a quick notion tour (how i keep track of my different activities, studies & habits) + some tips!

about two months ago, i was drowning because of college; i couldn’t keep up because i have 11 subjects per semester (i’ll let that sink in) and no time for any other activity whatsoever. the only free time i had was during the evenings or weekends, and i used those to sleep and/or talk to my family. so you guessed it, everything sucked.

that is, until notion came to my life. as someone with adhd, and whose life is a big mess, this tool came of great help. while my life is still a mess, i managed, thanks to many tutorials and friends’ advice, to set up a schedule and some reminders (for my pea-sized memory), along with trackers for my courses, blog posts and ARCs.

today, i am here to share all of this with you. whether you’re looking for inspiration for your own notion set-up, or still aren’t sure how exactly it works, i hope that through this post you’ll find the answers to your questions! so…

Notion is, as Fadwa said in their post, “your brain in one visual space”. and to me, this is 100% accurate. as someone who has dozens of activities and hobbies, notion is an effective way to keep track of everything, with less risks of forgetting things (especially deadlines). it’s on browser as well as an app on smartphones, which makes it easier for me to update it as i go through my day.

it’s also super fun to costumize and can be used for everything, whether it be personal or professional. if you work in groups, you can also have multi-users on one page.

in the next part of this post, we’re gonna go through most of my notion pages, and i’ll explain why and how i organize each thing.

this is basically my home page, where i link all my other pages so i can have easy access to them. i feel like my home page is very me, if you get what i mean. i decided to go with pastel colors because they are more pleasing to my eyes, but there is a big (though limited) choice of colors, and you can create beautiful templates!

here’s what each category corresponds to:

• academics: this is where i keep track of everything i am learning, whether it be in college or things i learn by myself (languages)! we’ll later see how i keep up with uni.
• personal: it’s where i keep up with everything outside academics and blogging. i tend to overwork sometimes and forget to take care of myself, so this part helps me not forget to donate some of my time to that.
• blog & social media: this is where i track everything that is blogging and my presence on social media, along with my art.

this is where i write all my to-do lists. every week (usually on sundays), i organize everything i have to do throughout the next week and cross each thing i accomplish. i kept it very simple and easy to configure.

as i tend to forget to take care of myself and/or devote my time to more activities, i made this habit tracker, heavily inspired by May’s habit tracker (i highly recommend you check out her post, it is amazing). i try to keep up with reading, my skincare, my studies, and lastly my sleeping schedule, since i have some hypersomnia symptoms (as you can see, i sleep…a lot).

the content is in french because, well, my major is in french.

this is, for me, probably the most important part in my notion space. college is overwhelming to say the least, and this page helps me stay on track. as you can see, i have a weekly to-do list, where i note everything i have to do outside of lectures and classes, an assignements space, and a weekly schedule. everything is updated every week, or when i get an update for one of the subjects.

since i have eleven fucking subjects this semester, organizing myself was crucial. here, i note the lessons i’ve learnt, dates for future exams, and the reading status for compulsory reads in case there is any. i plan on checking the subjet when i’m done with it.

as you can see, i keep progress of everything related to this blog here. whether it be random blog post ideas i have or dealines for blog tours, every blog post starts here (just like this one)!

and finally, here’s where i track my ARCs & review copies. i hope someday everything will be read and reviewed, but a girl can dream.

though i have yet to be a notion professional, i have come to discover some great tips during the endless hours i devoted to it.

• adding pictures and/or quotes is great for the aesthetics! it doesn’t have to be related to the subject of the page, just put whatever you want! i had so much fun putting some of my pictures and favorite quotes from books i love.
• however, though aesthetics are great, fonction comes first. when i first started using notion, i devoted so much time to make it look pretty but it wasn’t as effective as i wanted it to be. i’d say set up the essential part first, then focus on the look.
• for databases, you can set one database in multiple formats! calendars, tables, board views… there’s a wide choice! just go at the top right of your table, and click on “Add a view”.
• don’t hesitate to use other people’s templates and/or get inspired by them! i spent hours talking to friends who use notion and we sent each other multiple versions of our templates.

if you wish to read more detailed tutorials about how to use notion, i highly recommend checking out May’s post as well as Fadwa’s tutorial. they both go through their own notion space, provide amazing tutorials, share great tips and provide templates you can use! i myself was very inspired by them when setting up my own pages.

finally, i hope this post helped! notion helped so much, and i’m very happy to share how i use it with you all!

do you use notion? do you plan to? how do you stay organized in your life?