Improve Your Workflow By Using Notion
The other week, I posted ‘My Top 5 Productivity Apps’ on Medium. These apps help me considerably in ensuring that I can obtain a healthy work/ life balance. However, I thought that I would create a separate blog for the ultimate app: Notion.
Notion is nothing short of incredible, hence the reference to it being my virtual brain. The free-roam workspace allows for an explosion of creativity as you get to select and personalise an array of templates and blank pages to shape the software around your personal needs.
I divide my Notion into two sections: education and my virtual brain. Now for my educative section, I have different pages and tables for each module and session which I attend. I formulate all of my notes using Notion which always assists me greatly when revising or revisiting specific notes to help within a round table session.
The other really beneficial technique is being able to join others’ workspaces. For example, during the lockdown, last year, some of my friends and I created a workspace for finding motivational and inspirational videos, movie lists, legal/ commercial awareness news (because we all studied law) and in times of remoteness, Notion acted as the round table or that (normally in-person) collaborative space to pool ideas.
Now, my ‘Virtual Brain’ was a workspace that I created on Notion to document all of the information that I consume which is knowledgeable but not necessarily relevant to my education or degree. This mainly consists of the books that I read and review for my 2022 book challenge and any quotes that I believe are worth remembering for whatever theme or significance that they represent.
I think that as working from home becomes a bigger trend and as we reflect on the pandemic really honing in on the idea of ‘working to live, not living to work’ being productive has never been more important. I think that Notion helps save and optimise my time because of the distinct workspaces that I have and how easily all of my notes and commitments can be accessed from several devices.
It is also home to my daily TED newsletter, where I write up the general point of the discussion and (again) any quotes that resonate with me. The reflective and time-reducing workings of the app allows me to consume knowledge on the go and create a centralised place to store it to subsequently reflect on in due course.
Having that organised, systematic workflow can really help to remove unnecessary steps and create a more productive way of dealing with day-to-day tasks or the general organisation of life. As a student, I have found that by using notion, I can quickly plug relevant videos/ lectures into a new page on a table and create effective notes that can then be accessed on my phone, laptop or computer. No matter where I am or what I’m doing, with a single launch of an app I am able to locate my notes or timetable and contribute, be present and more importantly reduce the amount of time that I am ‘preparing’ for something, because Notion allows me to speed up my workflow, without reducing either the quality or understanding of my work.
I have been using Notion for around 2–3 years now and it has maximised my workflow, enabled me to access documents from several devices effortlessly and has also allowed me to create a centralised place to consume knowledge. As a student, I am keen to learn and understand more, not just in law, but about the world around us, how to live healthier and happier and to also have a place to pool my thoughts to revisit in the future or perhaps on a rainy day.
The pandemic has realigned the way we prioritise things in life, it has taught me to continue being hungry to develop and learn, but in a more productive, organised and less time-consuming way. Notion is a free app, accessible on your phone or desktop, it’s even accessible via Google. If you’re looking for something to pool your resources and thoughts, with templates and wide accessibility tools to create a personal workspace, go ahead and give Notion a try.
If you liked this post, I would appreciate it if you could drop a follow or a comment on the productivity apps that help increase your workflow, and if you haven't already read My Top 5 Productivity Apps, it may be worthwhile…
Take it easy ❤️
