I wouldn’t name myself a productiveness guru, however I’ve examined tons of of productiveness apps, together with to-do record apps. Nonetheless, I discovered the usual to-do record apps are simple to make use of however usually lack flexibility and observe a set template for managing duties that may not go well with all of your wants. Moreover, the preferred to-do record apps I’ve used have restricted options within the free model, and important options like recurring duties and reminders are sometimes behind a paywall.
Due to these limitations, just a few months in the past, I ditched all my to-do record apps and shifted to Notion to trace my duties. And guess what? It’s the finest determination I’ve ever made in my life. There are many causes for this, however above all, the flexibleness of Notion allowed me to design a extra environment friendly and customized to-do record system that simplifies process administration, prioritises an important duties and retains monitor of all duties in a single place.
On this information, you’ll learn the way I used Notion to arrange essentially the most environment friendly to-do record tracker and enable you design your to-do record setup that fits your wants or mix all of your duties in a single place and make your to-do duties every day and stress-free.
How Does Notion Work?
If you happen to by no means heard of Notion earlier than, it’s an all-in-one workspace instrument that permits you to take notes, set up knowledge and visualize it, collaborate together with your group, create duties and handle them in a single place.
Greater than only a to-do record, you should utilize Notion as a challenge administration instrument in your skilled work, jot down notes, Retailer articles, Observe your funds, Plan occasions and extra. Most significantly, A private Notion account permits you to create and retailer limitless pages at no cost.
Mainly, in Notion, all the pieces works on pages. You may create pages and add a number of components to the web page, equivalent to headings, photos, and tables, and even create databases or import them from different pages. You may hyperlink databases from different pages and filter them, join between the pages, and extra. For people, Notion is free to make use of with none web page limits and likewise permits you to collaborate and work in real-time together with your group
Nonetheless, Notion has limits within the free tier plan for groups. You may view all of the group advantages and limitations on this Notion Pricing page. On this case, if you wish to create a to-do record together with the group or the guardian, you may add them to your workspace as a visitor or invite them to your group.
Within the free plan, you may invite as much as 10 visitors and management entry to them individually. In order for you extra, you may go for both the Plus plan, which permits as much as 100 visitors, or the Marketing strategy, which may enable as much as 250 visitors.
Since our focus is totally on the to-do record on this submit, a free tier with help for ten visitors is greater than sufficient if you wish to create a to-do record for your self or together with your companion or a group of fewer than ten individuals.
Ideas I Adopted To Create a Higher To-Do Record
Making a Notion to-do record alone doesn’t make you stress-free. To take action, I adopted loads of different rules to create a greater model of to-do lists with the assistance of Notion.
I’ve learn loads of books on the right way to handle duties effectively and make duties stress-free and enjoyable. Specialists share loads of rules and methods. I utilized these rules to create a greater model of to-do lists.
One such precept is Getting Issues Carried out by David Allen. The creator says that our mind will not be meant to retailer duties however reasonably to course of them. Utilizing this precept, I dump no matter thought or pending process that comes into my thoughts into Notion. For higher group, I tag them and make them organized.
Subsequent, make clear the duties. As an alternative of writing duties vaguely, for example, As an alternative of duties that say “Learn for 20 minutes”, I write actionable duties with detailed, actionable info, like ‘Learn 20 pages from the e-book Getting Issues Carried out’.
Equally, I break massive duties into actionable sub-tasks. For instance, Suppose I’m planning a trip and need to do issues beforehand, like planning flights, making use of for depart, reserving motels, creating an inventory of locations to go to, and extra. In that case, I record down all of the actionable gadgets below the primary process after which do every process each single day.
This fashion, I can reside stress-free by figuring out precisely what I’m doing with out procrastination or worrying about duties clogging up my inbox with no thought of what to do subsequent. I can assessment all of your duties and create and add them to the duties.
Subsequent, I take advantage of the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize duties primarily based on their urgency and significance. Suppose you by no means heard of this Matrix earlier than; mainly, utilizing this precept, I prioritize duties primarily based on significance and urgency, which may also help me to deal with duties which have a excessive impression and cut back time spent on low-priority duties.
The matrix is split into 4 classes, which embody:
- Pressing and Vital Duties: These duties require my instant consideration and ought to be carried out straight away.
