Notion Quick Entry Notes & Tasks (Viewer Q&A)

[@Enacaus]

Remember everytime this guy takes his glasses off, he is about to drop some bombs of knowledge

[@augustbradley]

Ha! it's just because looking at the close screen I need reading glasses and looking at the camera further away (at you) I can't use the readers. But I like your explanation better!

[@afinafina]

I'm in the middle of watching your entire playlist for Notion Learning and I'd like to take the time to thank you so much for all your work. I am very quick to solve things i need to do, but I am terribly unable to structure and organize my life. The latter all but negates the first one and working alongside you in this series has already been an inspiration, motivation and blessing. Again, thank you very much!

[@augustbradley]

Thanks Andrei! Awesome to hear all this is helpful. Lots more to come, working on some cool new things for the channel and the community growing around it. Glad you've joined us.

[@g-ann3527]

Timestamps Index 0:00 Intro 1:53 Relative Importance 5:45 Optimizing Notion for Quick Entry 15:53 Faster Lightning Entry

[@L.auraShining5891]

5:45 => Totally!

[@mi_jan]

I use Notion for EVERYTHING except for my todo list. As someone with ADHD, my main problem isn't really the speed / couple extra seconds it takes to add a todo item in notion, but having to move from the Design Software I use for work to Notion just to add an entry. That process of switching over to a different app makes me loose focus in my work, where as with Things 3, I can simply press (option+spacebar) to add an entry without leaving my design software. I can also ask Siri to add entries from any device, including my apple home pod as I'm getting ready in the mornings, as I'm driving, etc... without the need of having a device in my hand. Trust me, I wish I could exclusively use notion for all my productivity/organization needs. I have tested it over and over again, and I actually have a TODO database in place within notion. have tested several configurations including David Allens GTD system, and many methods I've found from notion youtube Pro's and nothing has been able to fit my needs. The system is all there but I don't really use it, the only reason I still have it is because I'm hopeful that one day I'll discover a way to add quick entries with a shortcut and Siri without having to lose sight of the window that I'm currently working in.

[@outlandertravel]

You had me at "it's really not that slow." I agree... hate inboxes and that extra step! I'm on board!

[@augustbradley]

Exactly, right?! Though apparently it has been worse on Android than iPhone, and I have never tried it on Android so don't know about that. But as for the entry protocol, do it right and be done with it :)

[@ThomasFaller]

I love the subtle "And soon there will be a Notion API..." hint strategically placed in each video with a little smile :)

[@ebertmahon8939]

There are no problems, only multiple solutions......loving this more and more.

[@UMCPB]

Just wanted to thank you for wrecking my vacation :-). I recently started with Notion and I listened to a presentation you did about ROAM on Keep Productive. I was enamored with your information as I write a sermon every week and am doing research for a D.Min Project so I decided to go more deeply into your content. I am a United Methodist (emphasis on the Methodist part) so I am absolutely enjoying everything you are offering.

[@augustbradley]

Ha! Happy to intervene Pastor Tim! Welcome to this very productive rabbit hole 🙂. This system and approach would be very well suited for the work you do. Very happy you have joined us! Lots more to come.

[@zapy422]

Thank you for this. Is there a link to the "New button"? So that you directly go to the entry page?

[@anthonyfoister23]

The rub for quick entry for me has been the Android app. Notion is working on a better response for the Android app and I can't wait for that day to come! Now, when I start the Notion Android app- most of the time the opening icon screen hangs and I have to manually kill and restart the app. Then usually it will work fine. No problems using Notion on the web- but I need mobile to be consistent and quicker. Anyway- great videos. Keep up the great work!

[@augustbradley]

Ah, interesting. I did not realize the Android app is lacking in comparison to the iPhone app. That's super frustrating, and I have to believe it's something they're working hard to remedy. I hear you on that. Thanks for sharing this info, good to have that noted in this thread here. And thanks for the feedback on the channel!

[@nilsgruson3305]

Yep, the culprit is the Android app. Same wifi as my laptop. Not much of a problem now since we're home anyway. Great Notion fan nonetheless and thank you August for your elaborate video's!

[@anthonyfoister23]

The latest update has helped I believe! It has opened quickly the last 5 times I've used it on mobile. Now if it will only keep responding like that...

