Love organization? You need Notion.

Essentials Week spotlights unexpected items that make our daily lives just a little bit better.

I'm a sucker for organization tools. Planners, highlighters, Post-its — I love it all, which is why I find the study video faction of YouTube ("studytube") to be a respite years after graduating from college.

Some months ago, an influx of studytube videos about the software Notion proliferated my feed. Minimalist yet customizable with more templates than I could ever dream up, Notion is like if Google Drive and list-making app Trello had a beautiful, beautiful baby. And yes, you can highlight text or even simulate Post-its.

I signed up for Notion, which has both free and paid versions, and never looked back. Notion has become an essential not just to sort my work life, but any to-do that comes my way.

Why Notion?

Physical supplies give me that warm fuzzy feeling, but I've been hard pressed to find an online system that engenders the same.

I've used Trello professionally, but wanted an app that does more than lists. Microsoft OneNote or Evernote are best for note-taking, and I already have the Notes app on my iPhone for that. Notes, meanwhile, is a chaotic heap of random thoughts, subway observations, and word dumps. Great for when I need to jot something down, but horrid for productivity.

A better process was critical, especially when I became fully vaccinated in mid-2021 and had to juggle personal outings again. It was then that Notion videos popped up on my YouTube homepage like magic (er, more like thanks to the algorithm, but I digress).

Notion is free if you plan on using it yourself, but they also have a Personal Pro option for $5 a month (or $4/month if you bill annually) if you want to collaborate with others, say when planning a project or a vacation. They have options for professional teams, too, for $10/month (or $8 if billed annually).

I use Notion for free and, as I'm not working with anyone, I don't see the need to upgrade to Pro. It's available on desktop on a browser or MacOS or Windows app, and mobile on iOS and Android. I found it best to create and rework pages on desktop, but mobile is great for reading and quick scribbles when necessary.

Notion has thousands of baked-in templates that benefit students and employees. Students can, say, create a page for their class schedule, or a rundown of their reading list. The app is also perfect for personal organization with options like a habit tracker or budget planner.

In addition to Notion's own templates, users can also create and share their own. Further, you can customize the look of your Notion with different fonts and colors. If you need inspiration, there are plenty of YouTube videos on how to create an "aesthetic" Notion.

I'm a simple gal, so I just have my Notion in dark mode. But what I love about the program is that if you're too lazy to personalize — as I am — it's still effortless to make it look pleasing anyway. You can "assign" an emoji to every page, for one, and add cover art too. Choose from artwork that Notion already has (from cool photographs of space to Renaissance art), or upload your own pictures.

Getting started with Notion

Creating a Notion account is painless: Sign up with your Google or Apple account, or with another email address. Notion will then ask your occupation and how you plan to use the app (in order to suggest potentially-helpful templates), and then you're ready to begin.

I'll admit, staring down an empty Notion is as intimidating as watching a blinking cursor on a blank Word document. The amount of possibilities can be paralyzing. What do you do?

Notion has a handy getting started page on its site with some basics. The app is made up of pages, either blank, a template, or even imported from Evernote, Asana, or other software. You can also start with a database, like a table or calendar:

A blank Notion page. Credit: screenshot: notion

All pages are made up of "blocks," which according to Notion's blog is a "single piece of content you add to your page, like a to-do item, an image, a code block, an embedded file, etc." They're literally the building blocks of Notion.

To add a block to a page, press the / key and you'll be met with a list of options. From a simple bulleted list to a calendar to an audio upload — or even pages within pages! — blocks make Notion what it is.

Diving into blocks and pages can be overwhelming, but the good news here is that there's no "right" way to do Notion. It'll take time to figure out what's best for you and your workflow, but there's guidance along the way with YouTube tutorials and instructions from Notion itself.

If even that is too much, take a step back. What helped me figure out Notion was first understanding what I wanted to do with it. I longed to organize my work assignments and ideas; keep my personal to-do lists, tasks, and writing in order; and lay out my budget.

From there, I knew which questions to search (on Notion's blog, YouTube, or Google). For example: How do I create a spreadsheet? How do I import photos? Knowing what I wanted to do allowed me to easily find the answer. As I learned more, I had room to experiment as well.

Notion's learning curve isn't due to the complexity of the app but rather the sheer amount of tools that are at your disposal. After spending a few days or so learning by doing (and watching a lot of YouTube), I had it down and was ready to shout from the rooftops about how awesome it is.

How I organize my Notion

My Notion has five "hubs" based on different areas of focus.

My list of Notion hubs, including work and personal pages. Credit: screenshot: notion

These are all the landing pages, which is a simple Notion page without a template. Then I created specific pages within each bucket. Here's an example inside my "Mashable hub."

Landing page for the Mashable hub, with specific pages like my due date calendar listed. Credit: screenshot: notion

I have three pages in this hub: a calendar, a master to-do list, and a space for ideas. For the calendar, I started with a calendar database; for the to-do list, I used a tutorial on a simple checklist; and the ideas page is blank with a bulleted list.

Again, there's no correct way to do anything on Notion. It's customizable and also a breeze to troubleshoot: Hover over any page on Notion's sidebar and you'll see three dots, which enable you to delete, duplicate, or rename said page:

Page functions on Notion. Credit: screenshot: notion

Why I love Notion

Notion is intuitive once you know your way around it, which is just one reason it's become a daily essential for me this year. The variety of choice — whether it be page function or style — is also a boon. And it's all accessible on my laptop, iPhone, and iPad.

These factors have made Notion my ride-or-die organization system. I may never need another planner again.

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