00 🚀 *For a comprehensive productivity system in Notion, advanced templates like the Ultimate Brain offer robust features, active support, and an engaged community for an elevated user experience.*
58:26 📖 *Learning resources on notion fundamentals, databases, formulas, automation, and API integration are available on Thomas Frank's website for users to enhance their Notion skills.*
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Thank you Thomas, perfect timing with Tiago’s new book next week. You are the Notion Oracle ❤
Need some help here. I'm at the 30:53 mark where you create set the project template as default and then create the "Burn the Sails song" project. I've followed along step by step but when I create the new project it does not duplicate the template. What could I be doing wrong?
Hmm - did you set the template as a default for all views? What happens if you duplicate your template and set that one as the default?
This is a GREAT video because it helps me understand PARA just a little bit more. Thanks!
Thanks!! Really awesome tutorial!! I just created one of this and enjoyed the process. I will try to put a Habit Tracker and a Recurrence Review Study Tasks :D
If anyone knows how to possibly troubleshoot this: @ 29:46, when I try to create a “Test Task” it does not show up in the list view. Additionally, when creating the task the project relation shows as empty and not “Project Template.” I’m assuming I’ve messed up a relation when creating this task list view, but not sure. Any help is much appreciated! @ThomasFrankExplains
Having the same issue
Great tutorial! Learned a ton about Notion and about the Para system.
First of all, thank you so much for the WAY you teach. I'm very particular with how I learn and you my friend have a sincere knack for education! In fact, I've bounced back and forth between your channel, RedGregory's and BetterCreating's and it's yours that I consistently return to. Also, thank you SOOOO much for introducing us to Whimsical! I just signed up for a student account which gives me free access beyond the typical free account. Lastly, I thought you might find this "Whimsical"... see what I did there? :) When explaining the PARA acronym, I explain "Archive" as the place where completed STUFF (keeping it family friendly now) goes to die. :-)
Wow wtf this is soooo good!!! Thank you so much ❤❤
I need some help, I can't seem to understand how you created Quick links at 53:22
11:10 12:27 base url formula
Hey There,
So I've been doing this whole demo from start to finish and it took me quite longer than expected. I followed everything carefully but somehow at 50:28. If I go to the Area RSS Template it doesn't show the option for me to link it back. So basically in my current AREA TEMPLATE there is no option for linking it and there is no gallery as seen in the video? I've made a mistake somewhere and tried to figure it out but I can't. Please help.
Thank you! I just found out about the idea of a second brain and I’m thinking of doing it. As a really organized person I find this helpful to sort all my notes and ideas in one place. I’m having a hard time to sort them lately because I was using separate apps which also made it hard for me to find them when I need them. It’s overwhelming lately that it made me uninstall them and stick to Notion instead.
thank you so much for this amazing video
25:33 How did you do that where you add "Add context about your project here"
Super useful guide, thank you! :)
At 30:00 he sorts by "Due" i only have "Date", did I miss something? I don't see "Due" as an available property?
I'm super confused.
| Notes - Areas & Resources |
I'm using your "Note-Taking System" as my daily diary where I take Notes & Thoughts every day.
Also, I have a Knowledge Hub (AKA Resources).
Add to that projects and tasks. (I think they're working pretty well thanks to you.)
My confusion is in "Notes" and How you merge "Areas & Resources"
I'll keep trying to get them all connected and working together.
---
You Are AWESOME.
I'm speechless.
Thank you so much, Thomas
I'm watching it for the third time. The Notes section is where things start to confuse me. for notes, and things that come out of my head as you said, I use your Note-Taking System (Which I love as my daily diary) How I can move it to this Databases Master page? that's the first part. I think..
The second part is the stuff I clip out from around the web. I use another Database for that I call it Knowledge Hub.
I'm still figuring things out here... will keep watching 🥰
If you're using my current note-taking system template, I'll note that it's VERY old. It came out in 2020 before Notion had released a lot of its current features, which is part of the reason it uses multiple databases for notes.
This template (along with Ultimate Brain) uses a single Notes database. Then, Areas and Resources can act as "tags" or "folders" for your notes to keep them organized.
Additionally, web clips also go into the Notes database. The only thing that differentiates them is that they have their URL property filled.
Hope that helps!
@@ThomasFrankExplains I'm still here trying to figure things out.
at minute 23:55 You mention excatlly the part I'm confused with.
@@ThomasFrankExplains Thank you so much. ❤
I’m new toNotion (3 days new 😂)and I find your video helpful, intimidating yet fascinating. I’ve successfully set up the databases but it gets complicated from there. Have anyone actually use this system and if so how easy/ difficult is it to Track all your projects , tasks etc
that was so helpful, thanks :)
Thanks for the video. Very helpful!
Never clicked faster to any RUclips video than this time 🤩
Thank you so so much for this video! I’m currently reading the book and this is exactly what I needed
10:52 I honestly always thought that I was the only one who's mind had strictly assigned colours to things, but i guess that's the beauty of colour coding.
Since grade 9 (2015 or 2016) I have been using a yellow highlighter for definitions (the word) and blue for the explications. And they have to be a specific shade, and otherwise I'll opt to use pencil until I get the right shade highlighter again😂💔
This was great! Thanks Thomas!
Thank you so much. I'm really grateful for these videos and guidance. As it was coming together I couldn't believe you made this so I could actually create something like this! 🥰
Would you be open to adding and showing us how to incorporate the Eisenhower Matrix into the dashboard?
For someone who receives a Lot of incoming tasks throughout the day and has to determine very quickly which bucket it needs to go into, this might be super beneficial because it'd be so visual.
Thank you for everything! 🌅💕
i really liked your video, it’s really nice how you fluently use the software while explaining the important concepts… i still don’t see any utility in joining the areas and resources databases, but i’ll try to adapt it and implement it in my language… saludos desde chile!
I absolutely loved it
Heyyo! Followed this from scratch and loved it! (even made my personal site in notion because of this video)
Two questions in this system:
A: When I'm assigning tasks to projects, I have some old archived projects that show up, do you ever move projects to another database when they're truly archived so that they don't show up in the search results?
R: What's the proper way to use resources? Should that be a link I want to read/view later? Or is it something that I can use in the future? Is a resource ever 'done'?
Overall struggling with the RA 🤣
Thomas, you truly rock, thank you,
Bry