Notion Database Relations & Rollups + System Updates

This video is an introduction on how to do database Relations & Rollups in Notion. Then I show several system updates demonstrating new uses of Rollups across the Life Operating System.
FAQ: If you want to roll-up data further than one database level, use a formula to mirror the data in the first rollup - then that formula info will rollup to the database above it. Instructions here: www.notion.so/Rollup-of-Rollu...
Get my NOTION TEMPLATES⚡ and join the NEWSLETTER📰 at:
www.yearzero.io/notion-templates
🚀 Info on the "Notion Life Design" course 🚀: www.NotionLifeDesign.com
Related Videos in this Series:
+ Alignment Zone: • Notion "Alignment Zone...
+ Daily "Action Zone" Dashboard: • Notion Daily "Action Z...
+ Overview of Notion Life Operating System: • My Notion Life Operati...
Timestamp Index
0:00 Intro
1:54 Database Relations
5:49 Database Rollups
10:24 System Updates: New Rollups Implemented
More from August Bradley 😎
- Courses + Coaching/Consulting: www.yearzero.io
- Twitter: / augustbradley
- LinkedIn: / augustbradley

[@walterterry9970]

Ahhhh... August you BEAST! TWO meaty trainings in less than a week?! We are indeed blessed. And even tho I'm feelin' the time crunch, my heart holds only GRATITUDE for you, my friend. Especially on this subject bc it's something I sorely, sorely needed. Thank you. It would be criminal if Notion has not already contacted you in order to license your trainings. They are that good and far, far surpass anything I have seen from the company to date.

[@augustbradley]

Thanks Walter! My goal is 2 a week. If the current new editor I'm trying now works out, should be able to consistently hit that. If not, then looking for a new way to get there 🙂.

[@YelenaSharonina]

The only channel where I turned on notifications. August, thank you for sharing your knowledge, experience and way of thinking, this is incredibly useful content unlike a lot of noise out there!

[@augustbradley]

Wow, thank you Yelena!

[@walterterry9970]

@Yelena Sharonina -- Ah! Me too. Out of all the YT subscriptions I have, August 's channel is the only one with notifications enabled. I don't like being interrupted by other ppl's priorities AND, when August talks he always benefits me and I never regret the time I invest in his trainings. He's my E.F. Hutton: "When he talks, I listen (and then IMPLEMENT)." Mr. Bradley can interrupt me any ole time.

[@CryMore13]

Same, first time in my life, August Bradley took my ring virginity 😂

[@augustbradley]

@@CryMore13 That's awesome, welcome to the amazing world of YT notifications! I greatly appreciate it 🙏.

[@marcschinkel3935]

