Notion starter kit: Make it easy to learn
There are many ways to learn a tool. The key is finding an approach that works best for us.
Back at it again with another instalment in my series about the practices that’ve helped me shape Notion into my favourite digital space.
When I first created this newsletter a few years ago, my goal was to write about all the different ways our environments influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviour.
I wanted to record as much as I could about our relationships with our surroundings, so that we could curate strategies that would allow us to design our spaces as tools to improve our lives.
At the time, I was solely focused on the physical world because that’s where most of us want to spend the majority of our time.
But since so much of our time is actually spent in the digital world, its impact on us is arguably among the most influential across all of our environments.
That’s why I’ve been having such a fun time reflecting on the benefits of being more intentional about designing our digital worlds.
For me, Notion is a toolbox brimming with useful gadgets for helping me architect my world. I appreciate how it values flexibility so we can let our imaginations run wild.
But that flexibility can make it tough, especially when we’re just getting started, to know what tools exist and when to use them.
One of the things I love most about this app is how consistently new capabilities for users are unlocked. Once I think I’ve gotten a handle on it, Notion unveils a fresh suite of functions for me to learn about. And I’m constantly coming across interesting applications I hadn’t considered before.
In this post, I’m going to discuss how I learned to learn Notion and how I keep up with its frequent flurry of new features.
Since my post last week, I’ve learned about:
how to use Notion’s new presentation mode
how to enable Notion’s new sidebar
the near-future potential for Notion workers
how to create mermaid diagrams
how to create and add a timer property to databases
the new iPhone note widget.
I’ve also:
set up and customized my Notion Mail and added a bunch of AI auto labels to better organize my inbox
created a new custom agent that integrates my Notion Mail with a database in my Notion app
generated my first images with Notion AI.
To be honest, when this whole AI craze started, my initial reaction was a bit of a panic. A sort of constant overwhelm for how many new tools were simultaneously surfacing and how quickly everybody else seemed to adopt them.
Learning how to learn
Sometimes I’ll read comments underneath Notion tutorials expressing similar sentiments to what I experienced.
They’d mention how it’s overwhelming, how there’s so much to learn, and how they tried it but couldn’t keep up with it.
I also remember trying to tread the waves of AI news.
I tracked the new words. I watched the videos and listened to the podcasts. I read the dev docs from AI companies to attempt to understand what was happening under the hood.
But that avalanche of information just made me even more aware of how much I didn’t know.
Eventually, I remembered how I taught myself to enjoy learning to code. I didn’t do it by reading documentation or watching tutorials. I did it by coming up with ideas and working through projects.
I did it by learning how I learn best.
Here’s a quick roundup of my favourite ways to learn Notion.
Learn by resonance: Pay attention to which use cases resonate
I used to be intimidated by the setups of Notion power users.
I’d watch tutorials showcasing how all their databases fit together like strands in a well-conceived web. But something about their workspaces felt indescribably unattainable.
I realized at some point how many of the use cases I witnessed were business based. I, on the other hand, was using it to level up my general life.
My learning: Be careful to distinguish between being overwhelmed by Notion vs by Notion power users. Especially, power users whose use cases don’t match up with yours.
Learn by doing: Learn what you need when you need it
There’s a concept in educational science called “just in case vs just in time learning”.
Just in case learning is when we learn something just in case it becomes useful further down the line. Just in time learning is when we learn something at the moment it becomes useful.
My learning: Learn the basics just in case. Learn the details just in time.
For learning the basics I’d suggest simply typing the slash / command and exploring the menu of different Notion blocks.
For the details, I’d pick a use case and work toward a vision. Think about some friction in your life, or something you’d like to track, or an event you want to prepare for. And learn while actively problem-solving.
Learn by collaging: Frankenstein your features
Notion’s template marketplace can be overwhelming.
In my opinion it’s saturated with some good, but also a lot of uninspired examples of what we can accomplish.
My learning: Use templates as educational resources, rather than out-of-the-box solutions. Never completely adopt something someone else has built. Instead, pick templates apart. Ask yourself what you like, what you don’t, and what you’d want more of. Grab inspiration, styling, and components, then stitch them together into something of your own.
Learn by studying: Notion academy
I’ve used Notion academy myself, but it’s one that I would have used if it was available when I learned Notion originally. Until recently, I didn’t even know that it existed.
My learning: Share knowledge even if you think it’s basic or common knowledge. Everybody has blanks to fill.
Learn by digging: Be an explorer
When I was a kid I wanted to become a diggerologist. Better known to most adults as an archaeologist. And I’ve found that it helps to bring that mindset into Notion.
My learning: There is a particular type of person who especially benefits from Notion. And that type of person is one who likes to excavate. They explore fearlessly and try to dig up lesser-known features and use cases. It helps to channel that person.
Keeping up to date
Keep up to date by watching: Find a medium that works
Everybody has their ideal learning style.
Some people are visual learners. Some prefer audio.
Learning by doing is my go to, but I also enjoy a good video guide every so often. Here are some of my favourite Notion creators on YouTube:
Matthias Frank | Thomas Frank | Jeff Su
Keep up to date with Notion’s goings-on: Check out their changelog
It wasn’t until I started working in tech that I was introduced to the concept of a changelog, so I’m not sure how common knowledge this is, but many platforms maintain a timeline list of all of the features that they’ve recently released.
My learning: One of the best ways to keep up with all the latest features is through Notion’s changelogs.
Keep up to date by following builders: Explore creators on X
In spite of being a controversial platform nowadays, I find that X has a thriving community of builders and product designers who love to share all the creative ways they use Notion.
My learning: Learn about new features and creative applications for Notion by following builders and designers on X.
Keep up to date by following Notion: Follow Notion
Since Notion has now built a reputation for releasing so many features so frequently, I find that they promote their releases a lot more vocally than other platforms.
My learning: An underrated way of keeping up with Notion is by simply following them on socials.
Keep up to date by listing: Save your favourite features
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when we’re constantly immersed in a barrage of new ideas, especially when we have a vague sense of what’s possible, but no concrete grasp of it.
My learning: Keep a list of new features and new experiments you want to play with. Paying attention to new releases and noting the ones that sound the most interesting to us makes it a lot easier to pick our playgrounds each day. The fact that it’s written down makes it much more approachable
That’s all for this one, thank you for reading! We’re officially halfway through my apparently never-ending list of 100 lessons. Next week will feature my favourite learnings so far on how to structure information so it’s intuitive for us.
See you then 👋😁