Psychologist here. Although you have a good point regarding clutter, as how disorganization makes it more difficult to work; “aesthetics”, even a simple nice picture doesn’t have to count as clutter. It is also a psychological fact that nice looking spaces makes us feel good and this can enhance motivation. I wouldn’t throw your point away, but just moderate it a bit. It’s not about not using widgets; if music helps you work and you can add a pomodoro timer and a spotify tool bar on every page, go ahead. But stablish some rules like for instance: 1. If you haven’t interacted with a widget or seen any value in 30 days, it might be as well gone. Clear up space. 2. If you are spending more time sorting everything out, setting up your workspace and moving things here and there, than actual working, then that’s a problematic system that urges simplification. I apologize if my english has mistakes, it’s not my native language.
This. It's okay to actually have some nice aesthetic stuff around. It's like saying being outside and getting sunlight and fresh air isn't "productive" because your being distracted by all that stuff, and should go into a clinical white room with no windows in order to be super productive... Like nah, our environment being nice and pretty can do leagues for our motivation and productivity too. Of course though, just don't go too far with too much distracting you.
iI agree. Like the reality is the more productive you become the less any of that type of shit matters. But at first , when your first getting the ball rolling, if making your space look pretty and motivating is what helps you get used to opening notion everyday and working with the databases, then go for it
Nice video, solid points. It's important to remember that "aesthetics" is not clutter or pretty stuff hanging around, it's the way things look and how that appeals to you. So reducing clutter is an aesthetic choice
I have severe ADHD, all through middle and high school i never took any notes, barely did any homework and studied maybe 3 times in all of high school. If my brain feels overwelmed it just shuts down and i get NOTHING DONE, things like notion actually give me motivation to get up and open my tablet to put on some music, oh wow right there is my calendar i can look at what i have to do today, i mine as well add what i want for dinner and make sure i put that paper in my bag.” If not for that action to put on music in my daily routine and having my day planner accessible i just would not pick up my tablet and would forget it for weeks (im in college). Yes for the average nuerotypical person all those little widgets can serve as huge distractions to your attention potential, but Id just like to prove that
I love having a very aesthetic notion but this was extremely helpful. I ended up in incorporating this setup in my notion and I love it, I still, have my cute picture on the sides and colors but now is 100x better cause all my tasks are organized in a way that won't overwhelm me with how much I need to get done.
Bruhhh.....Is this the best Notion tutorial out there or what? This should be the first video on Notion Guides and Tutorial/Resources page. There is so much abundance of overwhelming templates and videos out there which has not made me progress a single day, as I end up spending time OUTSIDE of Notion than being INSIDE of it. I am so glad that I came across your video and finally feel confident about this setup. Big thanks to you!
I found Notion a few years ago, started it, then kind of abandoned it. I found this tutorial yesterday, 9/4/2023, and have watched it numerous times, taking notes, etc... I'm amazed you figured this stuff out. For me, it's a STEEP learning curve. I appreciate you and how you put your videos together.
I’m just starting to play around with notion & I agree, it’s a steep learning curve. A little overwhelming to be honest, but it seems like it’ll be useful once I learn it.
I have been binging Notion How To videos and systems and gurus and tips for about 4 days - completely guilty of not using my time productively, but that is because I sincerely want to learn how to use this tool efficiently and I believe the time investment will pay off. That said, THIS video has been the MOST helpful in explaining Notion to me. Maybe I chose the extra-complicated ones because I wanted to really see the potential, maybe I just liked the challenge of trying to understand all the different info presented .... but seriously, the info here is incredible and I feel hopeful about using Notion now. Thank you so, so much.
I've watched SO many videos to try to get my notion "to do" set up and they were all very complicated. Your instruction was perfect! It was very easy to follow. The music was not my favorite, but that was probably because I had to watch certain sections over a few times. Very good tutorial! I think I may finally have the task list I've been hoping for!
I agree with you. I'm that kind of person. I spent a lot of time trying to create a cool notion view but completing absolutely nothing at the end of the day cause I got tired of just looking my home board with a lot of stuff. Now I'm incline to a minimalistic view instead of adding a lot of stuff.
Wow this video was perfect. It explained to me the power of databases with a concrete example that I would totally implement myself whilst ridding the unnecessary extra complications of cover pages, colours, tags etc. that I could figure out in my own time. I've been research Notion a while and I feel i've been paralysed by the fear of making a set-up that I poured hours into that actually could have been designed more efficiently. This has led me down a rabbit hole with an impossible goal of learning all of notion's features without ever using it. This video has broken that spell for me and now I feel comfortable that I could get the basics up and running and iterate later without too much hassle. So thank you so much!
Dude..! I've been scratching my head to understand databases on notion! Just watched your video and understood what it is. Simple and Clear! Thanks a lot! You just got a new subscriber! 🎉🎉🎉
when notion started being mentioned on here i couldnt wrap my head around how to use it - it was so overwhelming for me; i completely agree with what u mentioned about how disadvantageous it is to productivity to be having a setup that is more focused on aesthetics. I'm sure it works for most of them but it personally isnt helpful and leaves me feeling more drained then i am if i just had a simple pen and notebook lol. your video came just in time as i am trying to give notion another try and looking for a way to have my setup done. thank u so much for this video.
wow!!! this is what I looking for a year for setup notion by myself. watching a tons of *aesthetic* setup video couldn't help me fix any problem (or create more because knowing what to focus really mess up with me) thankfully for all you do. you do the best, keep going!!
People waste insane amounts of time on aesthetics, which I think are the no. 1 productivity killer and waster of time. Need a dopamine hit.. watch stupid cat videos , but Notion is where you roll up your sleeves and do deep dives into everything.