**Video Summary** 0:00 Intro This video covers an intro to some of the basic functionality of relations and rollups before moving into some system updates related to those. The beginning is for people who are not familiar with relations and rollups (rollups being dependent on relations). Generally considered an advanced feature but it's not that complicated. After this video, which is the second of two system updates we will move into the vaults section. 1:54 Database Relations Create a new page Create a table view (database) Create a relation field (by default new fields are text fields) We want to connect entries in this database with specific entries in another Entries/records are the horizontal lines in the table view of a database, or any entry when opened Record is the traditional term used when people talk about databases. Fields/properties are the columns across the top You define a property as the relation property You then select a database to relate to You will then have the option to link any entry from this database to any entry in the other database. This is very straightforward and easily understood. 5:49 Database Rollups Rollups are the logical extension to take relations even further Once you have the relation connection setup you can make it so that any data in any of the fields of the connected database can be brought into this database. Click in any cell under the rollup property you create, and select the relevant relation (you might have more than one.) Then you select which other property from that database you want to bring into this one. In the last video, we saw how to connect the content items moving through the content pipeline to action items, there was a rollup attached that we can use as an exemplar. Several content items are connected as a relation to this one task 8:25 Each of these is a separate piece of content in the content pipeline that is being worked on in this one sitting of content creation on the present days task list The next action dates and statuses for each are automatically visible here The same thing is visible from the other end 9:25 The do date of the action item is set up as a rollup from this view. This allows you to make sure that the next action item for the content in this database is the same as the do-date of the task in the action items database. 10:24 System Updates: New Rollups Implemented Moving back into the Action Zone we can see that the goal outcomes have now been made into rollups in this database. This is done by creating a project relation, so each action item that is part of a project will have the project listed here. Previously the Goal outcome was a relation, making a direct connection between the action items database to the goal outcomes database. Since we are already connecting the action items with projects, and the projects are already linked to the goal outcomes database, we can just make a rollup to eliminate a step. The pillars relation has been removed from the action items database They are still important and every action item is in service of a pillar, but this is simply too far removed to make it useful, and adding a pillar to so many action items is very cumbersome. In the goal outcomes database, the pillars connection is now a rollup and unfortunately, you cannot make a rollup of a rollup. Moving into the alignment zone 13:20 Value goals are now a rollup into projects (DB) symbolizes a direct relation to a database (Rollup) signifies a rollup, meaning it comes through another direct relation (DB) In the projects database, the connection to goal outcomes is a relation, and the connection to value goals is a rollup property that comes through the goal outcome relation. Similarly, there is a rollup for pillars in the goal outcomes database. Every value goal has a pillar assigned, set up as a (DR) When connecting the goal outcomes to the value goals the pillars will automatically come with it as a property through the pillar (Rollup) This not only saves an entry step but also ensures that everything is correct and consistent. These exemplify one of the powerful features of rollups, but there are 2 more. One is to have many relational links and bring in many items rolled up with it In this instance when the item you are bringing in is a number you can apply mathematical formulas to it. Looking at the cycle reviews we can see an example of this 16:10 Looking at the monthly review for the month of April there are a lot of database fields that are completely filled out. Because of rollups and relations at the end of the month, 90% of this is already filled in. As each weekly review is completed it is attached to the month that it happens in. Accomplishments and disappointments are also attached to a month Because the weeks are populated all the rollups associated with the weeks are completely filled out as well. Weekly effectiveness Weekly focus priority Weekly Gratefulness Improvements The learnings from each month then roll up to a year, rollups of a rollup cannot be done in notion so the weekly improvements cannot be rolled up into a year. All of this is rolling up automatically because there is one relational link to the week 19:45 Example of how math can be applied to the rollups Looking at a weekly review There is a relational link to the daily tracking database Every day some data will be entered for that day, weight tracking, sleep, health, and fitness, etc. Eg workout percentage calculation 20:40 Eg average sleep time 21:40 More calculation options as these are numbers rather than checkboxes All of this information is brought in automatically as each day is linked to the week through a relation and then the relevant rollups can be brought into the week. In the projects database, there is now an actions remaining column 24:50 This column will measure for each project how many actions are queued up to execute that project. This is set up as a rollup where the action items is the relational link to the task database. For each action item, it will look at the checkbox property Calculation will be performed by the number of unchecked checkboxes If you open up the project's entry you will still see all the tasks as covered in the video on projects 26:00 In the table view, this is really clean and simple In the goal outcomes database, there is a project count 27:00 Measuring the number of projects that need to be completed for each goal outcome Some of the goal outcomes are advanced by habits and routines so they won't have project counts. In your monthly reviews, you check goal outcomes to ensure that they either have projects or habits and routines linked to them to advance them forward. Rollups make things easier and faster and eliminates redundancy keeping things accurate. Next videos will explore the vaults Media Vault Book Vault Knowledge lab (ties several vaults together)

[@charliestarrett3900]

Thank you!

[@mayalee4526]

Thank you very much!!!

[@MicheleGill]

I'm all caught up--have watched every video. Worth every second of time I spent watching and implementing your system. I've used your guidance to create some unique databases for my needs as a university professor, including: --Program Routines, for an academic program I coordinate. This is linked to my tasks database and contains things I need to do each particular semester. I can check these routines, add tasks, and keep on top of program admissions, recruiting etc. --A public page for my students containing books, resources, apps, etc. that can help them in the program --A database for my students' progress on theses and dissertations so I can track which chapter they are working on and what stage it is in -A record of the classes I teach and what updates I want to make to each class, linked to my Projects database (for major revisions) and Tasks database --A record of academic publications, blog posts, etc. with their URLs I've also integrated my faith journey into this, so it's really a life system--my work, family, faith, and creative tasks, projects, goals, and values are all integrated together. I can't overstate how much better I feel having such a clear, fluid, visually attractive and organized system to scaffold me. It has truly become my "second brain," way beyond Evernote (which I still use, but it's more like an overstuffed, loosely organized note repository). A fun tidbit: Because I prefer more organic metaphors to the machine ones you use, I have labeled pillars as "tree trunks," pipelines as"branches," and vaults as "roots." This system has GREATLY increased my ease with work and reduced my sense of overwhelm for all the various hats I wear.

