The benefits of an airtight “Read it later” workflow in Notion — free guide & template
The internet grants us access to more information than ever. But, it also distracts us like never before. This is why bestsellers like Indstricatable, Hyperfocus and Deep Work preach the benefit of strengthening your attention and minimising interruptions and distractions.
So how do you capture the upside and avoid the downside of information abundance? That’s the problem that read-it-later apps and workflows aim to solve (read-it-later is the same as consume-it-later in this case).
By taking control of what and when you consume media, you
- Get more out of it
- Avoid the junk
- Dodge distractions
Ultimately, you’ll also increase your attention span and energy levels.
Convinced? Let’s dive into how you can use your own Media Munching workflow with Notion.
The 5 steps in the Media Munching workflow
In case you’d like to follow along and do the set-up you can get the template for free by subscribing to the Do-It newsletter over here:
→ edwindoit.gumroad.com/l/mm ←
Step 1: Capture
The goal is to collect all your media consumption into one inbox: your Media Database. This action should be effortless. Ideally, you even automate a large part of it. When capturing media you don’t have to be selective. Now is not the time for deciding what’s worthwhile. Filtering comes later so that you avoid getting distracted.
Connect all of the inputs to your Media Database. These are the inputs I recommend you set up:
1.1 Sharing media into your database with the Notion smartphone app
By installing the smartphone app you add Notion to the possible share options of your device. So if you’re reading an article you can quickly share it with your inbox. It will automatically save the URL as well! Get the Notion App in your app store.
1.2 Using the Notion web-clipper browser extension
The Notion web-clipper works identical to the share function. When you’re on a webpage you can quickly hit the icon. Get the web-clipper for Google Chrome here.
1.3 Setting up a Zapier automation for your newsletters
Zapier is an automation tool that allows you to connect different apps. I use it to copy inbound newsletters into items in my Notion database. It’s a bit of a complicated tool, so the support of a tech-savvy friend might be helpful!
You firstly need to forward your e-mails to a Zapier e-mailadress. To do this I suggest you subscribe to all newsletters with your email +nl [example: edwin+nl@edwindoit.com]. This trick directs the e-mails to your inbox and makes them easy to separate. Afterwards, you have to set up a forward-rule in your e-mail provider. Here’s a short video on how to do it for Gmail.
After that, you can go through the other steps in setting up the automation. You can find the Zap I made here
Step 2: Process
Now, you’ve captured things you might like into your Notion media database. Before you mindlessly consume them, you’ll want to toss out the junk and categorise your media. It’s most effective to do this in bulk once a week. I prefer Saturday mornings.
The inbox processing page can be found inside the Media Munching template:
Step 3: Consume
The fun part! Open up the Media Munching Dashboard and drag an item from “not started” into “in progress” and start munching. I recommend leaving notes to yourself in the comments while you consume.
The dashboard deliberately sorts items in a random order so that you don’t prioritise what’s new. We’re trying to beat FOMO and shiny objective syndrome here.
But when should you munch?
Ideally, you do this when you’ve deliberately designated time for it (I do it between 22:00 and 23:00). But, even if you’re munching out of boredom or as a distraction it’s a significant improvement over going through the junk of your social media feeds. In the long run, strive to be more and more intentional with when you consume.
Tech-tip 1: Quick access with shortcuts
You’ll want to make it as seamless and easy as possible to get to your Media Munching dashboard. Here are a few of the ways I recommend:
Tech-tip 2: Block-off alternate sources
The best way to ensure you go to the Media Munching dashboard instead of other distracting apps or websites is to simply block those off. I use an app called freedom.so which blocks all alternative sources and ensures I only have one channel for munching media: Notion.
Step 4: Archive
After you’ve munched the media, decide whether you’ve gotten what you want out of it, or if you’d like to come back to it in the future:
Done with it
You can quickly mark it as Done by hitting the checkbox in the Media Munching card view.
Archiving for later use
When you come back to the media later on, you’ll want to be reminded of what it was about. That’s why it’s wise to quickly organize the items by setting the following properties:
- Set the status to: ⭐️ Archive
- Rate it with a score of 1/5 stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. In my system 1 star means great and 5 is lifechagning.
- Add what the bottom-line was in your opinion. For example: “Penguins are awesome dancers and this article explains why”.
- Leave any additional thoughts in the comments. For example: “Specifically the exercise on memorisation is something I would like to revist”
Step 5: Revive
Remember what was in that great article on animal welfare you read 2 months ago? Neither do I. But, since you archived it properly we can effortlessly pull it back up. Just click the “⭐️ Archive” tab on your dashboard.
We don’t revive and review great material enough. We’re missing out because it’s very unlikely that we’ll have remembered and retained everything we consumed in the past. Re-reading a great book or replaying an awesome podcast reinvigorates us with insights. Often, far more so than blasting through a pile of new media. But, why are we so set on exploring as opposed to exploiting nowadays? When we evaluate the economics we see why. Exploration can be heavily monetized wheras exploiting what we already have can not. This is proved by the “attention economy” with billion-dollar tech companies bombarding us with ads. But I digress.
Go through your favorite sources
Another way to exploit is to not just re-consume your favorites but to look for similar items from the same source. I set up links to my favorite bloggers above my Media Munching dashboard. I encourage you to make a similar list for yourself. If you’d like some source suggestions, check these out:
These recommendations were part of past editions of the do-it newsletter. Each Sunday I send out an e-mail with practical insights and tips on how to be more effective. You can subscribe here for free: edwindoit.substack.com