Lucky for me I encountered RUclipsrs who actually explain databases 🙏🙏 The less imagery and the more focusing points on task-achievement functions, the better the outcomes fr
appreciate it! I have endless videos explaining databases in detail. I recommend the Filters, Groups and Sorting video as well for more details (more advanced stuff)
Yo, Im not even done watching this video and my mind is blown because this is by far THE MOST HELPFUL way of being guided through notion out of the MANY videos Ive watched over the years and was still utterly confused (i like to think of myself as a highly intelligent and capable individual) and overall frustrated that I just would give up and say screw it I dont have time for the learning curve and will just go with what is simpler to learn until I have the time to sit down and scramble my brain intentionally. Thank. You!!! Youve got a follow from me and hopefully more videos you use this teaching style, slow movements and uncomplicated explanations that are to the point.
I just got confused and just feel to leave notion but by watching your notion video it convinced me to use.. Thankyou so much ❤. This is real teaching , amazing ❤.
Thank you so much this video explained notion so well, all other youtubers just go over templates, aesthetics, databases, etc. and not explaining how they actually work.
I love the idea of having all actionable things in a single DB (e.g. all actions/habits in one DB and all projects/goals in one DB), super powerful. I still think about having goals and projects separated (MANY systems encourage this), but I haven't done it personally, for similar reasons as you outline here. idk, maybe there is a case for it.
Awesome! I just set up a notion page a couple of days ago, following another tutorial that included the columns for weekdays view. Haven't used it so far and luckily just stumbled over this video. I love the approach of first putting down all the tasks and only afterwards naming the areas to finally connect them. That's exactly where my struggles lie and why I got interested in Notion in the first place. But I thought I needed to think of areas, come up with a structure and then fill in the tasks that are whirling around in my head. Instead of getting a good overview, thinking of a possible structure and working around it in notion put my head into the next chaos and sent me into a paralysis. This video showed me how to actually start from that exact chaos in my head and then sort it out step by step. Thank you so much for explaining the actual use of databases - I'll try once more with notion right away
Super helpful tutorial. I’m just starting to work with notion professionally and I need to build a workflow homepage that my whole team can use. This is going to be a part of it. Thanks for the vid.
Thank you for going slowly enough for me to keep up and for not showing me everything all at once. I'm so tired of the "Oh, and if you want to do add sprinkles, do this" every step along the way. I appreciate that you showed me what you said you would show me.
This is the best Notion video I saw, recently I started using Obsidian and although I prefer Notion and will return to it, I will definitely change how I use the tool, usually I had lot of databases with lots of features and organization, but I recently realized that If I just use it the simple mode, my productive will skyrocket, instead of databases inside databases I will just create a page with a organization similar to obsidian, a "folders" page and then sub pages with the project, I realized I did a lot more with it
I quit notion earlier this year because i couldn't figure out how to do exactly this calendar to do list layout! Thanks for the easy to follow tutorial!
This step-by-step tutorial is the MOST helpful and useful video I've ever watched! OMG I finally understand how Notion Databases work and how to apply them to my daily life!!! Thank you so much for making this video and sharing the tips! Subscribed!!!
You know what, the first impression I loved Notion was the flexibility, and then I felt overwhelmed with the content to boost/arrange/organize your life/work with the fancy boards over RUclips, and one of them you mentioned "Thomas", and then I almost gave up. But no your video pop-up, it's simple is the best! Thanks a lot, bro.
Wow this video describes perfectly what I'm feeling, I get overwhelmed with information every time I open notion. I really like the tool but it affects me in a bad way. So I decided to switch to obsidian cause it's pretty minimalistic. I'm not saying that notion is bad or anything, but it just didn't work for me. Great video man 😁
No. I actually get dizzy with a blank page and completely overwhelmed. For visual people it’s super important to have some differentiation between blocks. Colors and such.
This is fucking amazing. You should have way more views and subs. So many notion how to videos out there are overwhelming and treat the viewers like idiots. Thank you
This is a perfectly designed and executed tutorial video. Informative. Well edited. No fat--all muscle. Thanks for taking the time to provide this information rich content.
"Your notion's aesthetics don't matter" -goes on to site studies that confirm aesthetics are indeed important for productivity (lack of visual clutter is an aspect of aesthetic)- Ah yes, very high quality take.
University of Minnesota recently conducted a research and they concluded results like this, “Scientists from the University of Minnesota found that being surrounded by clutter can promote creative thinking and stimulate new ideas.
This is what I have been thinking about but you managed to put it into words. I moved out from Notion to Apple Reminders and Notes and I've been much more productive that way. No need to spend 3 hours tweaking my Notion dashboard, or implementing some new shiny system just because I didn't like the old one, or spending 2+ hours looking for new widgets thinking that would make me more productive. Of course that isn't the case for everyone, but sometimes for productivity, the simpler the better.
This is a bit outdated but I understand your POV: Simpler, even uglier, more productive. For someone that aesthetics are important and that uses colors to rapidly find tasks and appointments, this might not be the best options. For example for me, boring stuff shuts down my brain and makes me less productive 🤷♀ Also, I think that a Status Property is better than a Tag Property to track progress.
This is SO helpful! Thank you! Today is my first time downloading notion. I will definitely be using this concept, however I do like the pictures and timings as I see them as a comforting inspiration as opposed to an overwhelming distraction. Maybe it's a feminine thing! It just compliments our personal planning in my opinion.