[@augustbradley]

I better get to work and finish some new ones! Congratulations Michele on your incredible progress! Onward 🚀

[@jath7695]

i love "tree trunks," pipelines as"branches," and vaults as "roots." !!!

[@TacoMental]

You have a very passionate viewership whom are learning and growing by utilizing what you're teaching here. You can tell that by the comment section. Small community enrichment idea for you. (I work in marketing and also did twitch game streaming for a year or so back in the day ): Each content creator has viewers and fans. Viewers are more casual and they watch you from time to time. Subscribers are sometimes in the middle of viewer and fan. Those who regularly comment and engage are fans and community members. Psychologically they are more invested and benefit hugely from engagement. If you're a student of gary vanyerchuck, which you should be...that guy really gets it even tho some people are rubbed the wrong way by him, you'll know he is a hyper fan engager and its paid off. He has built entire shows like ask gary v etc where he is essentially giving free advice i.e. engagement to an individual at a higher level than a comment, which isn't really free as he is being paid back with low cost high value content. On to how this relates to you and the channel :p. You're very good at replying and engaging in the comments and on twitter. That being said fans love to be put on the jumbo tron ( sports reference). You can do this by highlighting a particularly useful, interesting or inspiring comment each week at the end of your video. Probably placed just before you spiel into the outro. This quick call out and answer would be a very small investment and allow you to add a mini surprise and delight campaign for 1 lucky viewer each week. Then more people will comment and interact, you get more comments to highlight and the cycle continues. Either way great work with what you're doing here. You're implementing the content marketing methodology quite well, i'm sure on purpose ;p, and as a marketer seeing it done correctly is a joy. In my mind there is a right way to and a wrong way to do good marketing and the right way is much harder but much more effective. The wrong way is quick, cheap, dirty and annoying. Best of luck!

[@HomesickMac]

Besides sharing the knowledge you're also so considerate that you describe in advance what and how is going to be laid out in the video. Fantastic run through the rolups, will look deeper into it.

[@augustbradley]

Thanks Dragan, glad this approach was useful to you.

[@stephentassell3531]

I learnt so much from this video, and I greatly appreciate you for taking time out to produce it. One thing that may be worth sharing with your viewers is how easy it is to mould and adapt Notion. Some people may be intimidated by the feeling that they have to get it right first time, yet Notion is so forgiving. My first Notion system was based around the PARA methodology, and then you came along and I took an instant like to your approach. I was surprised at how quickly I could change my implementation to become your methodology. Having learned the hard way, my only other advice is to set up Templates early, and before entering masses of data. Templates enforce standardisation across the Table and really streamline data entry!

[@augustbradley]

Great thoughts Stephen, excellent insights. Will consider how to introduce those concepts.

[@jtipale]

Eagerly (more like desperately) waiting for your videos covering vaults. Keep these going!

[@augustbradley]

They are coming next! 3 of them in the pipeline.

[@juanitacarrington8445]

August - I love your high-value content, pure gold every single time. I look forward to your videos each week!

[@augustbradley]

Wow, thank you!

[@sollanbartholomew3287]

There is a big flaw that I have just found using rollups vs relations. A relation field has a link to the underlying data so you can click through to it. A rollup just outputs the data as text, when clicking on the field, the rollup configuration dialog comes up.

[@augustbradley]

Yep, that's a drawback. The link feature has been requested with Notion for Rollups. Hopefully they;ll make that change.

