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 template downloads via Gumroad and Notion Marketplace.

Hello Reader,

How often have you heard Mariah Carrey's voice over the last week?
​
I'm betting it's more than you'd like (unless you're weird like me and love the song...)

The holidays are fast approaching, but that doesn't mean Notion is slowing down. There are a few new releases (and one I forgot about last week) and plenty of videos and articles.

I'm trying something new this week. There are way too many good YouTube videos being released this week. So I've let go of the summary and instead am giving you more links, but I'm putting these in categories so you can jump into the area you're most interested in. Let me know what you think of this format.

There will be one more issue this year (next Monday) and then I'm taking a two-week break with my family.

Let's get to it. Here's what happened during the week of December 9, 2024:

📣 The week's Notion updates

I missed something in the last issue:

• You can now drag and drop tabs so it's easier to see 2 (or more) Notion pages side by side.

And last week, these tiny improvements were announced:

• Rounded checkboxes (in databases, not as a checklist)
• Accessibility around the new colour picker has been improved (now with text explaining the colour)

And a user case/new video:

• ​How Dojo consolidated dozens of tools with Notion for a new way of working (3 minutes)

🎞️ This week's YouTube videos

Out of the box Notion cube

• ​I Hacked Notion Wikis by Sarah Loretta (15 minutes)
• ​Notion Forms: 5 Use Cases For Agencies by Sam at WorkflowLab (16 minutes)
• ​The future of work is... Notion and Airtable? by GAP Consulting (15 minutes)

Templates

• ​The 2025 Notion Planner - How I Organize My Life by Ciara Feely (49 minutes)
• ​This is the ONLY Notion template you need to organize your ENTIRE life in 2025 by Something Organised (3 minutes)
• ​Notion for Cross Stitch Nerds - How I’ve Been Using Notion in 2024 by Frizzy Lizzie Stitches (1h27)
• ​Notion Note Taking Build Tutorial & Free Template by Productive Setups (9 minutes)​

Webhooks

• ​Notion Webhooks Ultimate Guide (+ Use Cases) by Daniel Canosa (8 minutes)
• ​Notion Webhooks Are Here! Full Demo + Real Use Cases with Make by 9x (14 minutes)

Notion AI

• ​The Unusual Project Management System Notion Uses To Build AI by Matthias Frank (18 minutes)

🎙️ Podcasts worth a listen

• ​How Notion Builds iOS and Android Apps by The Pragmatic Engineer (1h20)
• ​AI Evaluation and Testing: How to Know When Your Product Works (or Doesn’t) by The AI Native Dev (49 minutes)

Remember, you can catch all past episodes I've shared via this newsletter on this playlist.

💬 Popular conversations on Reddit

• ​How PARA changed everything with Notion?​
• ​There is a need for a simpler task manager in Notion​
• ​Me everyday since my job started using Notion (funny)
• ​Notion showing multiple currency decimals out of nowhere​ (a bug?)
• ​Notion Recurring Tasks with Apple Reminders Integration🍎​​

📇 Articles published last week

​Not sure what to work on next? This method can help, by Marie-Pier Rochon (yes, me)

Overwhelmed by a long list of things to do? I show you how you can use the Eisenhower matrix and the magic of Notion formulas to help you decide what to work on next. Want the free template without reading all of this? Get it here.​

​How I Made My Weekly To-Do List in Notion More Fun and Less Stressful by Ramesh Reddy (via TechPP)

This is an introduction to Notion (with pros and cons of staying on a free plan) and another illustration of how you can use Notion to help you prioritise your to-do list, à la Eseinhower. A really good step-by-step for beginners.

​Understanding Notion's Core Concepts: Databases, Pages, Blocks & More! by The Organized Notebook

The very basic building blocks of Notion. Understanding the difference between a workspace and a teamspace and how to share pages or databases is really important when you use it to collaborate with other people. This is a beginner introduction to these concepts.

​Notion's secret to hiring teams that build great product? The same rigorous focus on craft saved the company by John Kim (via Paraform)

An interesting take on the hiring practice that Notion uses to choose the best employees to help them grow their product. There's a bit of background on the early rise and fall of Notion and their more recent comeback into a stronger company.

📆 Upcoming events

• I suspect the lack of online events is because we're close to the holidays. Or I'm having a hard time finding them. You can submit yours here.​
• There are A LOT of in-person Notion community events, especially focused on ending 2024 right and setting up your space for 2025. Check out all other events here.