Hi, Hello! My name is Sarah - the writer behind redgregory.com.
Content First, Systems Later
The best piece of advice I can give anyone new to Notion is to slow down, think about your objectives, start creating content inside one or two pages without a database first then dive into building a system. Creating a productivity system is wasted time if there is no information waiting to enter.
Don't Get Lost In The Sauce
Whenever anyone asks me what Notion is, I usually say something like this, "imagine if Word, Excel, Blogger and Slack had a baby." They look at me a bit confused and rightfully so. Notion is overwhelming at first with all its database features, formulas and shortcuts.
Although, it isn't just Notion's features that have new users' heads spinning. It is the virtually blank canvas the user is presented with. There are no toolbars or long tutorials (which I appreciate). Users are thrown into a white room with a keyboard.
In my opinion, this aspect is extremely refreshing, albeit frightening at first. If you're willing to face the adventure, I ask new users to take it slow, avoid multiple databases and extraneous pages. Try to begin categorizing with headers and toggles. These categories can turn into tags inside a database
If you're at all familiar with David Allen's GTD strategy, you know about the mind dumping concept. Essentially, when faced at a crossroads with a big project or productivity system build, one must get everything mulling inside their brain onto paper, and the mind dump doesn't stop at the important stuff. Every little seemingly mundane detail in regards to your endeavor is written down as well. This mind dumping page will act as a jumping off point for your system.
How To Organize A Mind Dump Page
- Utilize headers (/h1, /h2, /h3), toggles (/tog) and/or dividers (/div) to separate different concepts.
- Stay away from too many pages and databases.
- Brainstorm daily and weekly habits with to-do lists (/to-do). Experiment with these lists. Understand your strengths and limitations.
.gif%3Ftable%3Dblock%26id%3Ddbc3cfb7-fc47-4035-86f2-34d773f7a824%26spaceId%3D3d51c61d-92e0-4365-824e-4c7cd9f90627%26expirationTimestamp%3D1732204800000%26signature%3DoxWHHmWBgcS-3Ov2iP5GmIlMCeuPcXvSOXXNI2zAk_M?table=block&id=dbc3cfb7-fc47-4035-86f2-34d773f7a824&cache=v2)
I'm planning to track my mood through the entire year in order to better understand what is making my poor days poor and what I need to do to fix them - hence, the "cause" property. The February results are below ⤵
I would classify February as a BLAH month.
- BEST DAY: Thursday, February 20th
- WORST DAY: Sunday, February 9th
February Mood Reflection