Notion formulas 2.0 guide for dummies — 6 takeaways & examples

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Bootcamp

4 min readSep 10, 2023

This post was originally part of my newsletter, The Notion Zeitgeist — you can read the full version here.

Notion have upgraded their old formula language to be easier to use and allow even MORE possibilities. If you are a data-science or excel formula nerd, you are about to be hyped. If you’re not, never fear, I’ve put together some resources and inspiration to help you get started.

What is Notion & why is everyone obsessed with it?

Notion is essentially digital LEGO. You have access to the ‘blocks’ (checkboxes, databases, media embeds etc) to build your dream digital tool/dashboard. Because of this ‘DIY’ aspect, everyone, from parents and students, to creatives and start-ups are obsessed with using it to build everything from recipe books and journals to custom dashboards & client portals. The best thing about Notion is that everything is tailored to the way you think and whatever you build will grow with you.

You can try Notion for free here (#NotionPartner). Although, flagging that advanced features, such as database automations, are only only available on paid plans, starting at $10/mth.

What are the new features in Notion Formulas 2.0?

Full release guide + docs here — here’s the “for dummies” summary with examples!

#1 Multi-line editor

Instead of one big text block for your formulas, you now have access to a multi-line editor.

Game changer for chunky formulas, so I’m you’re not pulling your hair out over where the brackets go.

#2 More Outputs

Notion formulas used to only be able to reference text, numeric, and checkbox (boolean) outputs. Now you can also display pages, dates, people, and lists.

Game changer for building data outputs that look and feel more connected to your workspace.

#3 Reference more with related databases

When you connect databases to each other using relation properties, you can now ‘read information from the other side’ from the related data e.g. deadlines or tags from projects and tasks can be used in calculation.

Game changer for reducing the amount of rollups and therefore columns and database bloat in your workspace — faster databases, yay!

#4 Reference more with related databases

So imagine if you tagged a bunch of people in your database and you wanted to automatically pull their email or Full Name — you can do that now.

Game changer for doing things like building automatic stakeholder contact information sections in shared portals.

#5 BYOV (Build your own variables)

Notion’s new formula has a function called ‘let’, where you can create standalone variables formulas, e.g. calculating this month’s profit. This can then be referenced elsewhere in your formula.

Game changer as you would have previously ended up having to be very clever with your brackets and building separate columns to ‘store’ your calculations.

#6 Pretty colours

There are now more formatting options which let you add colour, backgrounds, bolding and more to the outputs in your formulas.

Game changer for building ‘report databases’, as now the key information can jump out to your straight away.

This looks great, where do I get started learning Notion?

If you’d rather not torture yourself with 1000s of productivity YouTube videos and want a more creative approach to learning Notion, driven by design thinking, you’re free to explore my affordable MySpace-themed course, ‘#MyNotionSpace’, along with 3k+ students.

Level up with 3k+ students →

Quick note, this was originally a hot take from an issue of my newsletter, The Notion Zeitgeist, that I’ve developed into this article. This is not your productivity bro’s Notion newsletter. 2k+ of you are reading weekly-ish spicy hot takes on Notion, profuntivity and pop culture. Musings by me, Frances Odera Matthews: resident zillennial, Certified Notion Consultant + Founder of The Notion Bar.

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