- Not Pressing however Vital Duties: These are necessary however don’t require my instant consideration.
- Pressing however Not Vital Duties: These require instant motion however should not necessary for my long-term objectives. If potential, I delegate these duties to save lots of time and sources.
- Not Pressing and Not Vital Duties: These are time-wasting duties that I must get rid of from my to-do record.
How I Use Notion as My Environment friendly To-Do Record Software
The pliability of Notion permits me to create an environment friendly to-do record that adheres to all these rules. There are a number of methods to create a to-do record in Notion.
You should use a single web page to handle all of your duties, equivalent to dumping your concepts into Notion to free your psychological clause, Discovering necessary duties utilizing the Eisenhower Matrix, and at last breaking massive sub-tasks into actional steps and creating your closing to-do record.
It’s also possible to separate these processes into completely different pages and use import knowledge to import duties. This makes a single web page much less cluttered however takes extra effort to handle and juggle between a number of pages.
For my to-do record, I created all these duties on a single web page. It offers me full management over the duty and makes it simple to seek out pending, upcoming, and ongoing duties in a single place. Nonetheless, As I stated, you may create a Notion to-do record primarily based in your desire.
How To Create a To-Do Record Tracker in Notion
You may create a to-do record tracker utilizing the Notion internet or the cell app. Notion additionally has devoted apps for the Mac and Home windows. Since we’re specializing in a number of duties, I like to recommend you utilize the desktop model for higher visibility and higher multitasking. When you arrange a to-do record tracker, you should utilize your Notion cell app to handle all of your duties.
You may duplicate my to-do list Template to handle all of your duties effectively. Open the web page, click on on the copy icon within the prime proper nook of the display screen, and choose duplicate. If you happen to haven’t signed in together with your Notion account, you need to duplicate it, after which my to-do record template will likely be duplicated.
1. Dump All Your Duties in One Place
Within the first duties desk, declutter your thoughts by dumping all of your duties and to-do issues in a single place. Mainly, the concept is to unencumber your thoughts by storing all of your ideas within the notion. This may also help you to take away psychological stress.
Upon getting all of the duties in place, rank them primarily based on what issues essentially the most. You should use an Eisenhower Matrix to rank them primarily based in your desire. You may rank them as necessary or not necessary and pressing or non-urgent.
2. Rank Duties Primarily based on Your Wants
Primarily based on the above precept, your duties are mechanically divided into Do First, Schedule, Delegate, and Eradicate classes. Primarily based on this, you may plan in your day. This fashion, you may deal with an important and helpful duties that add actual worth as a substitute of spending your time on duties that don’t add worth.
3. Last To-Do Duties Are Prepared
Lastly, within the closing desk, your necessary duties. Right here, you should utilize the Eat that Frog principle to finish an important duties, in addition to the Pareto Principle to seek out essentially the most helpful duties.
The duties listed within the closing to-do record desk are solely from the necessary and pressing class to convey extra and make nearly all of the impression. It’s also possible to customise the desk to incorporate scheduled duties and an inventory of really helpful duties to get rid of within the desk primarily based in your desire. That will help you deal with an important duties, I’ve solely included an important and pressing duties.
Within the tod-list, you may monitor the duty for the day or the week. You may drag and drop and transfer the duties to the progress part, and once you lastly end, you may transfer it to the Carried out when your process is completed. Right here, you will notice all of the duties that you’ve got accomplished. In order for you, you may take away them totally from the record.
Utilizing this strategy, you should utilize Notion for stress-free process administration and likewise deal with an important duties that add actual worth. If you happen to discover this strategy uncomfortable, I’ve additionally shared a easy customary template that you should utilize to create a easy to-do record tracker like the usual to-do record apps.
I’ve shared the detailed steps beneath. Nonetheless, I’d extremely request you utilize the My To-do Record template to create extra significant duties. In reality, you too can add automation to make the duties extra enjoyable by including rewards to your to-do record, including time, and incomes rewards. This will likely be a extra advanced to-do; nonetheless, you continue to have the flexibleness of Notion. Furthermore, you don’t must observe the usual template I’ve shared. You may customise it primarily based in your desire.
How To Create a Easy To-Do Record in Notion
To additional simplify, you may create three sorts of to-do lists in Notion. First, you may create a easy to-do record utilizing tables or bullet factors in Notion, which primarily fits fundamental customers who simply desire a to-do record app that has an inventory of duties after which marks them full when completed.
