Notion is more than just a note-taking app. However, you literally start with a blank page in a blank workspace, so it does have a bit of a learning curve!
Whether you’re a new user or Notion expert, here are 10 tips and tricks that I think will come in handy for you. They will definitely improve your user experience. Let’s get started, it’s a long list!
Choose Your Favorite Pages
As with most things in life, you’re likely to spend 80% of your time on 20% of the pages you create. So instead of clicking around and looking for those pages, save time by adding them to your favorites.
On any page, click on the Star symbol on the top right. This will add the page to your list of favorites in the sidebar menu. Click again to remove it from favorites.
Tip – if you’re using Notion on your phone and you add it as a widget, it’ll likely only capture the top 3-5 pages. Remember to order to make navigation easier on your phone!
Create Page Templates
If you’re creating the same style of page over and over, you should take a look at creating a page template.
A good example of this is a weekly planner. You need to replicate the same style and format for each day of the week. Instead, you can convert this into a page template so it’s quick and easy to replicate each week.
To create a page template, open a new page, and before you start populating the body of a page, there’s an option to “create a template”. Click on this and it will take you to a new page where you can style as needed. Once this is done, this template will be available for use within that database.
Check out the tutorial on How To Save A Page As A Template In Notion.
View Word Count In Notion
If you need the word count for your page, you don’t need to export the content to another software. Click on the “…” in the top right, and the word count is at the bottom of the menu.
Don’t Forget To Set Reminders
You can quickly set reminders on a page by just typing “@” and selecting the second option. Once the reminder is created, just click on the blue timer to adjust the time and date.
Related article – Can Notion Send Reminders?
Add Some Widgets
Try adding some handy widgets like Google Calendar, the weather, or a countdown timer. Indify provides some free customizable ones. However, I wouldn’t go overboard with these as they can slow down your page significantly.
If you need some help with widgets, check out this How To Add Spotify To Notion.
Multiple Notion Pages – Two Is Better Than One
Whether you need to refer to notes when you’re writing an essay or doing some research while you’re writing a vlog script, multiple Notion pages are really handy.
There are two ways of opening multiple Notion pages at once. If you’re using the Notion desktop app:
- Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N – this will open a new window on the same page
- Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Enter when you’ve highlighted a linked page and it will open the target page in a new window
If you’re using Notion through the browser then just open another tab and load up Notion.so!
Start Of The Week – Monday Blues
If you use Notion for task management or weekly planning, you might have noticed the calendar doesn’t start on Monday!
To change the setting, click on “Settings & members” on the sidebar. Next, “Language & region” and toggle on “Start week on Monday”.
Bonus Tips – Handy Shortcut Keys
- Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + L – Toggle dark mode (I’m a huge fan of dark mode but for some things, you just need it in light mode)
- Ctrl/Cmd + \ – Toggle sidebar menu (helps maximize space and minimize distractions)
- Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + H – Apply the last format color you used
I hope you found these helpful and that it saves you some time!
You may also be interested in How To Plan Your Day With Time Blocking.