[@augustbradley]

@@anthonyfoister23: Very good to hear of that progress. The Android app must perform well, it's essential and I know they have been working on it.

[@karinamack]

Super helpful. This has been one major question for me so far in your series - thanks so much. I agree re the overall inefficiency of the inbox. It's adding another layer of decisions, and I'd prefer to make the decision once - do it once, do it right. It's like dumping your clothes on the floor til you're ready to put them in their home.

[@danielemoyon9044]

The new widget feature Notion has introduce makes this a breeze. Thanks for all you do August!

[@MarkDMoore-rr1rv]

Data is what feeds the "insight engine." Without the data, there is no synthesis, no discovery; there is no joy. I recommend taking the time to input the data.

[@augustbradley]

Well stated Mark! Agreed. The new Knowledge Management videos just released on the channel echo your thinking here.

[@MarkDMoore-rr1rv]

@@augustbradley Yes, it put a big grin on my face when I watched that last night. Thank you for the consistently high quality work that you've shared.

[@kristoffdubose]

@august... We're putting covers on the TPS reports from now on... Did ya get the memo? 🤣

[@StevenMichels]

Great tip on the add to home screen. I just created one for my inbox. And you are so right about the time saved by having everything in one place. Moving TPS reports from one platform to another is the surest way to create a problem of some kind.

[@augustbradley]

Isn't it great to be able to have any number of shortcuts right on the hone screen? And yes, centralization greatly enhances systems operations and efficiency. Must finish the TPS reports!

[@RhettReisman]

The "killer app" for me is that with Things3 on Mac I can hit control+space and quick enter something to my inbox from any application (I don't have to have Things3 as the active window) If you're not heavily invested in Notion and don't have it open 100% of the time you have to go find that window (or open the program) then find the right page then enter it. Using Things3 right now as weekly todo list and notion as long term storage. Seems like I'm a little less busy than you are though haha love the videos

[@mattjamesssmith]

Adding a browser link to your home screen in iOS doesn’t open the page in the app. It opens it in a stripped-down browser that looks like the app, but it has the same issues as using Notion in a browser as iOS. Dragging blocks around a page manually, for example, is impossible. Going to a different page from the one you initially open reveals the browser top bar. If you want to open the app at a specific page on iOS it’s much better to use the Shortcuts app. Thomas Frank did a video on how to do this.

[@pencilsandstories]

Matt James Smith I specifically came back to this video to thank you for sending me to that Thomas Frank video. I now have a nice Notion menu in my widgets, game changer!

[@Inheritancetaxadvice]

August - Another great video - I have gone with the inbox as I am away from my PC a lot and need quick capture. I am on android and just find setting up the home page as a bullet list allows very quick capture and then every day in planning I set up the tasks or ideas properly into my Notion

[@augustbradley]

The Inbox approach can totally work and is a perfectly good method. Your reasons are good ones.

[@walterterry9970]

Lol… I did not think I was gonna like this training and nearly put it on the backburner because I had other videos of yours I wanted to review to glean more specifics from first. Very glad I didn't. I'm not one of those who think "Notion takes too long" and am unconcerned about "quick entries" because like you, I think it's fast enough and the trade-off advantages outweigh any perceived time issues. I also like these distinctions about Future Selves and Past Selves. At first I thought "I will never use that." You intro'd the concept in a couple of your earlier videos and I suspect my subconscious has been gnawing on it ever since because the other day, during the most productive week of my life (thanks to you for that), when I was doing my EOD process and setting up my next day -- I caught a new thought "Ok, what am I going to tell my Future Me is most important?" And starting at 00:12:16 -- that hack with putting your most common Notion workspaces on the homescreen = brilliant! I did it while following along with you -- and then spent [invested] the next 10m strategically placing my workspaces on my Home screen. As the saying goes, "Little hinges swing big doors" and this was certainly one. Thank you!

[@augustbradley]

Glad it turned out to be worth the effort to check it out! I try to deliver on every single video 🙂

[@walterterry9970]

Forgot to mention it last time -- loveloveLOVE the new (or at least varying) color schemes to your video backgrounds. When I go into the full channel view, it really breaks up the subject matters to see diff colors. Instead of scanning and seeing all videos w/royal blue background and I have to read the title to see if I want to dig in -- my eye immediately goes to 'which of these is not like the other?' Is purple going to be Announcements, and light blue for Viewer Q&A? Btw, also love the idea of periodic viewer Q&A vids. If you ever wanted to run a poll, count me in as Aye! on that one. Something you're planning on doing going forward, or a one-off experiment?