Guys yall know toggle lists exist right? Create a toggle list below the day and put the asignments you have to do related to thay topic below it, example: ~ Work - edit video - answer emails ~home - clean the desk - organize papers ~pet -clean litterbox -feed pet Etc I think this is mire effective than a table (at least for me) good video tho i was struggling a lot with the property thing
Toggle lists are a great starting place in my opinion, but if you have 50+ to do list items, multiple projects and stuff you're trying organise, then having it in a calendar makes it easier (for me) as you can drag and drop the tasks between days and see how your whole week will look like. but obviously if the toggle list is working for you, don't change it :)
YOU ARE A FREAKIN' NOTION GOD!!! Thank you soooo much for this. You've saved me sooo much time by just getting to the point, something a lot of tutorials do not . Well, I need to do some decluttering then get back to getting sh!+ done ;)
I'm the type of person who needs some aesthetics. I don't like it cluttered like the dashboard you showed, but if it looks too boring I simply won't bother to open it up which wouldn't be good for my productivity. I've been considering Notion for a while now but I've procrastinated because it seemed too confusing. This is the *best* Notion database tutorial I've seen. Question about adding dates - can you add recurring tasks? For example, let's say that you go running every Wednesday, do you have to manually add running to each Wednesday of the month, or is there a way to just set a task to show up every Wednesday until a certain date, or until you cancel/delete it?
I totally agree this is the best tut I've come across. It gets you started and is not overwhelming. The pretty stuff can come later when you are bored lol
Hhmmm, I am half way into the video and the *sound clutter* is very offsetting for me. Remove the very distracting background sound clutter and either just speak (no music) or speak and use a calm non-distracting music. Just my 2 cents.
I‘m extremely astonished by how much time people are willing to dedicate to organise tasks and life instead of doing and living it. Even this video. I found a perfect simple tool set: 1) bullet journal for ideas -> 2) anything actionable goes into Google tasks where you can create some lists and move stuff around -> 3) it’s connected to my Google calendar. You can time block stuff and add tasks to days according to your priorities. This is totally enough guys don’t get crazy preparing to be productive instead of being actually productive. At the end of the day it depends on personal preferences of course
I completely agree with the idea that it's not a good idea to spend every day obsessing about building the perfect system. But, once you have really good system it saves HOURS every week / even day. Having a task list be the same database as your calendar, and the same database as your journaling, etc, will save so much time and headaches. :) Having a proper system will allow you to actually be productive (and not waste time trying to figure out what to do or building a workflow)
Why would anyone use notion for task management and to-do is beyond me. But your explanation was very good and clear, you actually managed to make an unnecessarily overcomplicated app seem doable
hey :) fair question! In Notion your task list can be displayed as a calendar. But because tasks are individual pages in Notion you can store all the task info, resources, SOPs, links, etc in that page. Where with Google Calendar you can't do that. Great question! Might make a video on that :D
Very well made video, I enjoyed it :) I just always thought, couldn't most of the functions be done with tools like Microsoft To Do, where you can create different lists? Seems easier to me and more intuitive.
when you start working with databases and connecting everything it becomes super super powerful. Lists are good to start, but when everything is dynamic then it becomes really helpful :)
Thanks man, I was watching jeff su a lot but that was kind of overwhelming. thank you so much for this video. Simple, clean and efficient way to use notion
This is extremely useful as a Notion tutorial. I trust you in presenting the Notion features as concisely as possible. Not your fault, but this is the exact video i need to tell me i should be better off using pen/paper.
I totally agree with this. However I kinda like having some pages with a picture of a landscape or whatever, I think it creates a nice space to work in and helps to soothe my mind. But still most of my useful pages are imageless, I put images only in pages used as "folder" like my Dashboard or my main hub.
Hey, great question! In other videos I do a better job explaining it, but basically you can then show only the tasks relating to that Project on that Project's page. So you have a centralised hub of all related tasks on each specific project :D
This is fantastic. Love it for productivity. Can you add to your list, to show us how to set up a digital In Box or resource library. Somewhere to add notes, videos, links, blogs, podcasts, etc for capturing information of interest, a Second Brain so to speak.
Do you have any other channels? or do tutorials on other task managing programs? I really enjoyed this tutorial. I struggled with Notion for a while and this helped a lot with setting up my to do list. Would you do tutorials demonstrating ClickUp ?
Hey thank you! No Sadly just Notion, Ive considered doing other tutorials but I genuinely use Notion every day so I know it fluently, whereas I don't know Clickup fluently. I recommend the channel Keep Productive for other software 😊
That's why I never actually did work while at the dasboard. Right from the beginning 3 years ago I've been using the dasboard like a big menu of all the things I have. Then I click on the thing I want to work on and stay inside that page where there's nothing else to distract me
I absolutely love how you present all the info in the video, reducing the stress and feeling overwhelmed by databases, but.... could you help me with brainstorming how to setup my databases? I wanted to do a tag system with PARA method with 9 Areas: And then I would like to look through those heavy notes with tags of those numbers, but it seems when I import 700 lines in DB it just loads slow. Do you have a video where you explain how to get all my notes under areas and connect them with projects? - or is it even worth to use databases for heavy note taking over 4 folders deep structure? ===========THANKS=============
hey :) have a look at my paid all-in-one Notion template called "Headquarters". That has everything you're talking about from what I understand :) That should give some inspo if you're looking to make your own
I've never used all the fancy stuff anyway. My problem though is that I'm overwhelmed by just the number of things I should do. What you call projects could actually better described as "areas of life" and in there you can have several projects. Eg in my home, I have currently 8 open projects (fix closet, get a socket next to my bed, build a flower shelf, ...). Each of the projects has multiple tasks but they could also be dependent on each other (have to do one before the other). What would you recommend? Should I have even more databases (Area of life, project, task, subtask) so I can get a better granularity? Or is there another way? Whats the best way to show task dependencies?
hey great question! yes, so I've actually built a proper (paid) productivity template that is structured similar to what you've written here. Works really well. Buckets > Projects > Tasks
Most of the educated world initially felt Einstein was an Idiot. Later on he became brilliant, and he said - if a Messy Desk is a sign of the mind being unorganised, what is an empty desk the sign of ? Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, and Steve Jobs had messy desks. The main lesson to learn is you don't necessarily have to follow your neighbour. If he is a CEO , you could be a startup, and you could be making 10 times more than what he makes. Welcome to the new world.
