How I Use Notion To Organize My Life
A peak behind the dashboard.
It’s been two years since I posted about downloading Notion so I figured it was time for an update on how I’ve been using the productivity app recently. Interestingly enough, not much has changed. I’ve tweaked and updated my templates over the years, but I’ve found them to still be pretty useful.
Above is a look at the dark mode (Hi, friends with migraines!) version of the Notion home page for Good JuJu Media, LLC. (I’ve removed personal details from this sample.) I use this page as a place to keep all of the things I might need for work at a glance, including my Google Voice number and mailbox number, bios to send anyone who asks, a shareable google drive link to my headshots, etc. I also keep a list of goals for the year on this page.
Elsewhere in this planner, I have pages where I manage my business budget, keep track of ideas I might want to pitch and, also, keep up with the various assignments I might be working on at any given time.
For my Assignments page, I found a freelance template several years ago and tailored it to my specific needs as a writer. (If I remember correctly, the original free template was for freelance photographers.) Here, I keep track of everything regarding my assignments for various clients, including the status of a draft, due date, rate, whether or not I’ve received a SOW/contract, etc. I also added filters where I could see all of my assignments for the year or filter them based on which ones are incomplete, unpaid, unpublished, etc.
Above is a sample of the board I use to manage my home. As I complete a task, I mark the date I completed it and, thanks to a formula I’ve implemented, the task doesn’t come back to the “Need Action” section until it’s time for me to do it again. As someone who has a brain injury, I’ve long struggled with remembering all of the important tasks that I need to do both professionally and personally. This allows me to go on autopilot regarding much of my personal life. (I use it in tandem with written to-do lists and the “snooze” feature on emails. With multiple forms of reminders, I’m less likely to forget something. Karen K. Ho also discusses “planning for forgetfulness” in this excellent doc.)
I’d love to know how y’all use Notion or other similar platforms. I’m always looking for new templates that can help make my life easier!
What I’m Working On
Here’s a look at some of my current permalance gigs:
I’ve been working with Teen Vogue as a part-time “special projects editor” tackling a few larger projects for the brand.
We have about 10 episodes left in the first season of The Boom, the weekly film/TV podcast I host for WABE. You can stream the season so far here! I highly recommend the recent two-part series we did about the history of segregated theaters in Atlanta and the local premiere of ‘Gone With the Wind.’
As many of you know, I was a staff writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution before I went freelance seven years ago. Moving forward, you’ll see my contributor byline in the publication regularly.
Current Favs.
Organized Noize producer Rico Wade gave Atlanta its voice and amplified it with a capital ‘A’ by Maurice Garland for Andscape
I think the death of Rico Wade has hit me so hard because of what he and the Dungeon Family have taught me as a southwest Atlanta native about having an immense pride in the people, places and sounds that mold you. Through music, they reinforced my love for my neighborhood, while also reminding me that critiquing something you love is an act of care.
Similar to how DJ Kool Herc’s electrical innovation birthed hip-hop in the Bronx, Wade literally molded a sound from Southwest Atlanta, Georgia’s red clay, converting a crawlspace in his mother’s unfinished basement into a studio affectionately known as “The Dungeon” that became the headquarters for the larger Dungeon Family collective that included Parental Advisory, Outkast, Goodie Mob, Big Rube, Witchdoctor, Cool Breeze, Backbone, Joi Gilliam and second generation progeny Killer Mike, Future, Bubba Sparxxx and others.
Meet James “Mr. V” Virgil, the disco legend who sells kitchen gear to chefs and designers by Christiane Lauterbach for Atlanta magazine
Speaking of my love for the southwest Atlanta…my family has told me so many stories about Mr. V’s Figure 8 so I loved reading about what he’s up to now!
For almost 10 years, the likes of Muhammad Ali, Andrew Young, Tina Turner, Lionel Richie, and Eddie Murphy hung out in a joint billed as classy and with a stringent dress code, as pictures and videos from the ’70s and ’80s attest. Limos fetched celebrities at the airport, and parties went on through the night.
Beyonce - “II Hands II Heaven,” still.
Every time Beyonce sings about loving that man, she makes a masterpiece. It’s wild. (Exceptions: “Halo” and “Rather Die Young,” I’m so sorry.)
O.J.: Made in America
I know Hulu’s streaming numbers for this documentary have been through the roof this past week. ‘OJ: Made in America’ remains one of my favorite documentaries ever so OJ’s death made revisiting it inevitable. It’s exactly the type of documentary work I hope to be involved in someday.
Revisiting the documentary while covering the YSL case has also been interesting when I think about how the jury was selected and how the trial length was considered a hardship for many prospective jurors. Reflecting on how jurors reached a verdict in one morning, following more than eight months of testimony, one juror shrugged and said “We had to go home. That’s all I got to say. We’d been gone a year.” (Note: Jurors were sequestered in this case.)
YSL Corner
I’m sorry, y’all. I’m SLAMMED with assignments this week, including one about this case. So, I’m going to skip updates this week. Promise a longer update (AND story!) is coming soon.
I will, however, leave y’all with another awkward moment between the judge and attorneys in this case.
And, some X updates to hold y’all over.
Quavo was in court earlier this week, per our court friend Sylvia!
Here’s live tweets from me regarding testimony from Dexter Montgomery Jr., who was shot in the head in 2015. Walter Murphy and Demis McMullen were previously convicted of the charges below in relation to this crime, as well as participation in criminal street gang activity. Murphy, who accepted a plea deal in this current case, testified last week. More on his testimony soon.
make ur notion into a template and sell it! or pls share the need action formula with me LMAO