[@augustbradley]

You figured out the secret code Walter! Teal is the main instructional program color, purple is Notion News, and deep blue is Viewer Questions. Both News and Viewer Q vids will be ongoing (News much less frequent, Viewer Qs as good broad-interest Qs come up). Maybe we'll have a new color for Live-stream Q&A when we get that started ;)

Looking forward for your weekly data entry / review :)

[@augustbradley]

It's coming. For me it's more of a weekly review/planning, less data intensive. The data-focused entry is done primarily with the daily data tracking as I describe here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6KvlXqFgdhqq5Y

[@samuelitooooo]

Lightning quick entry really is important to me because I forget what I want to type that fast. Also sometimes opening Notion via home screen shortcuts doesn't always work properly (even in September 2022); the app stays in perpetual loading, so I have to close the app and then reopen it - by that point I struggle to remember what I need to capture. I really wish that weren't the case. Maybe this will stop being a problem with proper offline functionality. Until then, the best way for me to successfully get thoughts down is with an app that opens quickly every single time. Right now I use Google Tasks, which works offline, and it even has a shortcut on Android so I just smack the big Plus button on my home screen and start typing. Works literally every time, so it's dependable. Typing in a Notion page on Android is also janky. It can't keep up with my fast touch-screen typing, so it's not yet ideal for capturing longer pieces of text in the moment. But I will agree that entering properties is pretty quick.

[@pgol200014]

thanks! I needed swipe back on mobile :)

[@Oldybker1]

Add a shortcut on your desktop: On Chrome click on the 3 dots --> More Tools --> Create Shortcut. You can also pin the page so that it is always in the Tabs even when restarting the browser. Right click on the Tab that Notion is in --> in the drop down menu tap 'Pin'.

[@carriolan1]

Hi August found this video useful, especially the setting up of Notion icons on the homepage for specific pages. I was thinking how to have an inbox without having an inbox. My thought is that it would be possible to continue to enter tasks / notes into the Action Items Today view (as you suggest), by incorporating an extra Priority called 'Inbox' (effectively an unprocessed status). This will enable the easy identification of new stuff that has accumulated during the day.

[@carriolan1]

...... Maybe using the task Status instead of the Priority is better.

[@augustbradley]

Great idea if you find that faster and easier. Seems to me if enter something quickly and give it a "Quick" tag that means I have the quick task of assigning it when I get the chance. Works well either way. Good thinking on system design! Thanks Peter.

[@ConnorWaldo]

I feel like this could be fixed if we were able to use Google Assistant or Siri to add notes or reminders. That would resolve it.

[@augustbradley]

With the API there are new solutions to this.

[@abdullahyahya2471]

I also try to use notion 95% of the time from my PC. On PC I was thinking of creating a macro which will open Notion and creates a new page using a custom shortcut key. On Android it's slower and sometimes buggy. I use the browser version of notion on Android mostly. When Notion makes their apps better and makes the app accessible offline then it can be used on mobile with less friction.

[@augustbradley]

I've heard the same from some others in the comments here, that the Android app is not at the same level as the iPhone app -- but also that Notion is aware of this and working hard to fix it. That difference between the two phone platforms explains some of the speed criticisms. I had only seen the iPhone version in action. Hopefully Android will be updated very soon.

[@BrunoRodrigues-fw9ri]

Do you have a capture idea list database video? Just a place to drop my ideas into? I think i missed that video and don’t know where to find it

[@Gaius0]

Hello August. Thanks for making these videos. I know it must take a considerable amount of work to put together each one. I have a question regarding entering information in tables without using the mouse. I find that when I'm wanting to enter many rows (like when planning tasks for a long multi-step project) it really slows me down that when I enter a tag in a "select" type cell I'm forced to use the mouse to click on the tag to apply it. I can of course start typing it and press enter when the correct one gets filtered from the list, but then a new empty row gets created, and the cursor goes to it, which then means more mouse clicks to delete the unwanted row and going back to the one I was in. I could also use the page view for entering a new task, as you do, but it has the same problem as when you press enter in a "select" field it enters the tag but then removes the focus from the window, instead of taking the cursor to the next item. So you have to use the mouse to click on the next field you want to input into. Also, I find the page view less efficient than the table view as it doesn't filter out any information I don't need when entering tasks within a certain context (like the today view, or next actions). I've searched the Notion help documentation but haven't found anything relevant, so it may be that there's no way around it, but I thought I'd ask you in case you have any tips? Thank you either way.