I am trying Notion for the first time this week, I am a Start Infinity user for an year and all of that is the usual for me 😅 I can't believe plp use " to do" lists in column and etc hahahah. Tables/lists/calendars are way better. One thing that pissed me off in Notion is that I cannot compress the width of the column to the minimum. At start infinity I can choose to has the column to have the size of the little icon 😓
best video yet, did exactly the same by following step by step. I got lost on filters however, I got it by clicking on the duplicate thing and doing each filter that way instead of the other way some how it worked. Thank you so much. Now I have a question. So I have that calendar for tasks, love it, is it best to have another calendar for personal stuff, like dentist appointments etc, or do you thing its best on one with the tasks???? Also one for my home business????
hey! thanks so much. Really appreciate it :) great question; absolutely have all your tasks in 1 calendar. Your day is your to-do list, so you don't want to check 3 calendars every day and cross check them every time you want to add a task or an event. :) But what you can do is label them / have a relation to an area of life like work or personal. That way you can have that same database but with a view for "only work stuff" on your work page in Notion. Honestly, great question, and I think I might make a video on it :D
Brillant figured it out, I'm in the middle of moving my other calendar to this new one..just brilliant, plus I tested it on my phone if i'm out wanting to make appointment and it works so good, goes to tasks and calendar unbelievable. THANK YOU..2 months trying to figure this out.@@ProductiveSetups
I've got a question. I understand the part about the linked databases, but I just realized you could simply add another property, like 'select,' and choose the lifebuckets you created with the second database. Then, in the 'lifebuckets/tasklists,' you can filter by each selected property. What are the advantages of your method? I would really appreciate a reply.
hey :) good question! You could absolutely do a "select" property instead. Definitely works just as good. But, if you want to automatically have relevant tasks, notes, projects, etc show up on a "Life Bucket" page, then this is the easiest way to do it :)
Super helpful and clear video thanks for that ! Is there a way of adding time in the calendar as well on certain days? Like from 7am to 8am sport, 0830am to 11am work etc?
there's two ways, you can include time in a date property. But I prefer just having a text column where I write in the times. I think it works better / looks cleaner :) hope that helps!
This has been by far the most helpful video so far for explaining the databases. And actually showing how they work. Thank you.
Glad I could help!
agreed first video that actually just explains it
Psychologist here. Although you have a good point regarding clutter, as how disorganization makes it more difficult to work; “aesthetics”, even a simple nice picture doesn’t have to count as clutter. It is also a psychological fact that nice looking spaces makes us feel good and this can enhance motivation.
I wouldn’t throw your point away, but just moderate it a bit. It’s not about not using widgets; if music helps you work and you can add a pomodoro timer and a spotify tool bar on every page, go ahead. But stablish some rules like for instance:
1. If you haven’t interacted with a widget or seen any value in 30 days, it might be as well gone. Clear up space.
2. If you are spending more time sorting everything out, setting up your workspace and moving things here and there, than actual working, then that’s a problematic system that urges simplification.
I apologize if my english has mistakes, it’s not my native language.
This. It's okay to actually have some nice aesthetic stuff around. It's like saying being outside and getting sunlight and fresh air isn't "productive" because your being distracted by all that stuff, and should go into a clinical white room with no windows in order to be super productive... Like nah, our environment being nice and pretty can do leagues for our motivation and productivity too. Of course though, just don't go too far with too much distracting you.
iI agree. Like the reality is the more productive you become the less any of that type of shit matters. But at first , when your first getting the ball rolling, if making your space look pretty and motivating is what helps you get used to opening notion everyday and working with the databases, then go for it
video feedback: stop the wavy text pls
The irony is his very first point is visual clutter (i.e. wavy text) is visually distracting and unproductive 🤣
I like the wavy text
Maybe that’s the point.
Yeah don’t download notion bud you should stick to eating crayons
I thought that was the point though!
Nice video, solid points. It's important to remember that "aesthetics" is not clutter or pretty stuff hanging around, it's the way things look and how that appeals to you. So reducing clutter is an aesthetic choice
yep thank you for saying it
I have severe ADHD, all through middle and high school i never took any notes, barely did any homework and studied maybe 3 times in all of high school.
If my brain feels overwelmed it just shuts down and i get NOTHING DONE, things like notion actually give me motivation to get up and open my tablet to put on some music, oh wow right there is my calendar i can look at what i have to do today, i mine as well add what i want for dinner and make sure i put that paper in my bag.” If not for that action to put on music in my daily routine and having my day planner accessible i just would not pick up my tablet and would forget it for weeks (im in college). Yes for the average nuerotypical person all those little widgets can serve as huge distractions to your attention potential, but Id just like to prove that
I love having a very aesthetic notion but this was extremely helpful. I ended up in incorporating this setup in my notion and I love it, I still, have my cute picture on the sides and colors but now is 100x better cause all my tasks are organized in a way that won't overwhelm me with how much I need to get done.
