2 big mistakes you’re making in your Notion workspace

6 min readJan 4, 2023

People always think that Notion will be the answer to their productivity problems and that once they build a Notion dashboard, they’ll suddenly become a productivity master in no time. But, in reality, this simply can’t be further from the truth. Productivity is more about mindset, before you start dragging tools into it. At the end of the day, it’s striking the balance of discipline and showing up for yourself as an act of self-love ,while at the same time giving yourself grace to take a break.

This might sound a little different to what you expects, but that’s because I believe in profuntivity, not productivity. Notion is a great tool and can help you achieve your productivity goals, but it won’t work for you if you aren’t in the right mindset of becoming realistic and vulnerable about your needs.

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.

If you’ve never tried Notion, and are looking to add layers of sanity into your life/business, you can explore it here for free — for full disclosure, I’m a Notion Partner, so when you sign up with my link, you also support my work.

What are two mistakes I commonly see as a Certified Notion Consultant?

Starting out way too complex and being overoptimistic about what you’ll actually be bothered to update.

My rule is simple: be honest with yourself. If something is part of your workflow but you know you will be too lazy to keep it up-to-date, don’t create it in the first place. It will just become another tedious task to complete, or tag to update that will eventually lead to you becoming frustrated with your workflow. As a Notion beginner, it’s so easy to get carried away with all the features in Notion and build systems and dashboards that are clunky and overwhelming. Or worse, it looks and feels like a spreadsheet. I’ve worked with enough people, brands & businesses to know that before adding anything into your Notion workspace, it’s important to ask a) why you need that feature b) will it scale for ‘future you’ c) will you realistically keep it up-to-date. This kind of situation is really hard to escape from, so it’s best to avoid it from the start and make sure that everything you build into your workflow is something that you will be willing and able to maintain.

Not understanding what your workflow is before setting up your workspace.

An architect doesn’t build a house without a blueprint and understanding how the space would be used, so why would you do that with your Notion workspace? Defining what you actually need from your workspace and where it needs to connect is your best chance at avoiding the dreaded [insert gulp] spaghetti workspace (my job is literally untangling these and let’s say it’s not for the faint of heart). It is important to take the time to actually plan out what structure you need for your workspace, as well as what functionality it needs to have to be productive for you. You should also consider the various integrations it can have with other services, as this can be key to make your workspace truly effective.

Speaking of blueprints, I literally have a methodology called The Notion Blueprint which I’ve soft-launched with a few of my clients that’s been a great solid framework for this, I hope to hard launch it as a standalone product and group cohort in the future. Follow along with my newsletter if you’d like to stay updated

What’s the best way to learn Notion?

As a Certified Notion Consultant with a background in building and managing human/digital products and experiences, I personally take a heavy design-thinking approach to all of my projects. 80% of my clients in my coaching calls, workshops & custom builds come to me to ‘makeover’ their workspace i.e. build a seamless Notion experience that is nice to look at and easier to use.

If you’re looking to build a great Notion workspace, you need to approach it like you would approach building a house. Remember the LEGO block analogy? The first thing you need to know about Notion is that it is literally blocks. Learn the blocks, then learn how and when to use each block. There are a ton of YouTube videos/blogs out there — I have a list of resources on my site. Start with a blueprint (empathise with end user(s) and goals), then choose the best blocks/techniques to achieve what you need.

If you’d rather not torture yourself with 1000s of productivity YouTube videos (cough, Notion isn’t a productivity tool, it’s a possibility tool, I’ve literally built a Beyonce template that was loved by Sequoia Capital), and want a more creative approach to learning Notion, driven by design thinking, you’re free to explore my super-popular and affordable MySpace-themed course, ‘#MyNotionSpace’.

Yes millennials, if you remember spending hours customising your profile page on MySpace/Bebo/Tumblr etc. , now you can recreate that joy. After learning advanced Notion tips (including how to make it pretty), you’ll practice your new skills by building your own shareable ‘profile page’ while becoming a Notion wizard. Not only can this double up as a portfolio/resume to give you an edge for your dream job, after completing the course (it’s about 3 hours of videos), you’ll earn a certificate which you can post on your LinkedIn profile/website as a shiny ‘hire-me’ flag. Even if you don’t want to use it for work purposes, you can still make a cute profile page that would probably go viral on TikTok, because you know, ‘Y2K’.

What’s Next?

TLDR: build lean, build intentional. The aim is to be productive so your life isn’t spent doing admin. Go outside, touch some grass!

Remember, you can try Notion here for free with my #NotionPartner link and also see what people are up to in the course

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. 1.3k+ 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. Check what all the fuss is about

Thanks for sticking with me — I can’t wait for you to dive in and start working on your Notion pages.

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