Getting Started With Notion: A Beginner's Guide

 

Notion is versatile and powerful software that helps you stay productive and on top of your work or studies.

While Notion can be a bit confusing when you are first starting out, I am here to help you navigate the depths of Notion with ease and efficiency, while ensuring that your workspace remains aesthetic and organized.

What makes Notion my number one app is its integration of various productivity tools into a single platform. It combines note-taking, task and database management, and collaboration features.

Notion allows you to create and customize templates for different types of content, such as notes, project plans, to-do lists, and more. It also offers extensive database features, enabling you to create boards, lists, calendars, and galleries. These can be used to track tasks, manage projects, organize information, and more.

With Notion, you can integrate various other tools like Google Drive, Trello, Zoom, etc. Additionally, you can link documents, pictures, videos, and cute widgets from different websites to make your pages more aesthetic.

Creating an account

The sign-up process is rather easy and quick. So let's go through it together.

1. Go to notion, and click connection;

2. Enter your email and hit "continue";

3. Enter the password Notion sent to your email (the password is usually a mix of letters with a dash "-" between every 3 to 4 letters, you have to copy it as it is);

4. Start adding your information to complete your profile; 

5. Pick what you want to use your Notion account for (Work, School, Personal);

6. Choose some fields of interest to help Notion create the perfect starting pages for you and click "continue";

7. You'll be met with the "GET STARTED" page in your workspace, and additional pages, each in relation to the fields of interest you picked in the previous step.

Setting up your first page

Now, setting up your first page is just as easy as creating your account. You just need to click on the tiny plus in the sidebar to open a new page, and then you are good to go.

Once a new page is opened, you can launch your creativity and pick and choose how you want your page to look, from fonts to cover pictures.

Let's check some of these features:

1. The Cover:

With this feature, you can pick from never-ending covers that you can find either in the Gallery provided by Notion itself, Unsplash, or you can upload your preferred pictures from your laptop.

2.  The Icon:

Similar to the cover, Notion provides you with an endless number of emojis and icons that you can pick from for your page. You can also upload your own pictures if you prefer something that is not available on the database.

3. Fonts & Sizes:

This is one of my most used features. This one allows you to change between 3 fonts: Default, Serif, and Mono. Also, the size of your text, whether you want it small or big, as well, as the width of the text (if you want the text to be in the middle of the page or taking the entirety of it) along with many other features.

And now, you can finally give your page whatever title you desire depending on what you are using it for, and let yourself be creative filling it up.

Understanding the Block System

The next thing you need to get familiar with to use Notion comfortably is the block system.

In Notion, everything you create is considered a "block". Blocks are building units of Notion pages and can vary from texts to embedded files. This allows for customizable content creation.

To pick a block you would like to use, you can simply type the "/" symbol in the space on your page where you want to add the block, which will bring up the block menu;

Now Notion offers various blocks divided into categories, each serving a different purpose. Let's go over some of these categories:

Basic Blocks:

These include the following

• Text
• Headings (3 different sizes)
• Lists (Bulleted, Numbered, To-do, Toggle)
• Page
• Callout
• Quote
• Divider
• Link to page (this allows you to link an existing page to another one)

Media:

This category allows you to upload as much media files as you want in all of your Notion pages 

• Image
• Video
• Audio
• Code
• File 
• Web bookmark

Databases:

Databases are my favorite to use. They allow you to store, track, and add media, text, and many more in a single view.

• Views (Table, Board, Gallery, List, Calender, Timeline)
• Charts (Vertical bar, Horizontal bar, Line, Donut)

There are also advanced blocks, such as; table of contents, block equation, and columns.

One of the most important categories available is:

Embeds:

These allow you to embed multiple files from other platforms like:

• Google Drive
• Github
• Google Maps
• Trello Asana
• Zoom 

and many more that you can discover once you get started.

With Notion's versatile block system, you can choose from multiple blocks and customize them to suit your taste and preference. 

Whether it's organizing tasks with to-do lists, arranging ideas in tables, structuring information with headings and text blocks, or embedding multiple files like images and documents, Notion is the one for you. 

This flexibility provided by Notion ensures all your data and content are neatly organized and easily accessible, enhancing the visual appeal of your pages. Whether you're creating a personal journal, managing a project, or collaborating with a team, mastering Notion's block system is your stepping stone to crafting dynamic and efficient workflows.