[@zacr8588]

how do you setup that 1-size-fit-all inbox for quickest capture, so you could easily move the items from that inbox to your notes or tasks inbox with 1 click?

[@ConradCarriker]

I was using the Google keep widget which is lightning fast for capturing ideas. However I like your idea of adding the specific page on home screen. If only notions developed a widget.

[@huggingpuppy2613]

Look at the pinned comment, it should help

[@jenniferpape5715]

Great video as always! So excited for your upcoming videos.

[@augustbradley]

Jennifer Pape: Thank you Jennifer! Your feedback and support is massively appreciated. More to come soon.

[@poopstersdad]

"that's so fast. I don't know what the problem is.." 😂😂😂

[@augustbradley]

I know, right? 😎

[@kaandemirkiran4583]

If you're looking at this 3 years later: you can just create a button in notion and even add it as a widget to you home screen!

[@augustbradley]

Right on! Notion keeps adding new valuable features-I'll start doing some updates on the channel soon, highlighting how the new features can be applied and optimized for system design. Thanks for pointing this out to everyone!

[@darrylbrooks3361]

One weakness of Notion re quick entry I have been very vocal about is email support. It doesn't really enter into task management, but Evernote is still my 'Vault' and I frequently send emails there for long term storage and reference. Do you do anything like that with Notion?

[@L.auraShining5891]

Thanks so much. Such practical, valuable information.

[@kryptopro1]

I wanted to add an advanced version of this I tried out. I have a "Quick Entry" page that I link to. On this page I have tables that are linked to thinks like "ActionItems", "Projects", "Goals"... But each one is critically setup in a certain way. Each table always has a column for the automatically added field "DateCreated". So I filter on the table by "DateCreated isEmpty". This will always give me an empty table. Now anytime I add something to this via "New" it will add to that table with whatever other filter settings are set. This can also pair with templates. For example, lets say that I wanted to quickly add todo's that need scheduling to be done today for a certain project (and I add to this project frequently). I create the table with filter "DateCreated isEmpty AND DoDate isToday AND Priority isToSchedule AND Project isXXX". It's amazing if you setup multiple of these next to each others in columns on one page. One stop for easy adding!

[@iambetter9322]

can you explain a bit more

[@mechanicalwonderful7554]

you deserve 30M subscrier

[@2810sana]

Nice video Bradley, One question. I noticed comparing to my notion and notion in video : When i create Database link, via "Relation" - It create reference column in target table name - "Related to Pillars(DB) (Project(DB))". Which i annoying to have it in every table, It doesn't appear in your notion is there some special setting you are having?

[@augustbradley]

Hi Ansari. If I'm understanding the question, you want to rename the relation link property/filed to something other than the default "Related t..." naming? Jut click on the title either in the table view or when you open the record/entry up and it lets you change the naming. Does that solve it?

[@2810sana]

@@augustbradley I understood that, I mean, When I create a link to other database, It by default add column called "Related to Pillars(DB)" in target table. Which I do not see in your video this default column.

[@augustbradley]

The target database does get a column back to the original database, I just changed the name of the column/field there too.

[@2810sana]

@@augustbradley aha! Got it! Many Thanks Bardley

[@jath7695]

Random question -> but how to you mirror your cell phone on to a laptop, I need to do this for a project. thanks!

[@MartinSchabbauer]

Wonderful. Again. Again. And again.

[@eternaljournal1866]

This has been bugging me the whole series. . . I know the books in the top right are Tim Ferris (Tools of Titans) . . . but what are the two ones in the bottom left?? Thank you for all your hard work ;)

[@augustbradley]

Ha! It's two copies of an art photography book called the "Hasselblad Masters Book" Vol. 1 - in a former career as an advertising photographer I was invited by the camera company Hassleblad to shoot the cover and a chapter of this book.

