Notion Guide: All-in-One Workspace & Notes App

Notion Getting Started Guide: Build your personalized workspace from scratch

Still overwhelmed by the power of Notion? This beginner guide will help you get started quickly and experience the convenience and flexibility of Notion. Get ready to explore in depth and you will discover the infinite possibilities of Notion!

Core points

• Notion is a powerful all-in-one workspace and note-taking app for Mac, Windows and mobile devices, enabling cross-platform creation, organization, and sharing content.
• Notion's basic unit is "Block", which can be text, title, bullet list, to-do list, quote, separator, and links to existing pages. These blocks can be combined and formatted to create pages, similar to Google Docs, but with more customization options.
• Notion also provides table functionality, which can replace Excel or Google Sheets for basic data organization; its web clipping extension allows you to directly import web content into Notion, making it an ideal tool for task management, note-taking and content organization.
• Notion supports collaboration and sharing and provides different levels of permissions such as full access, editable, commentable, viewable, and no access. It also supports real-time collaboration, which is ideal for team projects.
• While Notion provides a lot of flexibility, it is best to plan your Notion settings before building a lot of content to avoid confusion and keep the workspace simple and orderly. Regular cleaning and using titles and directories can improve navigation and usability.

Download apps and web clippers

If you haven't installed Notion on your desktop, download the Mac or PC version of the app. The browser version also works fine, and it will be very convenient if you want to open multiple pages at the same time, but installing the app on the desktop helps it take its place in your digital ecosystem.

You may also need to download the app on your iPhone or Android device, if you use an iPad. The app is more suitable for desktop use, but if you want to reach its full potential, you may need to install it on all devices. iOS and Android apps are great for use on the go. The iPad app does allow you to access your pages, but there is still room for improvement. The Notion team has acknowledged this and promises that mobile improvements are underway.

After creating an account (it is very convenient to use Google's SSI), you should download the web clipper so that you can directly import the web content into Notion. Notion's own web clipper is handy, but a better option is the "Save to Notion" extension, which allows you to add metadata directly when capturing! This will be described in detail later.

Learn Notion Terms

To start building, you need to understand the basic elements available.

Basics: Blocks (Blocks)

Notion's atomic unit is a block. Just like Lego blocks, you can put blocks together to create anything you can imagine.

Each block type can be moved, copied and formatted. What's even more exciting is that each block has a unique link that allows you to easily cross-reference blocks across the system.

The basic block includes standard elements of the word processor, such as text, title, bullet list, and numbered list. There are also "To-Do List" (checkbox), labels that quote and emphasize important text, delimiters, nested pages, and links to existing pages.

This article will focus on basic block types (it's a 101 guide after all), but other block categories include advanced blocks such as inline mentions, media and embeds, databases, and breadcrumbs.

Use page combination blocks

Think of pages as Google Docs—except that you can build them with various blocks, and easily customize layouts, formats, and content.

Organize using forms

Tables can be substituted for Excel or Google Sheets—unless you use pivot tables or perform complex data analysis. Add metadata using commonly used properties, including text, numbers, and formulas. Use other useful properties such as checkboxes, multiple and radios, and People (for other users in the workspace).

How to Navigate in App

Okay, you've installed the app and learned about the LEGO bricks you can use to build. Now, how do you move around and stay aware? Here is everything you need to get started with Notion UI.

Search

You may need to organize your Notion page to know where to find something, but when you need to get something quickly, you can use the Quick Find link in the sidebar. A faster way is to use the keyboard shortcut Control/CMD P

Update

You can view your page updates in the sidebar. Inbox is for new mentions and comments, following changes to the page you choose to follow, all for all changes and archives in your Notion account. Click the gear icon in the upper right corner to change your notification settings.

Settings and Members

Here, you can modify your plans, billing information, notifications, and more. If you have a team plan, you can manage your team here—add or delete members, change permissions, and more.

Sidebar section

Your sidebar is a map of your Notion universe.

Let's start at the top.

Favorites

Your favorites are manually selected. On any page, you will see the favorites in the upper right corner. After clicking, the page will be added to this section of the sidebar. You can click again to delete. In the Favorites section, you can also click three dots to display the Remove from Favorites option.

Work area

The workspace section will only appear if you have a team plan. The pages shown here are accessible to everyone on the team, although you can modify permissions based on what you want people to be able to perform on each page. For more information, see "Share" below.

Share

The page will move to this section after it is shared with individuals, groups, or integrations.

Private

As the name implies, these pages are private to you. When you click on a new page, your page will be created here and will remain private until you manually share it with others.

Usage function

Now, things are getting interesting!

Mix and match

As mentioned above, Notion's atomic units are "blocks". Yes, there are standard text and bullet lists, but you can also organize content in the toggle, use checkboxes to create quick to-do lists, and even embed videos, images, and web bookmarks.

The real advantage of the

blocks is that you can combine them according to your choice! This means you can easily create dashboards and personal wikis. Since Notion is built for build, embeddings are easy to create and move (no lags you encounter in Google or Word documents). It's also very easy to drag and drop any block, change the block from one type to another, or copy it.

Don't stop there. Create a column to organize the blocks (drag until you see the blue lines moving next to the existing block). Customize your page with colors, emojis, and images. Use quotes and annotations to get attention to specific text (perfect for sharing instructions on how to navigate a page!). Once you get the tips, you can create dashboards to plan your work and life!

Documents in spreadsheets?

Imagine if you could put Google Docs in a cell in a Google Sheet. Then, with Notion, you can do it! Each record in the Notion table is actually a page. Remember the classification we discussed? Each page is a separate document that can contain any combination of blocks you want.