Bruhhh.....Is this the best Notion tutorial out there or what? This should be the first video on Notion Guides and Tutorial/Resources page. There is so much abundance of overwhelming templates and videos out there which has not made me progress a single day, as I end up spending time OUTSIDE of Notion than being INSIDE of it. I am so glad that I came across your video and finally feel confident about this setup. Big thanks to you!
I found Notion a few years ago, started it, then kind of abandoned it. I found this tutorial yesterday, 9/4/2023, and have watched it numerous times, taking notes, etc... I'm amazed you figured this stuff out. For me, it's a STEEP learning curve. I appreciate you and how you put your videos together.
appreciate it! glad i could help :)
I’m just starting to play around with notion & I agree, it’s a steep learning curve. A little overwhelming to be honest, but it seems like it’ll be useful once I learn it.
I have been binging Notion How To videos and systems and gurus and tips for about 4 days - completely guilty of not using my time productively, but that is because I sincerely want to learn how to use this tool efficiently and I believe the time investment will pay off. That said, THIS video has been the MOST helpful in explaining Notion to me. Maybe I chose the extra-complicated ones because I wanted to really see the potential, maybe I just liked the challenge of trying to understand all the different info presented .... but seriously, the info here is incredible and I feel hopeful about using Notion now. Thank you so, so much.
wow! thank you so much. Glad I could help
Same here!
If you need to learn a tool that long to be productive, honestly the tool is shit. Perhaps obsidian is better. Just watch a basic video an go for it.
I've watched SO many videos to try to get my notion "to do" set up and they were all very complicated. Your instruction was perfect! It was very easy to follow. The music was not my favorite, but that was probably because I had to watch certain sections over a few times. Very good tutorial! I think I may finally have the task list I've been hoping for!
Glad I could help!
I agree with you. I'm that kind of person. I spent a lot of time trying to create a cool notion view but completing absolutely nothing at the end of the day cause I got tired of just looking my home board with a lot of stuff. Now I'm incline to a minimalistic view instead of adding a lot of stuff.
100%, if there's too much going on in your Notion dashboard or desk or room, it's just distracting. Better to have a minimalist space in my opinion
Wow this video was perfect. It explained to me the power of databases with a concrete example that I would totally implement myself whilst ridding the unnecessary extra complications of cover pages, colours, tags etc. that I could figure out in my own time. I've been research Notion a while and I feel i've been paralysed by the fear of making a set-up that I poured hours into that actually could have been designed more efficiently. This has led me down a rabbit hole with an impossible goal of learning all of notion's features without ever using it. This video has broken that spell for me and now I feel comfortable that I could get the basics up and running and iterate later without too much hassle. So thank you so much!
that's what I'm here for
Dude..! I've been scratching my head to understand databases on notion! Just watched your video and understood what it is. Simple and Clear! Thanks a lot! You just got a new subscriber! 🎉🎉🎉
BLOODY RIPPA. Cheers mate, been trying to sort everything out for ages. This just makes sense
when notion started being mentioned on here i couldnt wrap my head around how to use it - it was so overwhelming for me; i completely agree with what u mentioned about how disadvantageous it is to productivity to be having a setup that is more focused on aesthetics. I'm sure it works for most of them but it personally isnt helpful and leaves me feeling more drained then i am if i just had a simple pen and notebook lol. your video came just in time as i am trying to give notion another try and looking for a way to have my setup done. thank u so much for this video.
wow!!! this is what I looking for a year for setup notion by myself. watching a tons of *aesthetic* setup video couldn't help me fix any problem (or create more because knowing what to focus really mess up with me) thankfully for all you do.
you do the best, keep going!!
Glad I could help! :D
People waste insane amounts of time on aesthetics, which I think are the no. 1 productivity killer and waster of time. Need a dopamine hit.. watch stupid cat videos , but Notion is where you roll up your sleeves and do deep dives into everything.
Lucky for me I encountered RUclipsrs who actually explain databases 🙏🙏 The less imagery and the more focusing points on task-achievement functions, the better the outcomes fr
appreciate it! I have endless videos explaining databases in detail. I recommend the Filters, Groups and Sorting video as well for more details (more advanced stuff)
I agree, keep everything simple and distraction free. Build only.what you need, Notion is scalable. Great tutorial. Subscribed my friend!
Yo, Im not even done watching this video and my mind is blown because this is by far THE MOST HELPFUL way of being guided through notion out of the MANY videos Ive watched over the years and was still utterly confused (i like to think of myself as a highly intelligent and capable individual) and overall frustrated that I just would give up and say screw it I dont have time for the learning curve and will just go with what is simpler to learn until I have the time to sit down and scramble my brain intentionally. Thank. You!!! Youve got a follow from me and hopefully more videos you use this teaching style, slow movements and uncomplicated explanations that are to the point.
Awesome! :D Glad I could help. I recommend the "Notes" video as well after this to help understand databases with further detail
I just got confused and just feel to leave notion but by watching your notion video it convinced me to use..
Thankyou so much ❤.
This is real teaching , amazing ❤.
Thank you so much this video explained notion so well, all other youtubers just go over templates, aesthetics, databases, etc. and not explaining how they actually work.
so glad you found it useful! :D
I love the idea of having all actionable things in a single DB (e.g. all actions/habits in one DB and all projects/goals in one DB), super powerful.
I still think about having goals and projects separated (MANY systems encourage this), but I haven't done it personally, for similar reasons as you outline here. idk, maybe there is a case for it.
that's a problem i had. My notion setup and desk have nothing but what I need. Procrastination USED to be a big problem for me.
Awesome!