[@productivity7089]

In iOS 14 you can now add Notion widgets that take you straight to a page. You can also create a widget that shows a database (such as notes/tasks) and the widget has a ‘+’ button so you can create a new task straight from your phone Home Screen! mobile.twitter.com/notionhq/status/1331286407587848204?lang=en

[@jeanmalroh910]

I personally use an inbox and I like to « capture thoughs » as quickly as possible, unfortunately Notion isn’t fast enough as apps like todoist. I still have concerns about using Notion as a day to day tasks management app. But I should give it a try, thanks for the tips.

[@augustbradley]

Th last suggestion in the video for people with speed priorities like you is to use Todoist or similar apps as your "Inbox", then you have the ultimate speed. Anyone using an inbox has to process that inbox at some point, so just process it to Notion (copy/past across the desktop apps). Best of both worlds then.

[@jeanmalroh910]

@@augustbradley I took a deep look at your system, integrated some part of it, and I must say I was wrong, it's really great. I didn't see how far Notion can go and how good it is for tasks management (for one who barely used Notion, I didn't understood how powerful database are, how good is their calendar, how everything is customizable...). I'll definitely switch to Notion for Tasks management, but I'll still use Todoist or similar as Inbox though (and hope sometimes a Zapier integration will comes). Thanks a lot!

[@augustbradley]

@@jeanmalroh910 : It took me a while too to have that "Ah Hah!" moment, but once I did I never looked back. Nothing even came close 🙂. At a certain point you see beyond the mere two dimensions of past tools., into even a 4th or 5th dimension. Now create your perfect system! Todoist makes a perfectly good inbox, I always liked Todoist. We're all waiting for that Zapier integration, and it is coming.

[@LexiDAngelo]

At 7:59 you shared that today’s date is automatically entered in your template. How do you set that up? Thank you!!

[@augustbradley]

If you add a new entry from a filtered view of the database (a table or any view with the filter setting entered for "today") it will automatically enter today as the date for the entry. If the database view is filtered for many things (eg, date, owner, priority, etc...) all those things will aromatically be entered for new entries made from that database view. So you can set up views that facilitate entry as you wish.

[@LexiDAngelo]

August Bradley : Notion Productivity ooh awesome! Thank you 😊

[@jack.k5721]

Awesome work!

[@RichardTMcKenna]

Thank you !!

[@augustbradley]

You're welcome!

[@torspedia]

I think the main problem was due to how slow the Android app used to take to load, as it (before they tweaked the speed) took at least 12 seconds (at least for mine) to load... which made the app [almost] impossible for me to use.

[@aramelmartin]

For me, waiting 5-10 seconds would be a good case scenario... and that's just to get into Notion... *if it opens* - am I missing something?

[@augustbradley]

I would find that agonizing as well. Is that on a computer or smartphone, if the latter then iPhone or Android? I'm starting to get the sense in these comments that the problem is specific to Android (which I've never used, I've been on iPhone). If it is so specific to a platform, I have to think Notion knows it and is working hard on it. Let us know if this is an Android issue for you. Thanks for sharing this info.

[@RiseandProcraftinate]

The Android app can definitely be a PITA. I have found if you close all apps first, it is more likely to open faster.... And it's not like I have a dinosaur phone either. I'm on a Note 9. Not the latest and greatest, but not extremely old either. I spend 99% of my time at home on WiFi, which is definitely high speed. So, it's not a crappy cell reception thing either.

[@augustbradley]

@@RiseandProcraftinate: That's crazy I definitely feel for you. Notion has to be aware of this and working on it ASAP. Strange the dichotomy from iPhone, Hopefully, the fix will come soon.

[@DutchGuyInChina]

​@@augustbradley Notion seems to work much faster from within the US compared to from other locations.

[@chette]

Could you give your recommendation on how to handle subtasks?

[@augustbradley]

Have a video on that, here's how I do it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rZfIeKB4gM1srs0

[@maripatvoellmecke7572]

I’m using your Action Zone and Task List template. I have tweaked a new database view for the task template just to say “New” in the priority field and sort also so that Done is unchecked. This is making a brain dump easy for me. I’ll sort it out and fill in the fields later (I’m a total newbie). However, on mobile, iPad and iPhone XR, I can’t swipe back to the list view (minute 11:19. Also, I cannot see the Done click on the keyboard (minute 15:16) that returns you to your list. Therefore I have to go into the side bar and click on the database in my favorites to get me to the list view where I can continue adding another new task. What am I not seeing? Thanks for all you do!