Subsequent, you may create superior to-do record apps utilizing superior options in Notion. It’s also possible to collaborate together with your companion or group, join with exterior instruments equivalent to Slack and Google Drive (the free model solely helps restricted instruments), combine the newest Notion calendar together with your to-do lists, create a number of views equivalent to lists, boards, timelines primarily based in your most popular process visualization, use superior search, add filters to particular duties, add sources and create notes for particular person duties for extra context, set due dates and customised reminders, and extra.
Lastly, you may create to-do lists utilizing pre-built to-do list Notion templates, that are finest suited to each easy and superior customers who don’t need to create them manually. The very best half is you can begin with a template and customise it primarily based in your wants.
Moreover, you may convert and alter to-do lists from one format to a different. As an example, you may convert a easy to-do record to a sophisticated to-do record by including extra options, reminders, and all of the superior options.
Making a easy to-do record in Notion:
- To create a easy to-do record app, open Notion and click on on the Create Web page within the prime left sidebar.
- Now, enter the title; you may identify it as a to-do record or a most popular identify.
- To make it engaging, hover your mouse on the title, and on the prime, you will notice the next choices: add an icon, add a canopy, and add a remark. You may add further components to offer it the very best look. You may click on on the add icon so as to add an icon to the web page and add a canopy so as to add a canopy picture. Notion has some actually unique-looking cowl photographs built-in; you should utilize these or add your personal.
- Now, to create the primary to-do record, right here you should utilize both the database or the desk. To maintain it easy, you should utilize the easy to-do record prebuilt aspect from Notion so as to add and mark duties. If you happen to want further options for the to-do record, you must create a database.
- To create a easy to-do record, click on on house after which enter /to-do record and choose to-do record from the record of choices.
- If you wish to create one thing extra superior, enter / after which sort database and add the database.
- Upon getting created a database, rename it within the first column to ‘Job Identify‘ after which create a process.
- Click on on the plus so as to add a column, and right here, you may add tags to set priorities for the duty. You may add precedence numbers primarily based in your desire.
- Subsequent, you may add the standing column to trace the standing of the duties, whether or not they have been accomplished or pending.
- Subsequent, click on on the plus once more, choose ‘Due Date‘ from the record, and add a due date. It’s also possible to set reminders. Activate the toggle subsequent to the reminder to set the time once you need to be reminded.
If all the pieces works effectively for you, a To-do record created utilizing Notion will likely be a sport changer for you. It is going to be extra environment friendly than any to-do record; you recognize precisely the place you’re heading, preserve monitor of your upcoming and ongoing duties in a single place, and set up all of your duties in a single place.
It helped me to plan my day extra effectively and likewise deal with an important process that drives worth.
Nonetheless, Notion isn’t excellent; it has limitations, equivalent to being advanced for novices, not supporting recurring duties, and never being designed as a to-do record. Nonetheless, utilizing Notion, I can arrange essentially the most environment friendly to-do record tracker that has helped me enhance my productiveness. I hope it would for you, too. When you have points whereas organising, remark beneath.
FAQs on Utilizing Notion as a To-Do Record Tracker
1. Can I entry my Notion to-do record throughout a number of gadgets?
Sure, Notion is offered on all main platforms, together with Mac OS and Home windows. Additionally it is out there on the net and syncs with completely different gadgets in real-time.
2. Is there a studying curve for utilizing Notion, particularly for novices?
If you’re a newbie, it may appear overwhelming at first, however over time, it turns into simple when you get acquainted with the instrument. The notion group has a detailed guide for beginners on the right way to use Notion. You may watch them.
3. How safe is my knowledge on Notion?
Notion encrypts the info saved on the platform. Nonetheless, due to its openness, I extremely recommend you keep away from storing any delicate info in Notion pages, as anybody accessing your Notion account can view all of your particulars with out requiring any type of authentication.
4. Can I collaborate with others on my Notion to-do record at no cost?
Within the free model, you may invite as much as 10 visitors to your workspace and share and collaborate with them on the duties in real-time.
5. Can I take advantage of Notion offline to handle my duties?
Notion works offline with none points; you may monitor and add to-do lists offline. Nonetheless, You want an web connection to sync the info with different gadgets and collaborate.