[@Murphich111]

August, I can't thank you enough for this video series, you have honestly helped me so much more than how I just use Notion. This series is nothing short of phenomenal and I am grateful to you for all of this. Your philosophy is the driving force of this system design and I'm loving learning from it and you. One thing to note, toward the end of this video I noticed you rolling up the "Project Remaining" and need to bring in a manual checkbox for Done. Rather than retire the "Complete" status, you could create the formula `prop("Status") == "Complete" == true` to automatically generate the checkbox when you set the status to complete and then do the rollup from that. I personally use the OR operator for tasks I either complete or wont do to check it as done for anyone that does it that way `prop("Status") == "Complete " or prop("Status") == "Wont Do " == true` Again, thanks for your series, it is amazing 🙌🏽

[@augustbradley]

Awesome to hear about your progress and the value you're finding in the system Conor! I love hearing this. Thanks for the great formula tip, though I love checking check boxes for completion more than I like choosing drop-down selects (and check boxes are one click while drop-down selects are two clicks 🙂).

[@Murphich111]

@@augustbradley Such an August response. Love it

[@clarissadesimoni]

Hi August, if you’re still interested in seeing the pillars in your Action Items database, you can do it with the rollups. You just have to create a formula property in the Projects database that has the same value as the rollup of the pillars, then do a rollup of that formula in the Action Items database

[@Sinanatalay]

best notion project i have ever seen

[@sadito_374]

The ratio of content quality to number of subsribers to this channel is a human rights violation. In my humble opinion. Violated are the ones who by some kind of evil trickery are kept from discovering. In my humble opinion. Thank you so much for all the hard work and dedication! All hail to the king of Notion Mastery!

[@augustbradley]

Ha! Thanks, really appreciate the support, though we are growing quickly! The channel is onlyu about three or four months old.

[@TacoMental]

Great video. My takeaway here was a big one. As this is my first time building a system I would get frustrated early on when you had changes and updates and new ways of doing things. But i had the realization while watching this that there is flexibility and growth as my system evolves and I learn. With that being said fantastic video and please keep showcasing these updates. I find immense value as it shows me how you're capitalizing on insights and inspires me to adjust and grow and mold my system to my needs. Kudos!

[@dagi89online]

Another very helpful video - thanks so much for all your hard work, August! I‘m already so exited about the vaults videos. Keep them coming please, but don‘t forget to step away from it all once in a while.

[@augustbradley]

Thanks Dagmar, we're just getting started!

[@andres-quezada]

i just saw all your videos and i think that my task organization changed A LOT. thank you

[@augustbradley]

Awesome to hear this Andres, super cool that it's been helpful!

[@jack.k5721]

Cant wait to see growth section video. Mindset and Mind expantion are most important for me and I can not wait to see video about it.

[@augustbradley]

You and me both! That is a particularly important and meaningful section for me too. It is in the agenda, getting closer.

[@mohamedmamdouh7176]

Instead of adding an active checkbox manually in the project database, you can add it as an equation that update it automatically (prop("Status") == "Active") without the outer brackets and then you can roll this column to the goal outcomes database

[@andyfreeland3864]

Perfect! Thanks :)

[@charlesbryan5824]

August, another fantastic video in an excellent series! I'm sure you have considered this, but when you trade a relation for a rollup, time is saved but you lose that constant reminder of why you're doring that task. I often find manual inputting the data reinforces the subconscious mind on why you're doing something and may trigger the guiding principles subconsciously. Again, I am for saving time and I would like your perspective on this.

[@AngelBien]

Broooooo, this is a total game-changer. I've been looking for a way to organize my life and trying to create systems myself but my old systems were just too slow for all the things going on in my life. But your way, your Life OS, is just revolutionary way living your life. Amazing! More power to you!! Also, I've subscribed to your newsletter, it's really good.

[@augustbradley]

Thanks Angeline! Means a lot to me to hear this. Very happy that it's been valuable to you. Lots more to come!

[@AngelBien]

@@augustbradley Patiently and excitedly waiting August!

[@marysata6799]

Helpful hearing how checking items would be helpful compared to creating selections for roll-ups. 😌 More insights to look forward to. ✨

[@Killofamas]

