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Hey friend!

Do you ever feel overwhelmed trying to build systems in Notion? With so many options and flexibility, it can be hard to know where to start.

I’ve been there. When I first started with Notion, I agonized over every tiny detail. I wasted hours tweaking and perfecting each page. But my setups always wound up half-finished and janky. Not a good look.

But after plenty of trial and error, I’ve honed my Notion construction process. Now I can whip up efficient, effective workspaces in minutes.

Want to level up your build skills too?

Here is my 7 step blueprint to building ANY Notion system in <1 hour:

I always begin by laying out the core page structure using callout boxes. This gives me a blank canvas to build on.

I typically have a smaller left column for navigation and menus.

Then a larger area on the right for my main content.

PRO TIP: Add quick access buttons to the top of your pages. This lets you easily navigate back to your hub or home page.

Next, I construct my primary database with a master “system” view. This houses ALL the key properties I’ll need to reference later.

I try to include every field I might possibly want upfront. It’s so much easier to build your views and relations when you do this part in the beginning.

PRO TIP: Use the side panel to edit your properties and database layout, it is SO much faster than clicking through each one.

With my database built, I make any necessary page templates within it. For example, individual record pages for each database item.

The templates allow me to quickly turn database items into pages with a consistent format.

PRO TIP: Add a “Back to Hub” button at the top of each page template that allows you to quickly navigate back to the home page. You’ll see why in a minute…

Now it’s time to create my workflow views within the database. These are specific, sequential views tailored to each process.

For instance, my content workflow has plan, draft, write, edit, multiply, and schedule views.

PRO TIP: Build your views within the master database (not your linked database views) so that you can easily select the views you want when you DO create a linked view (and again…you’ll see why in a moment!).

I repeat this process for additional databases and pages as needed.

Then set up any relationships between them to connect my systems.

PRO TIP(s): Turn databases into full pages (not inline databases) and put them in a single "Databases" page in your workspace. While Notion recently patched the issue where deleted inline databases wouldn't go to the trash (yay!) it's still useful to do it this way. It makes it easier to find databases and make changes to them as you need to.

Finally, I build one main dashboard with simplified database views for quick reference. These highlight key info but don’t provide in-depth workflows.

My dashboard currently has views for my meetings, tasks, and content as an overview.

But then I build individual pages for specific workflows that allow me to drill deeper. Which brings me to…

Complement your dashboards with pages for each process. Use the same format but with detailed database views for that specific workflow.

For example, my Content Hub has robust, sequential database views that take me from ideation to delivery seamlessly.

These views are perfectly tailored to my content creation process.

But building them into my main dashboard would be SUPER overwhelming. Because I also have multiple sequential views for my other workflows.

So building these individual workflow pages (e.g. Content, Clients, Projects, etc.) allows me to have specific views for each of them without cluttering up my dashboard.

The reason I do things this way is simple:

It helps me build FAST and FUNCTIONAL.

I've been using Notion for 4+ years at this point and I routinely have clients remark on how quickly I'm able to whip complex systems together.

That's because I have a system that helps me build like a pro.

Not only that, but it keeps my Notion setup uniform.

It takes the thinking out of the process and allows me to focus on what matters: Creating a functional workflow.

You can cultivate this skill too.

You don't have to be a pro to build well in Notion.

Plus..if you stay tuned for NEXT week’s issue I’ll show you all of my lightning fast hacks for how I build beautiful and aesthetic Notion setups quickly.

(Without using tons of images, fancy icons, or widgets)

Trust me my friend, when you learn to build simply and quickly like this Notion’s flexibility becomes an amazing asset instead of a hindrance.