I just set up a notion page a couple of days ago, following another tutorial that included the columns for weekdays view. Haven't used it so far and luckily just stumbled over this video. I love the approach of first putting down all the tasks and only afterwards naming the areas to finally connect them.
That's exactly where my struggles lie and why I got interested in Notion in the first place. But I thought I needed to think of areas, come up with a structure and then fill in the tasks that are whirling around in my head. Instead of getting a good overview, thinking of a possible structure and working around it in notion put my head into the next chaos and sent me into a paralysis.
This video showed me how to actually start from that exact chaos in my head and then sort it out step by step.
Thank you so much for explaining the actual use of databases - I'll try once more with notion right away
give me more insight on how to use notion in 4 minutes than any other video. Good stuff man.
appreciate it!
This video should be the first result for Notion Tutorials. This is incredible. By far the most useful set up I've seen. Thank you!
Super helpful tutorial. I’m just starting to work with notion professionally and I need to build a workflow homepage that my whole team can use. This is going to be a part of it. Thanks for the vid.
Thank you for going slowly enough for me to keep up and for not showing me everything all at once. I'm so tired of the "Oh, and if you want to do add sprinkles, do this" every step along the way. I appreciate that you showed me what you said you would show me.
appreciate it!
This is the best Notion video I saw, recently I started using Obsidian and although I prefer Notion and will return to it, I will definitely change how I use the tool, usually I had lot of databases with lots of features and organization, but I recently realized that If I just use it the simple mode, my productive will skyrocket, instead of databases inside databases I will just create a page with a organization similar to obsidian, a "folders" page and then sub pages with the project, I realized I did a lot more with it
I quit notion earlier this year because i couldn't figure out how to do exactly this calendar to do list layout! Thanks for the easy to follow tutorial!
This step-by-step tutorial is the MOST helpful and useful video I've ever watched! OMG I finally understand how Notion Databases work and how to apply them to my daily life!!!
Thank you so much for making this video and sharing the tips! Subscribed!!!
so glad I could help! :D
This is a video I've been searching for for weeks now! This is exactly what I need. Thank you for this.
so glad I could help!
You know what, the first impression I loved Notion was the flexibility, and then I felt overwhelmed with the content to boost/arrange/organize your life/work with the fancy boards over RUclips, and one of them you mentioned "Thomas", and then I almost gave up. But no your video pop-up, it's simple is the best! Thanks a lot, bro.
appreciate it! glad I could help
Wow this video describes perfectly what I'm feeling, I get overwhelmed with information every time I open notion. I really like the tool but it affects me in a bad way. So I decided to switch to obsidian cause it's pretty minimalistic. I'm not saying that notion is bad or anything, but it just didn't work for me. Great video man 😁
No. I actually get dizzy with a blank page and completely overwhelmed.
For visual people it’s super important to have some differentiation between blocks. Colors and such.
Thank you so much! My brain has been uncluttered...
"individuals who felt overwhelmed by the amount of "stuff" in their homes were more likely to procrastinate." i feel 100% attacked.
😂
This is fucking amazing. You should have way more views and subs. So many notion how to videos out there are overwhelming and treat the viewers like idiots. Thank you
appreciate it✌
Mate, this has already helped me organise my life/work/studies so much more than anything else! Thank you!
glad I could help!
This is a perfectly designed and executed tutorial video. Informative. Well edited. No fat--all muscle. Thanks for taking the time to provide this information rich content.
thanks for taking the time to write this lovely comment
Started using notion 3 days ago. And yes, some confused channel me. This is by far the best tutorial out there that I can use.
Thank you so much!
I've had this setup for years at this point, and it is by far the most helpful ever. I have been way more productive using it
Wow. Very very helpful. Short, succinct, and to the point.
"Your notion's aesthetics don't matter" -goes on to site studies that confirm aesthetics are indeed important for productivity (lack of visual clutter is an aspect of aesthetic)-
Ah yes, very high quality take.
University of Minnesota recently conducted a research and they concluded results like this, “Scientists from the University of Minnesota found that being surrounded by clutter can promote creative thinking and stimulate new ideas.
This is what I have been thinking about but you managed to put it into words. I moved out from Notion to Apple Reminders and Notes and I've been much more productive that way. No need to spend 3 hours tweaking my Notion dashboard, or implementing some new shiny system just because I didn't like the old one, or spending 2+ hours looking for new widgets thinking that would make me more productive.
Of course that isn't the case for everyone, but sometimes for productivity, the simpler the better.
Love it. You explain the database concept so clearly. ❤❤
Great stuff! Thanks for sharing and for making it simple to understand. Blessed one
This is a bit outdated but I understand your POV: Simpler, even uglier, more productive. For someone that aesthetics are important and that uses colors to rapidly find tasks and appointments, this might not be the best options.
For example for me, boring stuff shuts down my brain and makes me less productive 🤷♀
Also, I think that a Status Property is better than a Tag Property to track progress.
This is SO helpful! Thank you! Today is my first time downloading notion. I will definitely be using this concept, however I do like the pictures and timings as I see them as a comforting inspiration as opposed to an overwhelming distraction. Maybe it's a feminine thing! It just compliments our personal planning in my opinion.
Thank you a lot for the tutorial. This is incredibly helpful.
Guys yall know toggle lists exist right?
Create a toggle list below the day and put the asignments you have to do related to thay topic below it, example:
~ Work
- edit video
- answer emails
~home
- clean the desk
- organize papers
~pet
-clean litterbox
-feed pet
Etc
I think this is mire effective than a table (at least for me) good video tho i was struggling a lot with the property thing
Toggle lists are a great starting place in my opinion, but if you have 50+ to do list items, multiple projects and stuff you're trying organise, then having it in a calendar makes it easier (for me) as you can drag and drop the tasks between days and see how your whole week will look like. but obviously if the toggle list is working for you, don't change it :)
I use Workflowy for my toggle like task list like this.
it took a little to get there, but it was worth the wait. thanks for the tips!!