Hello August, first of all I hope you'll forgive my English, I'm still too French to speak it properly :p I'm coming back to you about three things: 1st: I'd like to thank you so much about all the hard work you're putting in this, it helps me in so many ways, not just as how to create a proper notion system, but as how to think about life, that's pretty useful nowadays. 2nd: Since this rollup update, I've thought about your way of having parent et sub tasks. It blew my mind in some way. As I'm creating my own system using your videos as my "Ideas vault", I've come to this same solution, but slightly modified. In my Action items database (that's not how its labelled though, but I'm translating!) I still have this two ways relation between the parent task and the sub task, all the way down the chain of the project. Since we've got this relation, I've thought "Wait, we could use a rollup now". So I've added a rollup column labelled "State of the previous action" with those following parameters : Relation : "Following" ; Property : "Done" ; Calculate : "Percent checked". I now have a column that tells me when all the previous required action items are done, in the form of a percent number. I then add a formula column as such : " prop("State of the previous action") == 1 " which gives a boolean. We can now use this boolean as we want to automatically consider those sub tasks into our action zone. It makes the sortings and filtering a bit more complex on the views, but when that's done, it may be a good improvement... At least, if not pushed to the end, no need to erase the following property anylonger, at best, no need to even think about the fact that there are sub tasks, they automatically show up when they need to, planned or to plan. I'd love to hear your thought about this one!! 3rd, as a 23 y/o young man, I'm still seeking a field about which I could really be passionate, to this day, none have kept my attention long enough, everything faded away quite quickly. The shines in your eyes while you were talking about systems thinking really made something resonate in me, that + the fact that I tend to come to the very same conclusions as you about everything I've seen in these videos (with a very lacking theoritical, practical and logical view)... It made me want to know a bit more about what you learned, how you learned it, how you became the person you currently are. Anyway, thank you a lot if you found the time to read my comment, thank you for your work and thank you for the motivation you've sent me ! Respectfully

[@sk8tersara]

Thanks for the video August!! I really really appreciate all the effort you’ve gone into to produce such valuable content. Just wanted to add that I actually found a workaround for rolling up roll-ups. I have a feeling you’ve already heard of this little trick, but I just use a simple formula that calls out the roll up that you’re looking to roll up again (lol sorry if that was confusing), and then roll up that property instead. So for example, in my Weekly Review page, I have 1 property for Avg Effectiveness that is a roll-up from my Daily Review, and then I add another property that uses a formula to pull up that same roll-up again - round(100*prop(“Avg Effectiveness”))/100 [or you could honestly just use prop(“whatever property name”)]. That property becomes something that I can pull up in my Monthly Review as a roll-up, and doesn’t require me to do aside from fill up my daily review as I normally would, since the formula does everything for me automatically. It does add unnecessary properties to the page, so I only do this for data that is extremely important to me. Hope this helps anyone who’s looking to roll-up roll-ups!! :) feel free to reach out if this was confusing 🤗

[@augustbradley]

Good thoughts. For a number you can add "toNumber()" to make it a number and to a text field when rolling up the next level. I'm aware of this but: (1) that would add a level of complexity to this introduction to Rollups that I did not want to introduce. No need to confuses those learning the core concept. And (2) that would add more data fields when I am striving to limit them, and (3) there is not need for them here because the simple summarisation workaround here actually adds additional value. I have yet to see an instance where the mess and clutter of additional fields from mirroring and adding formulas would add enough benefit to justify it. I'm not interested in applying this just because I can, there has to be a worthwhile payoff greater then the cost. Just because you can does not mean you should.

[@RachelOber]

Another great video! In my personal setup, I use a Formula to determine whether something is active or not (computed by the single select dropdown), which will give you a boolean value and equivalent to a checkbox. You can then use that to count "active" projects and you end up with one fewer step to do when managing the status of a project. :-) I also do this with my tasks and goals because sometimes I use the status "dropped". I don't want to work on it anymore, but I also don't want to delete the history of the item.

[@RachelOber]

If you want to be even MORE meta, I have a Formula that computes whether or not a goal has a Projects OR Habit. That way you can quickly scan to ensure that your goal is being served!

[@augustbradley]

Nice Rachel! I've been reluctant to do this because of the trade offs, but may give it a try to be open minded and then make a choice after living with each approach. Either way, very clever design!

[@augustbradley]

Is that a sequence of If-Thens? Would love to see your formula, you can post it here. Actually would be great to post both here in case others want to try them. Thanks Rachel!

