Why I Switched Everything to Notion
I was using 7 different apps: Todoist for tasks, Google Calendar for scheduling, Evernote for notes, Trello for projects, Google Sheets for finances, Habitica for habits, and Bookmarks for reading lists.
Then I moved everything to Notion. Here's my exact setup.
The Dashboard
My Notion workspace has one master dashboard with 6 linked databases:
Dashboard
├── Tasks (GTD-style)
├── Projects (Kanban)
├── Notes (Zettelkasten)
├── Finance Tracker
├── Habit Tracker
├── Content Calendar
└── Reading List
1. Task Management (Replaced: Todoist)
Database Properties
| Property | Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Task | Title | What to do |
| Status | Select | Not Started / In Progress / Done |
| Priority | Select | P1 / P2 / P3 |
| Due Date | Date | Deadline |
| Project | Relation | Link to Projects DB |
| Time Est | Number | Minutes estimated |
Views I Use
- Today — Filter: Due Date = Today, Sort: Priority
- This Week — Filter: Due Date within 7 days
- By Project — Group by Project relation
2. Project Tracker (Replaced: Trello)
Kanban board with columns:
- Backlog → Planning → In Progress → Review → Done
Each project card contains:
- Description and goals
- Linked tasks
- Timeline
- Notes and resources
3. Finance Tracker (Replaced: Google Sheets)
Income Database
| Property | Type |
|---|---|
| Source | Title |
| Amount | Number |
| Date | Date |
| Category | Select (Product/Freelance/Ad) |
| Platform | Select (Boosty/Gumroad/Direct) |
Expense Database
Same structure. Dashboard shows:
- Monthly income vs expenses
- Income by category (pie chart via chart embed)
- Running total
4. Habit Tracker (Replaced: Habitica)
Simple checkbox database:
- Rows = habits (Code, Read, Exercise, Write, Meditate)
- Columns = days of the week
- Weekly review every Sunday
5. Content Calendar (Replaced: Google Calendar for content)
| Property | Type |
|---|---|
| Title | Title |
| Platform | Multi-select (Dev.to, Threads, Telegram) |
| Status | Select (Idea/Draft/Published) |
| Publish Date | Date |
| URL | URL |
| Performance | Number (views/likes) |
6. Reading List (Replaced: Browser Bookmarks)
| Property | Type |
|---|---|
| Title | Title |
| URL | URL |
| Category | Select (Tech/Business/Personal) |
| Status | Select (To Read/Reading/Done) |
| Key Takeaway | Text |
| Rating | Select (1-5 stars) |
My Daily Workflow
Morning (5 min):
1. Open Dashboard
2. Check Today's tasks
3. Review calendar
4. Set top 3 priorities
Evening (5 min):
1. Mark completed tasks
2. Update habit tracker
3. Add any new tasks for tomorrow
4. Quick journal entry
Why This Works Better Than 7 Apps
- Single source of truth — Everything is in one place
- Relations — Tasks link to projects, projects link to goals
- Custom views — Same data, different perspectives
- Templates — New projects auto-populate with standard tasks
- Free — Notion's free tier is incredibly generous
Templates I Created
I packaged my exact Notion setups into products:
- Student Life OS — Academic + personal management
- Developer Productivity OS — Code project tracking + learning
- Freelancer Money OS — Client + finance management
- Personal Finance OS — Budget, investments, goals
Each template is ready to use — just duplicate and start filling in your data.
Getting Started
- Create a free Notion account
- Start with ONE database (I recommend Tasks)
- Use it for 1 week before adding more
- Add databases as you feel the need
- Don't over-engineer — keep it simple
What's your Notion setup? Share your favorite template in the comments!
Follow me: @SwiftUIDaily on Telegram
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