YOU ARE A FREAKIN' NOTION GOD!!! Thank you soooo much for this. You've saved me sooo much time by just getting to the point, something a lot of tutorials do not . Well, I need to do some decluttering then get back to getting sh!+ done ;)
hahah thank you! appreciate it! Glad I could help :D
This is by far the best video I've seen on Notion. The music was hella annoying though, next time without music It would be even better.
I'm the type of person who needs some aesthetics. I don't like it cluttered like the dashboard you showed, but if it looks too boring I simply won't bother to open it up which wouldn't be good for my productivity.
I've been considering Notion for a while now but I've procrastinated because it seemed too confusing. This is the *best* Notion database tutorial I've seen.
Question about adding dates - can you add recurring tasks? For example, let's say that you go running every Wednesday, do you have to manually add running to each Wednesday of the month, or is there a way to just set a task to show up every Wednesday until a certain date, or until you cancel/delete it?
Hey, I appreciate your thoughts. I'll do a video on all 3 points over the next few weeks. But quickly, yes you can set recurring tasks in databases :)
you're going to love my latest video
I totally agree this is the best tut I've come across. It gets you started and is not overwhelming. The pretty stuff can come later when you are bored lol
Hhmmm, I am half way into the video and the *sound clutter* is very offsetting for me. Remove the very distracting background sound clutter and either just speak (no music) or speak and use a calm non-distracting music. Just my 2 cents.
100% agree, it's fixed in my other videos :)
Exactly what I was looking for!
This was the best tutorial I could have hoped for.
I followed it along and tried some things and it was very amusing !
Maybe you could put links to the articles in the description. I would like to look at the research
thank you, you're 100% right :) I'll start doing that
thanks youtube god for showing me this amazing channel ! i was needing this video in my life .Thanks bro !
appreciate it!
Very useful. I was just wondering about the related table thing. Everything makes perfect sense.
I‘m extremely astonished by how much time people are willing to dedicate to organise tasks and life instead of doing and living it. Even this video. I found a perfect simple tool set:
1) bullet journal for ideas ->
2) anything actionable goes into Google tasks where you can create some lists and move stuff around ->
3) it’s connected to my Google calendar. You can time block stuff and add tasks to days according to your priorities.
This is totally enough guys don’t get crazy preparing to be productive instead of being actually productive. At the end of the day it depends on personal preferences of course
I completely agree with the idea that it's not a good idea to spend every day obsessing about building the perfect system. But, once you have really good system it saves HOURS every week / even day.
Having a task list be the same database as your calendar, and the same database as your journaling, etc, will save so much time and headaches. :) Having a proper system will allow you to actually be productive (and not waste time trying to figure out what to do or building a workflow)
Why would anyone use notion for task management and to-do is beyond me.
But your explanation was very good and clear, you actually managed to make an unnecessarily overcomplicated app seem doable
Hahaha glad I could help
You seem to have COMPLETELY missed the entire point of Notion. It is clear that it probably isn't for you.
Looks really neat. I'm just confused about how is it better than just using tasks in google calendar?
hey :) fair question! In Notion your task list can be displayed as a calendar. But because tasks are individual pages in Notion you can store all the task info, resources, SOPs, links, etc in that page. Where with Google Calendar you can't do that. Great question! Might make a video on that :D
@@ProductiveSetups thanks for the reply! I will give it a try with your template for notion. Fingers crossed!
Very well made video, I enjoyed it :) I just always thought, couldn't most of the functions be done with tools like Microsoft To Do, where you can create different lists? Seems easier to me and more intuitive.
when you start working with databases and connecting everything it becomes super super powerful. Lists are good to start, but when everything is dynamic then it becomes really helpful :)
3:20 -I prefer this method, it’s simple and easy to view, I can check off things I get done-I like being able to check the boxes
Fair enough haha ☺️
Thanks man, I was watching jeff su a lot but that was kind of overwhelming. thank you so much for this video. Simple, clean and efficient way to use notion
This is a very helpful with clear explanation! Thank you very much!!❤🎉❤🎉
Been working on some things and im happy to have found this account
Grerat work, i love the simple tempalte you created, can you share it?
This is extremely useful as a Notion tutorial. I trust you in presenting the Notion features as concisely as possible. Not your fault, but this is the exact video i need to tell me i should be better off using pen/paper.
I wasn't overwhelmed until you told me 80 times that I'm going to be overwhelmed.
81. you're going to be overwhelmed
I totally agree with this. However I kinda like having some pages with a picture of a landscape or whatever, I think it creates a nice space to work in and helps to soothe my mind. But still most of my useful pages are imageless, I put images only in pages used as "folder" like my Dashboard or my main hub.
Can you please tell my what track did you use at the beginning of the video? It really caught my ears.
The best notion tutorial dot. 👌
Why do you work with another database for projects, when you could just use tags? (they even come in colors :D)
Hey, great question! In other videos I do a better job explaining it, but basically you can then show only the tasks relating to that Project on that Project's page. So you have a centralised hub of all related tasks on each specific project :D
Now THIS was super helpful!
glad I could help! :)
This video is great, chapters would make this a next-level resource!
Appreciate it! Will do 😃
Great value. THANKS!!
Could you make a calendar view with buttons so that you click the button and it brings you to your daily or weekly task list? Great video!
