The meeting focused on eight actionable Notion use cases to improve daily productivity, covering notes organization, action tracking, naming conventions, AI features, database views, automation with buttons, and synced blocks.
Recommendations were provided for both beginners and intermediate users, highlighting efficient ways to capture, organize, and act on notes, tasks, and recurring information.
Emphasis was placed on using dynamic templates, automation, and personalized AI features to streamline workflows.
No formal attendees, decisions, or deadlines were specified, as the content was presented in a tutorial format.
Action Items
None specified, as this was an instructional session with no direct follow-ups or assigned owners.
Notes Organization & Best Practices
Use a single Notion page for recurring meetings, structuring each meeting's notes under dated toggles (notes threads) for easy reference and searchability.
Add an "Outstanding" section with unresolved action items at the top of each notes thread, moving items to "Resolved" once complete, to ensure long-term and pending issues are not overlooked.
Apply a naming convention: for recurring meetings, use "Year-Quarter-Topic" (e.g., 2030 Q1 weekly manager 101s); for one-offs, use "Year-Month-Context" (e.g., 2030 March coffee chat with Jane).
Leveraging Notion AI
Utilize Notion AI to generate monthly recaps and rewrite newsletter drafts, referencing previous content and entire databases for consistency in tone and structure.
AI drafts maintain customized templates, saving time and aligning with personal or organizational styles.
Database Views & Inbox Management
Always create an "inbox view" for databases (e.g., tasks, notes) to catch entries lacking due dates or categorization, reducing the risk of losing track of uncategorized items.
For databases following the PARA method, filter for items missing project/area/resource relationships.
Encourage consolidating all backend/raw databases in a central location, using filtered views elsewhere for daily work.
Front-End vs. Back-End Database Usage
Use raw databases only for foundational data input and configuration; create filtered, actionable views on main working pages (e.g., tasks due in 7 days, area-related notes) for everyday productivity.
When setting up new databases, first organize in raw view, then build context-appropriate front-end views using filters and linked databases.
Automation with Buttons
Employ Notion buttons to automate repetitive actions, such as updating task statuses, quickly capturing prompts, or bulk-creating related tasks for projects.
Buttons can be configured for dynamic assignment (e.g., owner is whoever clicks the button), streamlining collaboration.
Synced Blocks for Standardization
Use synced blocks for information or checklists requiring regular updates across multiple pages (e.g., SOPs, recurring prompts).
Only sync structural guidance, not user-specific checkboxes, to avoid cross-page data conflicts.
Updates to synced blocks propagate automatically, maintaining consistency and saving time across templates and workflows.
Decisions
None; the session was a workflow tutorial rather than a decision-making meeting.
Open Questions / Follow-Ups
No open questions; participants were encouraged to request templates or further breakdowns in future tutorials.