Thanks to its innovative approach, rich template library, robust database features, third-party app integrations, project management tools, and methods for seamless collaboration, Notion is undoubtedly one of the most popular all-in-one productivity tools out there. We've covered it briefly in our list of top 10 productivity apps.

Its user experience design, which utilizes the slash (/) command method, may take some time to fully appreciate, so we'll cover that here. Whether you are a new Notion user or an existing one, check out the top tricks below to get the most out of it.

10 Find third-party Notion templates

Eye-popping templates collection

Creating a Notion page from scratch on your laptop can be time-consuming. Here is where templates come into play. Notion has a robust template selection; furthermore, your choice isn’t even just limited to the company's templates.

Notion offers a dedicated templates library where you can find top templates created by other users. It houses over 10,000 templates to help you get started. Alternatively, you can purchase some highly rated templates from online marketplaces like Gumroad, too. It’s all about your preferences and what you have in mind for its use case. Before you start designing a Notion page, make sure to run a quick search in the templates library to save yourself some time.

9 Open a page in side peek or a new tab

Switch between Notion pages in no time

This is a neat productivity hack from Notion. Instead of switching between relevant Notion pages, you can simply open a page using the side peek or create a new tab if you prefer.

Click the three-dot menu beside a page and select Open in side peek. A new Notion page opens on the right side of your existing page. Even better, you can press the cmd + T or Ctrl + T keys to open a new tab and fire up the Notion pages of your choice. Then you'll be able to use keyboard shortcuts like cmd/Ctrl + 1, 2, 3… to switch between those opened tabs in seconds.

8 Utilize databases

Dozens of property types to help you easily create a database

Notion lets you create effective databases for different purposes. Just type /database and pick a relevant style (Inline, Full page, Table, Board, Gallery, or List view). Once you create it, select a column and change the property type to number, select, status, date, person, file, checkbox, URL, formula, or otherwise.

For example, if you want to create a subscription or budget tracker, tweak a column property to Formula in order to calculate your expenses and monthly subscription charges. The possibilities are endless here.

7 Set reminders

Use Notion as a to-do app

You can create reminders for your important tasks in Notion. However, it’s not as straightforward as other task management apps.

1. Use the /To-Do list command to add tasks, hit space, and type @. Select Remind Tomorrow.
2. By default, Notion adds an alert for 9 AM tomorrow.
3. You can then click on it to change date, time, timezone, or other details.

Adding reminders is unnecessarily difficult in Notion, so I hope the company simplifies the experience in future updates.

6 Utilize Notion AI

AI everywhere

Like other productivity apps, Notion also boarded the AI train to offer a bunch of AI features. Type /AI and glance over the bunch of AI add-ons in Notion.

You can translate a page, or change its content tone to Casual, Professional, Confident, or Friendly. You can ask AI to summarize a post, draft a blog post or email, improve the writing quality, fix grammatical errors, trim or extend the content, and a lot more. It’s still a bit hit-or-miss though. When using AI, I do recommend proofreading it before sharing a Notion page with others.

5 Create synced blocks

Keep your edits synced across Notion pages

As the name suggests, you can create synced blocks to sync content across pages. You can turn any content into a synced block and share it across relevant pages. When you or your team member edit the block, Notion makes those changes live across all pages.

1. Click the six-dot menu beside any block and select Turn into > Synced block.
2. Click the same menu to copy link to the block.
3. Then you can navigate to a relevant page and paste your synced block. Select Paste and sync to insert your synced block.

4 Build buttons

Set up automation

You can automate certain tasks in Notion using Buttons. Create buttons for your small routine tasks and automate your workflow in seconds. Let’s understand it with an example.

I created a habit tracker in Notion with routines like Running, 8hrs of sleep, Meditation, and Journaling. Instead of checking off every item, create buttons for each task.

1. Type /Button and hit Enter.
2. Enter the button name, assign an icon, and select Add action.
3. You can insert blocks, add a page, edit a specific page, open a page, or show confirmation when a button is clicked.
4. You can even add specific rules and several conditions for a button.
5. Check the screenshot below, where I have shown a button for checking off a habit for a specific day.

Again, the possibilities are endless here. Habit tracking is not just for those new year's resolutions anymore. It is so simple that you can start making changes any time!

3 Import data from other apps

Track everything in a single app

Notion aims to replace your note-taking, project management, word processing, and other software solutions. It offers a robust import tool to import data from existing apps, if you want to take this ecosystem seriously.

1. Launch Notion and go to Settings & members.
2. Scroll to Import.
3. Glance over supported apps.
4. Select an app, give Notion the required authorization, and follow the on-screen instructions to import the data.

2 Publish a static website of a page

Make your Notion page live

You can turn any personal Notion page into a public page and create a functional website with links. I have seen many Notion users sharing their resumes, portfolios, and even blogs using the trick below.

1. Create a Notion page that you want to publish.
2. Select Share at the top. Slide to Publish and click the same.
3. Once your page is published, you can adjust numerous aspects such as link expiration, search engine indexing, permission for edits or comments, or permission to duplicate it as a template.

Now all you need to do is copy the web link and share it with others!

1 Insert Notion widgets

The cherry on top

Notion doesn’t support widgets natively. However, that hasn’t stopped third-party developers from creating fully functional widgets for your pages. You can head to sources like Indify or Apption to insert useful widgets like Weather, Clock, Pomodoro, Google Calendar, Counter, Life Progress Bar, and more.

Let’s add a weather widget as an example.

1. Head to Indify and create a new account. Select the Weather widget.
2. Edit the widget using its many available options.
3. Copy the widget link.
4. Open a Notion page and type /Embed. Paste your widget link, and voilà!
5. Your weather widget is now live on your Notion page.

Similarly, you can insert other Notion widgets to decorate your page.

Create a personal Wiki and manage workflow in style

Whether you want to track subscriptions, budgets, complex projects, meeting notes, marketing campaigns, or create a social media calendar, Notion can be your go-to solution to manage everything from one single interface. If you want to explore more such apps that can improve your workflow and collaboration, check our dedicated guide to find the best productivity apps for Mac.