This is very powerful for two reasons:

• Each page you create in the table can have its own metadata. Assign dates, labels, personnel, etc.
• You can create depth for your table by digging deep into the record page. Create a small dashboard for each project, add notes to each book on the reading list, or capture recipes for menu planning.

Slice and dice using table view

Now that your page is organized in the table and has useful metadata, you can decide how to view your information!

Tables are simple two-list tables by default. After creating the table and properties, you can click Add View next to the table name and create any of the following views:

• Form: Basic spreadsheet.
• Kanban:Kanban style. Each page is a "card" in a row, sorted by the attribute you choose (such as the status of the task).
• Timeline: Gantt chart, perfect for project planning and scheduling.
• Calendar: Monthly view, suitable for planning events, content calendars, and tasks.
• List: Simplified tables, visually engaging and easy to navigate.
• Galleries: The "prettiest" of all options. Each page becomes a card in the grid. Perfect for recipes, book lists, travel recommendations and more.

Any view can be filtered and sorted! Filter or create a filter group by any attribute. Use one or more sorts to display the key information you need. Completed view? Copy it and adjust the filter slightly to provide the exact context you need. Learn about how filtering views can help you manage tasks and projects.

Crawl content using web clipper

Importing web content into Notion is a great way to organize recipes, collect later reading lists, or collect images to mood boards. When it comes to the "Editor" browser extension, you have some options. For any editor, you need to install and pin the extension and log in to your Notion account. The actual editing experience will be different.

Use Notion's own editor, you just need to edit the page name and select the workspace and target database. The editor will get the URL and in most cases the content of the page will also get. Sometimes, the page content does not appear fully in Notion.

Using the Save to Notion extension, you can create forms to clip to different databases. Select your workspace and target database and customize which fields you want to fill in when editing.

When you are ready to edit the page, you will select one of the forms and fill in as many fields as possible. The page will be edited to the database using the filled-in metadata! This way, you don't need separate steps to process your clips.

Share and Permissions

Click "Share" in the upper right corner to share any page. You can publish to the network immediately (you can choose whether to allow search engine indexing). For more specific sharing, add people using their email address (or if you already share with them, just use their name). The permission options are very simple:

Full access: Ability to edit and share
Editable: Can be edited but not shared
Comments are available: Able to comment on and comment any block at the page level
Viewable: Only viewable
No access permission: used to revoke previously granted access permissions

There are two important nuances in sharing:

The page in the nested page or the database
• automatically inherits the permissions of the parent page. However, you can manually enter the page and reset sharing permissions for that particular page. You will receive an alert asking you to confirm whether you want to overwrite inherited permissions.
If you share a page that contains a "linked database" (advanced block, discussed in depth in "Efficient Project Management in Notion", you must also share the original database with your collaborators. Otherwise, the linked database blocks will not appear in their view of the page. They will have a blank space and the block should be there.

Beginner Use Cases

Once you have mastered the features we just discussed, you can create dashboards to plan your work.

Some simple ways you can get started with Notion and get a lot of value right away:

• Personal CRM: Personal CRM is a good starter option, although Notion will not replace dedicated CRM for sales and email marketing. Instead, consider birthdays, hobbies, and the meaningful conversations you have with your most important contacts.
• Notes: A searchable and indexed repository for your brainstorming, shopping lists and reading notes.
• Web Content "Library": Replace Instapaper or Pocket with a database in Notion. Why? Customizable metadata and the ability to highlight and comment the full text directly in Notion. Organize your reading so you can stay up to date with the latest developments in the web development world.
• Task Management: Capture all your to-dos and create custom views to show when you need to know.
• More personal use: Use recipe databases, meal plans, habit tracking and exercise logs to stay healthy and organized. Plan your trip by organizing all your information and notes in one specific destination. Create a main "watch list" of movies and shows for all streaming services, or create a digital bookshelf to queue up your next reading.

Once you feel comfortable with Notion, you can use the tool for more complex use. Take advantage of what you’ve learned here to dig into project management, course creation, or quick and easy public web pages (perfect for temporary pages such as sales and login pages).

Best Practice

The pros and cons of Notion is that you can create anything you want! Sometimes, this means you end up with pages that breed like rabbits, as well as pages nested inside the page. All of this leads to the following dilemma: Where is that thing?

You can avoid this trap with some convenient tricks:

• Keep the sidebar simple: only collect the five to seven pages you use most. Create some main pages in your workspace that accommodate other pages by category. For example: All your dashboards are located on the dashboard page, and you have your daily operations dashboard collection.
• Format: Use titles and directories when creating large pages. It makes it much easier to jump to the parts you need.
• Clean: Plan the time to check your settings regularly and deactivate pages you don't need, modify your favorites, and adjust any unfinished content.
• Would you like to use tables: If you are making three or more pages of the same type, you should put those pages in the table instead of just nesting them.

That's it. You're ready! You have everything you need to get started. However, here’s a secret: when you start using Notion, the most efficient way to plan your Notion settings before building too much content. Figure out what you want to create and why, and then focus on learning how to do it. After that, you may need to really dig into the wonders of Notion databases. You can also use the following resources to explore more. Wish you a happy Notion!

More resources

• Notion's FAQ
• "Beginner of Notion API and its JavaScript SDK"
• "Efficient Project Management in Notion"
• GTD in Notion: How to do it in NotionMoreThings
• Get advantage with templates
• In-depth study of the course I taught together: Super Improve Your Productivity

Notion FAQ

• How to use Notion to organize my tasks and projects?
• Can I use Notion offline?
• How to share my Notion page with others?
• Can I import data from other applications into Notion?
• How to take notes with Notion?
• Can I use Notion on my mobile device?
• How to customize my Notion workspace?
• Is my data safe on Notion?
• Can I use Notion with others?
• How to use Notion for personal use?

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