hey mindy mindy its me again (after that chaotic love poem lmaolmao) mwah mwah
can u do like a notion guide post ?? like what would be helpful to add and also how you set yours up?? that would be so so helpful ilyily have the best day and sleep tight mwah mwah kiss kiss
love xoxo,
emily
omg hi again!! (the love poem chaos was iconic btw, never apologize for that) you truly are my biggest fan (and i'm yours <3)
✧・゜: my notion setup: organized chaos but make it cute :・゜✧:・゜✧
so you asked about my notion setup and i'm soo excited to share because i've gone through approximately 500 iterations before finding what actually works for me! and by "works" i mean i've stuck with it for more than 3 weeks which is honestly a personal record.
the thing with notion is that it's so customizable it can be overwhelming?? like, i spent more time watching "perfect aesthetic notion tour" videos than actually using the app for the first month. classic me behavior.
⋆.ೃ࿔:･ getting started (without spiraling) ･:࿔ೃ.⋆
first things first - don't try to set up your entire life system at once! i made this mistake and abandoned notion for 2 months because it felt too overwhelming.
start with ONE area that's currently chaotic in your life. for me it was school assignments because i kept forgetting deadlines until 11pm the night before (and then panicking while eating peanut butter straight from the jar… not recommended).
my biggest tip is to not get caught up in making it pretty right away. i know that's like, counterintuitive coming from me, but functionality first, then we make it cute!
⋆.ೃ࿔:･ my actual setup ･:࿔ೃ.⋆
homepage: i have a super simple homepage with links to my main dashboards (school, blog, personal) and a little daily quote that changes. also a tiny photo of my cat judging me for motivation.
school dashboard: this is my most used section! i have a calendar view of assignments, a database of all my classes with linked notes, and reading tracker. the best part is the assignment database where i can filter by due date and subject.
blog dashboard: where i keep all my post ideas (like this one!), content calendar, and stats tracking. i also have a section for brands i want to work with someday (manifesting!).
personal dashboard: this has my habit tracker, journal prompts, and goals. i also keep recipes here because i was tired of screenshots getting lost in my camera roll.
reading nook: where i track books i've read/want to read with little ratings and notes. sometimes i write embarrassingly emotional reactions to plot twists that no one else will ever see.
⋆.ೃ࿔:･ the actually helpful stuff ･:࿔ೃ.⋆
okay so beyond the basic setup, here are things that have made notion actually useful for me:
templates!! i have templates for everything - blog posts, class notes, weekly planning. it saves so much time not starting from scratch.
linked databases are literally magic. i can have the same information show up in different places filtered different ways. like my assignments appear on my homepage as "due this week" but in my school dashboard i can see everything.
embeds are underrated. i embed my spotify playlists, google calendar, and pinterest boards so everything's in one place.
toggle lists for anything lengthy. they keep things looking clean but you can expand when needed.
color coding that actually means something. i used to just pick pretty colors but now each color has a purpose (red = urgent, blue = school, pink = blog, etc).
⋆.ೃ࿔:･ making it pretty (because we still care) ･:࿔ೃ.⋆
once the functionality is working, THEN we make it cute:
i use a consistent color palette across all pages (mostly soft pinks, lavender, and sage green)
custom icons for each page (there are free packs online or you can use emojis)
cover images that are cohesive (i use pinterest)
font consistency! i stick with the same headings and text styles
little decorative dividers between sections (just search "aesthetic dividers" and you'll find tons)
⋆.ೃ࿔:･ my honest thoughts ･:࿔ೃ.⋆
the truth is my notion isn't instagram-perfect all the time. some sections get messy when life gets busy, and that's fine! the beauty of it is you can always clean it up later.
the pages i actually use daily are pretty simple. it's the ones i rarely visit that look the most aesthetic (because they're not battle-tested with real life, lol).
start simple, find what actually helps you, and then make it pretty enough that you want to use it. that's the real secret!
let me know if you want more specific details about any part of my setup! i could literally talk about this forever (as you can probably tell from this novel of a response).
sending you the most organized vibes! hope this helps!!
p.s. sleep tight to you too! currently writing this at 1am because i have no concept of proper sleep schedules