Finally a helpful video on notion haha
This is fantastic. Love it for productivity. Can you add to your list, to show us how to set up a digital In Box or resource library. Somewhere to add notes, videos, links, blogs, podcasts, etc for capturing information of interest, a Second Brain so to speak.
Already made :D Check out my video on my second brain called "Headquarters"
Do you have any other channels? or do tutorials on other task managing programs? I really enjoyed this tutorial. I struggled with Notion for a while and this helped a lot with setting up my to do list. Would you do tutorials demonstrating ClickUp ?
Hey thank you! No Sadly just Notion, Ive considered doing other tutorials but I genuinely use Notion every day so I know it fluently, whereas I don't know Clickup fluently. I recommend the channel Keep Productive for other software 😊
Thank you so much sir!! This was really very very helpful for me.
glad I could help!
I love this so much. Thanks for this.
You are the best! I feel good getting started now!
glad I could help!
this was such an amazing tutorial thank you so much
That's why I never actually did work while at the dasboard. Right from the beginning 3 years ago I've been using the dasboard like a big menu of all the things I have. Then I click on the thing I want to work on and stay inside that page where there's nothing else to distract me
I absolutely love how you present all the info in the video, reducing the stress and feeling overwhelmed by databases, but....
could you help me with brainstorming how to setup my databases?
I wanted to do a tag system with PARA method with 9 Areas:
And then I would like to look through those heavy notes with tags of those numbers, but it seems when I import 700 lines in DB it just loads slow.
Do you have a video where you explain how to get all my notes under areas and connect them with projects?
- or is it even worth to use databases for heavy note taking over 4 folders deep structure?
===========THANKS=============
hey :) have a look at my paid all-in-one Notion template called "Headquarters". That has everything you're talking about from what I understand :) That should give some inspo if you're looking to make your own
I found this very helpful, thank you. The background music was really distracting though.
Glad it helped! And yes I agree haha, this has been fixed (less loud) in videos after this one haha
I've never used all the fancy stuff anyway.
My problem though is that I'm overwhelmed by just the number of things I should do.
What you call projects could actually better described as "areas of life" and in there you can have several projects.
Eg in my home, I have currently 8 open projects (fix closet, get a socket next to my bed, build a flower shelf, ...).
Each of the projects has multiple tasks but they could also be dependent on each other (have to do one before the other).
What would you recommend? Should I have even more databases (Area of life, project, task, subtask) so I can get a better granularity? Or is there another way?
Whats the best way to show task dependencies?
hey great question! yes, so I've actually built a proper (paid) productivity template that is structured similar to what you've written here. Works really well. Buckets > Projects > Tasks
Instead of creating a full fledged database for the projects, you can just use a property with a "select" type.
Most of the educated world initially felt Einstein was an Idiot. Later on he became brilliant, and he said - if a Messy Desk is a sign of the mind being unorganised, what is an empty desk the sign of ? Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, and Steve Jobs had messy desks. The main lesson to learn is you don't necessarily have to follow your neighbour. If he is a CEO , you could be a startup, and you could be making 10 times more than what he makes. Welcome to the new world.
What the f*ck do you mean bro?
I am trying Notion for the first time this week, I am a Start Infinity user for an year and all of that is the usual for me 😅 I can't believe plp use " to do" lists in column and etc hahahah.
Tables/lists/calendars are way better.
One thing that pissed me off in Notion is that I cannot compress the width of the column to the minimum. At start infinity I can choose to has the column to have the size of the little icon 😓
ah, yeah that can be tricky, you could do toggles? then have the toggle with an emoji then that drops down to display everything?
THIS VIDEO IS GREATEST OF ALL TIME 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
best video yet, did exactly the same by following step by step. I got lost on filters however, I got it by clicking on the duplicate thing and doing each filter that way instead of the other way some how it worked. Thank you so much. Now I have a question. So I have that calendar for tasks, love it, is it best to have another calendar for personal stuff, like dentist appointments etc, or do you thing its best on one with the tasks???? Also one for my home business????
hey! thanks so much. Really appreciate it :) great question; absolutely have all your tasks in 1 calendar. Your day is your to-do list, so you don't want to check 3 calendars every day and cross check them every time you want to add a task or an event. :) But what you can do is label them / have a relation to an area of life like work or personal. That way you can have that same database but with a view for "only work stuff" on your work page in Notion. Honestly, great question, and I think I might make a video on it :D
Brillant figured it out, I'm in the middle of moving my other calendar to this new one..just brilliant, plus I tested it on my phone if i'm out wanting to make appointment and it works so good, goes to tasks and calendar unbelievable. THANK YOU..2 months trying to figure this out.@@ProductiveSetups
First time I actually created something that could be really helpfull. thank you 😊
I've got a question. I understand the part about the linked databases, but I just realized you could simply add another property, like 'select,' and choose the lifebuckets you created with the second database. Then, in the 'lifebuckets/tasklists,' you can filter by each selected property. What are the advantages of your method? I would really appreciate a reply.
hey :) good question! You could absolutely do a "select" property instead. Definitely works just as good. But, if you want to automatically have relevant tasks, notes, projects, etc show up on a "Life Bucket" page, then this is the easiest way to do it :)
@@ProductiveSetups Thank u so much for answering! Have a nice day!
Super helpful and clear video thanks for that !
Is there a way of adding time in the calendar as well on certain days?
Like from 7am to 8am sport, 0830am to 11am work etc?
there's two ways, you can include time in a date property. But I prefer just having a text column where I write in the times. I think it works better / looks cleaner :) hope that helps!
@@ProductiveSetups that's perfect, thanks a lot to taking the time to reply! 😀
of course! glad I could help@@maurice1376