[@augustbradley]

Hi Maripat, it's always good to customize for your own needs - great work on your progress! I don't know what's happening on the mobile devices, you can see in the video what I'm seeing when I try it. I would have to play around with your mobile devices to figure it out, keep experimenting until you find an approach that works. These little things are always solvable.

[@maripatvoellmecke7572]

August Bradley : Notion Productivity Thanks for your quick reply. And thanks for your in depth videos.

[@walterterry9970]

I think this is an "only August can answer question." August, since I'm all-in on implementing your system into my system -- how do you handle reminders to do/be/remember something, but it's not actually a task and therefore I don't want to add it to the master db? Or... is that my blindspot and should treat important reminders as a task and just tag it as such? I"m still new enough that I'm reluctant to put new things in new areas bc I'm afraid it will disappear. Again. How you... how do you handle instances like this?

[@augustbradley]

If it's a serious reminder, put it in the task db and give it a priority level of "remember". Otherwise put in in the "Ongoing Low-Priority List" list and check status of it in your weekly reviews, promoting it to the Task DB when appropriate.

[@walterterry9970]

Awesome tactic. Thank you August! Just integrated it into my Notion workflow. I like the 2nd option more than the first bc I don't want to clutter up my already epic Master Actions Db. I like creating a separate toggle list called Ongoing Low-Priority and going over it during my Weekly Review. Brilliant.

[@md.nurealamhussain5295]

Why notion don't have any mobile widget?

[@augustbradley]

They do on the iPhone, Android is coming.

[@irajatsolanki]

there is some like fastnotion for input and also a telegram bot for input but i have privacy concerns thats it

[@augustbradley]

They use the un-official API, which I don't trust and don't use. The real official API will be here soon enough.

[@anfanger4]

notion app on android is even slower

[@evraya1]

API probably will solve this completely

[@RussSwall]

I like the tip. However, you spent the first 4+ minutes beating the horse that you were going to shoot in another minute or two. After it was long dead, you beat it some more at the end of the video. I'm subscribing because I think you had some good stuff there. But... when the horse is dead or about to be shot...stop beating the poor thing.

[@augustbradley]

Ha! Thanks Russ, I totally see that you're right. Will try to tighten things up. I'm afraid I did the same in the next video, but going forward will work on that. Greatly appreciate your sharing the feedback.

[@RussSwall]

@@augustbradley Well, since I posted that I've watched a couple more. Really good stuff, I must say. Have added a few more to the queue. Have scheduled one for a re-watch. Thanks for posting.

[@augustbradley]

Awesome Russ, thank you for the feedback!

[@riz94107]

I can see why quick entry wouldn't be important to you if you're willing to spend 6 minutes repeating the same point about "I don't think quick entry is important vs super organization". Sure, you mention that everyone has different needs, but your idea of "quick entry" seems to be completely at odds with reality. I like a lot of your ideas* but this is one of those areas where you really, really need to recognize that what works for you might not work for everyone. You want this to be useful for the stated purpose? ("Notion Quick Entry") Take the piece starting at 16:29 (you briefly mention "here's what you do") and ACTUALLY SHOW A WAY OF DOING IT. Emphasis: you have a LOT of great ideas. Your whole system, though? Not gonna happen for me, and I suspect many folks. I posit that if you put more effort into showing more examples of "alternative takes", then someone who's looking to put together a system of their own (which can work for them) might find more useful building blocks. Anyway - to repeat myself - I've viewed a bunch of your videos, and there's some really great content and ideas there, but this is not the content I was hoping to find in this video. * setting up "do dates" - which I call "to-do dates" because having to explain "do" vs "due" every time is completely ridiculous - are really useful for me because I agree that long to-do lists are self-defeating

[@llewellynlewdaniels3595]

@riz94107 You subscribing to way more channels than anyone can focus on. I had a look at it here kzbin.infochannels . That is in direct conflict with the purpose of these videos. Cognitive Dissonance.

[@rockin1k70]

Visceral much?