I've been using Notion for 3 years. Tried dozens of setups. Most were overcomplicated garbage.
Here are the 5 that actually stick.
1. Project Tracker
What it does: One place for all your projects.
Structure:
Database Properties:
- Project Name (Title)
- Status (Select: Planning, In Progress, Paused, Completed, Archived)
- Priority (Select: P0, P1, P2, P3)
- Type (Select: Work, Personal, Learning, Open Source)
- Start Date (Date)
- Deadline (Date)
- GitHub Repo (URL)
- Notes (Text)
Views I use:
- Active — Status is "In Progress", sorted by Priority
- This Week — Deadline within 7 days
- By Type — Grouped by project type
Why it works: You can see everything at a glance. No more "what was I working on?"
2. Code Snippets Library
What it does: Searchable database of code you've written or found.
Structure:
Database Properties:
- Title (Title) — descriptive name
- Language (Select: Swift, Python, JS, etc.)
- Category (Multi-select: Networking, UI, Utils, etc.)
- Tags (Multi-select)
- Source (URL) — where you found it
- Notes (Text)
Why it works: Stop googling the same things. Your past self already solved this.
3. Learning Dashboard
What it does: Track courses, tutorials, books.
Structure:
Database Properties:
- Resource (Title)
- Type (Select: Course, Book, Tutorial, Video)
- Topic (Multi-select: iOS, Web, DevOps, etc.)
- Status (Select: Want to Learn, In Progress, Completed)
- Platform (Select: Udemy, YouTube, etc.)
- Rating (Number 1-5)
- Progress (Number %)
Pro tip: Add a "Key Takeaways" section to each completed resource. Future you will thank you.
4. Bug Tracker (with Solutions)
What it does: Document bugs and how you fixed them.
Why it works: You WILL encounter the same bug again. Or someone on your team will. This saves hours.
5. Interview Prep
What it does: Organize your job search.
Track companies, application status, and practice questions all in one place.
Bonus: How to Connect Them
The magic is in Relations:
- Bug Tracker → Project (see all bugs per project)
- Code Snippets → Project (project-specific code)
- Learning → Project (what I learned for this project)
Everything links back to Projects. One source of truth.
Ready-Made Templates
Don't want to build these yourself? I've packaged two complete systems:
- Student Life OS — For students juggling classes, assignments, and life
- Developer Productivity OS — Everything in this article, pre-built
What's Your Setup?
Drop your Notion structure in the comments. Always looking for new ideas.
Follow me for more productivity content:
- Twitter: @peasee163
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