Notion⚓︎
Structure⚓︎
Having a structured life has always been something I've craved and consistently done well under. I have routines that I follow very closely, but also I feel better when my life is organized and planned. When I don't have a routine, it shows, and I don't do well for long without one.
With life being the way it is nowadays with COVID-19, it's become easier and easier to slack on my routines. Also, since the days often seem to blur together, planning and organization more often than not falls by the wayside. This has unfortunately led me to work out less, eat whatever's around and generally lead an unstructured life.
This has also started to creep into my job as well. I was using VS Code to take notes, which worked fine for awhile, but ended up becoming a headache. I was taking the same notes in multiple different files. Some notes would have overlap or different information (same issue, but at different points in time). I had taken a week and a half off, come back, and it took me over a week to figure out where I left off and get some handle on things.
I realized immediately that my current system sucked and needed to change. Probably a year ago, I had looked into Notion, but at the time, just couldn't get into it. I revisited it for one reason or another, but couldn't really wrap my brain around it and didn't want to learn it for one reason or another.
I went looking for similar apps, but came up empty. Some looked promising, but were really expensive. Others were lacking something — either the UI/UX was poor, the functionality was lacking, or it was more than I needed. For better or worse, all roads kept leading me back to Notion.
Organizing⚓︎
The moment I started plugging information into Notion, I was hooked. It felt like a natural extension of myself. It was intuitive, capable, has fantastic UI/UX and felt like such a robust tool. What I didn't realize at the time was how powerful of a tool I was actually using.
It was pretty clear from the start that as familiar and intuitive as Notion felt, I was going to need to do some homework on how to properly utilize it. I began watching a video on how to build a dashboard in Notion and after following the directions and getting one built, I dove head first into building it out.
I had a general idea of what I wanted to track, but once I got into exploring the built-in templates, along with user submitted templates, I saw the potential to use it for much more.
Routines⚓︎
I started tracking my routines with a standard weekly agenda/planner, but found that I'd have to manually go back each week and uncheck everything in order to do it all over again. That was annoying to do, but found that I could build a template and add a blank grid to the template so that all I would need to do is click on the template, and it would insert a new grid automatically.
This was huge for my 3 routines...
- Morning Routine
- Eat breakfast
- Feed Jackson
- Drink water
- Make bed
- Workout
- Meditate
-
Listen to podcast (optional)
-
Nightly Routine
- Eat dinner
- Put Jackson to bed
- Drink water
- Wash dishes
- Turn on dishwasher
- Floss
-
Watch TV / Wind down
-
Exercise Routine
- Back / Biceps
- Chest / Triceps
- Shoulders
- Legs
- Abs / Jump rope
Of course, a lot of that sounds pretty straightforward, like eating and drinking, but having a kid means that your needs come second to theirs. You'd be surprised at how long it takes me some days to actually do either one.
Work Smarter⚓︎
I would need a lot more time to discuss all the nuances of how I use Notion, but I think it's easier to just show what I've done with it over explaining it all.
Dashboard⚓︎
Personal Home⚓︎
Knowledge⚓︎
Grocery List⚓︎
Agenda⚓︎
Morning Routine⚓︎
Night Routine⚓︎
Exercise Routine⚓︎
Conclusion⚓︎
As mentioned, I could really go down the rabbit hole with everything I've done in Notion, but I'd need more time than I have for this post. I know I've only just scratched the surface of all I can do with it, but having my life structured again and tracking it all in such a great app is already life changing.