Who's this? You are receiving this newsletter from me because you signed up for the newsletter a while back or you bought a template from me, your friendly Systems Wizard. This includes free downloads via Gumroad.

Hello Reader,

A few weeks ago, I was overseas and didn't turn on my computer for almost 3 weeks. When I finally managed to get over the jetlag and check my Slack messages and all the new Notion updates, I was overwhelmed. So much happened while my laptop had a little break.

One of the things I like the most about Notion is that they release many small new updates instead of major ones where tiny details might be missed. On the flip side, these continuous updates can also make the tool harder to understand and use to its full potential because it changes ALL. THE. TIME.

Keeping up with all the new features can be overwhelming, confusing and exhausting.

I want to make this a little bit simpler for you.

This means the newsletter's format is changing. Instead of an in-depth look at how I'm building and using my Notion system, I'm curating the most relevant information I can find about Notion for you.

Every Monday you'll get a digest of last week's Notion updates, a summary of some newly released YouTube videos, links to podcats, blog posts and popular conversations on Reddit as well as upcoming events. My goal is to give you useful links about what's happening in the world of Notion.

Let's dive into what happened during the week of October 7, 2024:

The week's Notion updates

Last week Notion made the following announcement:

• They released a desktop app for Windows users. You can download it here.
• Improvements to Notion Calendar now allow you to use a single link to show when you're free across multiple calendars, book meetings with more than one person and reschedule or cancel the meeting.

This week's YouTube videos

​15 New Notion Updates in 15 Minutes (that you probably missed), Matthias Frank

This is a great recap of a crazy amount of small updates. In this video, Matthias shows updates to buttons, callouts, automation, commenting, and a lot examples of all the new possibilities with Notion AI.

​This New Notion Hack Will Change How You Work In Notion, Landmark Labs

Gerrard Lipscombe, founder of Landmark Labs, shows us how he uses Notion's AI to write customer service responses, SEO articles or a new LinkedIn post. He sets up pages ahead of time that contain the basic information you need to make Notion's AI do the heavy lifting. This means you need to set up instructions (the prompts) and related information (like keywords, background information, etc.) Then, each time you create a new piece of content, you only need to add a specific input and Notion does the rest *magically*.

​90 Days to Change Your Life: How I'm Finishing the Year with the 12 Week Year (+ Notion template), Anna Lenkovska

This is a Notion-in-practice video. Anna uses the 12-week-year principles to show us how she uses her Notion template to make it all come together. About two-thirds of the video are live demos focusing on the 12-week-year principles. I didn't see many new(ish) Notion features, but it's a good way to see how you might use Notion for goal setting.

​THAT STUDENT'S GUIDE to staying ORGANIZED & PRODUCTIVE for school, Serena

Another Notion in action video, this time, a student showing how she plans her studies with Notion and Google Calendar (no, not Notion Calendar). A super useful tip from this video: put the location of your classes (or meetings) in the title of the event. This is important for university campuses where each building and classroom has a special code. It needs to be more specific than simply adding a building address in the usual "location" field of an event which is the default option in Google Calendar.

​The simplest Notion setup (with ZERO databases!), Productive Set-Up

Short video. Full of Gen Z lingo, memes and a bit sweary. But in less than 4 minutes, you get a good idea of a simple Notion set-up. However, you do end up using a database (Calendar view). But the tip to change the icon of the page to represent the status is one I hadn't seen yet and that makes sense if you don't want to add any properties beyond a title and a date to your tasks.

Podcasts worth a listen

• ​How Notion can help you with productivity, The Effective Statistician
• ​Notion method: How to do more with less (with Randy Hunt, Head of Design at Notion), Growthmates (also available to watch on YouTube)

Blog posts published last week

• ​Notion AI Review: Here’s Why It’s Worth Your Time and Money by Hampton Unate
• ​OneNote vs Notion: Which App is Best for Your Note Taking in 2024? by Stefan J.
• ​Mastering UX Project Management with Notion: Build a Streamlined System by Khan
• ​Notion for Portfolio Design: 3 Reasons Why It Works for Me! by Kyle Venberg
• ​Ranting & Real Talk: The Journey of a Notion Creator by Affouet Emma (behind paywall)

Interesting conversations on Reddit

• ​What's the one thing that you wished Notion did better?​
• ​Why are Notion developers ignoring all the questions/requests for font size options for years?​
• ​Best Notion-like offline Alternative?​
• ​Everyone shares the cool things they make in Notion, but what are some things you tried to make but ended up messing it up?​
• ​Why do you pay for Notion?​

Upcoming events

• ​Meet the new Notion AI, by Notion, October 16, 10 am PDT (free, online)
• ​How to Build Purpose-Driven Notion Workspaces by Workcraft Labs, October 22, 1 pm EST (free, online)
• ​Make with Notion, October 24, San Francisco (in-person conference is sold out, free virtual sessions still open for registration)
• All other Notion community events are listed here​