7 Notion Productivity Tips You May Not Know

Whether you're managing a project, taking notes, or organizing your life in Notion, productivity tips are always a welcome addition to your workflow. Notion is powerful, but these little-known tips will take your productivity to the next level.

1. Learn how to use commands

In Notion, you can quickly add content to a page using a command. To do so, press the / (forward slash) key on your keyboard followed by the type of content you want to add. This is faster than pressing the plus icon next to a block and searching for content.

The command will look like this:

/[content_to_add]

In the above syntax, content_to_add can be Text , Page , Heading , To-do list , Image , Video and Tweet . So if you want to add a second level heading to your content, type the following and press Enter :

/heading 2

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Simply pressing / will list all the content you can insert, allowing you to choose the one you want.

2. Formatting with Markdown

Many note-taking apps use Markdown for formatting, and Notion is one of them. Markdown can be faster in some cases, especially when you need to quickly format text without taking your hands off the keyboard. Markdown syntax appears in the text area in Notion as you type, allowing you to see the results immediately.

3. Use templates for repetitive tasks

Notion has an impressive library of free templates, from meeting notes and project plans to daily journals and vacation plans. Not only do they save you time and effort, but they also ensure consistency in everything you create.

To use templates in Notion, click Templates in the left sidebar — you'll have to scroll down to the bottom.

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Click inside the search bar in the upper right corner, type in the type of template you are looking for, and press Enter . You can click Preview to see if the template has everything you need. Then, go back to the previous page and click Add .

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You can find this template in the list of pages on the left sidebar once it's created, ready to edit.

4. Filter tasks using linked database

Linked databases allow you to create different views of the same task across multiple pages, making it easy to focus on specific priorities or projects without duplicating information.

Let's say you're part of a wedding planning team and just want to see your tasks. Instead of filtering the database directly, you can create a separate page and add the linked database.

To add a linked database to a page, type /linked and press Enter to display a list of Notion databases in the workspace. Select the database that has the tasks you want to filter.

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Then filter the database based on who the task is assigned to, which is you in this case. You will then see a filtered database showing only your tasks. You can apply as many filters and views as you want.

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5. Sync Google Calendars

Notion has a handy calendar that you can use to create, schedule, and organize all your tasks and events in your workspace. It also lets you sync your Google Calendars so you can manage it all with Notion.

To connect Google Calendars to Notion Calendar, scroll to the bottom of the left sidebar in Notion and click Calendar . This will open a separate browser window where you'll need to sign in to Notion Calendar with your Google account. Then, click Add calendar account in the left sidebar.

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In the Calendar accounts section , click Connect .

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Follow the steps to sign in to your Google account with the calendar you want to connect to Notion. You'll then see all the calendars you've added in the left sidebar.

6. Use Web Clipper

You can save web pages, articles, and other online content directly to your Notion workspace with the Notion Web Clipper. It's a quick way to organize all your research, inspiration, and references in one place without having to manually copy and paste. You can install the extension from the Notion Web Clipper download page — it's available for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.

To save a web page, click the Notion Web Clipper icon on the toolbar, select the workspace and page you want to send the content to, then click Save page .

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7. Extend functionality with integrated applications

Notion can connect with a number of apps to extend its functionality. This can streamline and enhance productivity by allowing you to create different workflows using your existing tools.

This article will demonstrate this by showing you how to create an automation between Notion and Slack. Let's say you want Notion to send a Slack notification whenever someone changes something in the project database. That way, people don't have to manually notify each other.

To do this, click on your Notion workspace name in the top left corner and select Settings in the pop-up window.

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Select My connections in the left sidebar to see the list of integrations and click Connect in the Slack card .

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From there, follow the in-browser instructions to connect Notion to your Slack workspace.

To create an automation, click the three dots icon in the top right corner of the database and select Automation from the menu.

This will give you a pop-up window with everything you need to create the automation.

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In the When section , click New Trigger and select an event (for example, Any property edited or Page added ). In the Do section , click New action and select Send Slack Notification to from the menu.

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In the Do section , click the Select Slack channel drop-down menu in the action you created and choose a Slack channel from the list—this is where the notification will appear. Then, click Create to finish setting up the automation.

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Now, when someone edits a property or adds a page to the database, a notification will be sent to Slack.​

There are many great tips for increasing productivity in Notion, but these are the most effective tips you can use. With these tips, you will be one step closer to becoming a Notion power user. They will help you get more done in the long run, especially if you have a long list of tasks to manage in Notion.

Samuel Daniel

Update 27 December 2024