[@paulafitzpatrick6243]

I would love to see this formula - it’s exactly what I’ve been trying to do. Thanks

[@geodude501]

@@augustbradley Here is the more simple of the two formulas: prop("Status") == "In Progress".This will automatically populate a checkbox if 'In Progress' has been selected. The only 'downside' I can see is that the roll-up in 'Goal Outcomes' can't count the checkboxes as its a formula. So the only option is to Show original' meaning you will see the checkboxes instead of the number count. This doesn't bother me. Also, ​I don't see the reason to get rid of the 'Completed' dropdown? If the project isn't ''Active' it doesn't mean it's completed. Thanks again as always! :)

[@CyrusMurphy]

At 14:20, I've been appending DB relationship field names with a single link 🔗 and rollups with a chain ⛓ (e.g., "Goal Outcomes 🔗" and "Value Goals ⛓"). That makes intuitive sense in my head when I see it and keeps field names shorter. I also prepend "required" fields with ✳ (this shows up green in notion) so I quickly know what fields need to be populated on creation. I prepend fields with 🏁 that need to be filled out on completion.

[@augustbradley]

Great idea with the emoji Indicators, good visual representational there. And excellent idea on indications for entry fields. Excellent!

[@geoffjball]

Great feedback. I'm adding the ✳ and 🏁 idea into my own system. Using a TextExpander snippet to add them removes any barriers to implementation. Thanks Cyrus!

[@henrique-hpm]

August in the project table, in the checkbox Active. You can substitute for a formula if(prop("Status") == "Active", 1, 0) . And in the Goal Outcome table the Rollup can count the active projects.

[@chandav28]

And even further if you want to automate checkbox : or(empty(prop("Status")), prop("Status") == "Active")

[@julissaveronica]

Rollup Inception. XD This video and all your videos are so helpful, thank you.

[@FilipChurchill]

After watching this episode I've changed the "#completed" & "#goal" fields into rollups of action items (total number | done) to automatically calculate the progress on the projects.

[@augustbradley]

Yes, I changed to that a while ago too. It's a good approach, go with that!

[@bradford.champlin]

I ended up tweeting you, but was wondering what you're doing with your Routines database. It seems like it's not used much in any instance of roll ups or relations. Super helpful video, thanks. Love the updates, definitely streamlines the setup.

[@augustbradley]

Thanks Bradford! It's used and shown in my Alignment Zone video. It is checked in the quarterly review for refinement.

[@dovhalpern]

Thank you!!!

[@augustbradley]

👍

[@g-ann3527]

Timestamps 0:00 Intro 1:54 Database Relations 5:49 Database Rollups 10:24 System Updates: New Rollups Implemented

[@augustbradley]

Amazing Ann! Thank you sooo much. Updated, they are live now 🙂

[@g-ann3527]

@@augustbradley Am I doing it right? Do they work? Will get to the other videos later 😊

[@toumir.]

Hi, This video show me many things I was doing wrong, thank you to share the system :)

[@augustbradley]

Glad I could help!

[@chandav28]

Hi August Thanks for the very valuable content you add. I would love to hear your advice on how to setup and manage a company within Notion (ownership of tasks, rights, validation process, teams dashboard, personal dashboard) etc..

[@angaj]

@August I agree you can't roll up a roll up and yeah it's a bummer, but you can take that data in roll up and put it in a formula as plain text [Using concat(prop)]. And then, you can call that as a rollup in your subtask! So its basically like creating a bidirectional bridge for both the parent and child tasks to access! Great Video Btw!

[@MrSandeman1984]

Dear Mr. Bradley! How are you? I have been fortunate to ‘discover’ your Notion series and I’ve been binge watching since 😂 It aligns greatly with the way my mind works (or how I want it to work 🤓:) I just never found a way to really effectively use the tools available to match this system-thinking, until your series! Thank you so much 🙏🏻✨ I had one question which kept popping up and I was wondering if this is something you work with: estimated time needed for tasks in planning the day. Is this something you do? If not, how do you calculate the time spent on tasks effectively in your weekly review? I’ve been adding ‘pomodoros’ from the pomodoro technique to tasks in order to roughly assess the time needed for tasks and plan my days with that in mind. But since you are light years ahead I’m very curious of this is something you focus on and perhaps hear how you do this 😃 Thank you again and I wish you all the best, I’ll be keeping and eye on your content as it’s amazing!! Take care, Sander

[@vitoraugustobarbosagaspar8628]

Hi August, great work and thanks a lot for sharing this! Quick question, in the Projects DB, I was wondering why you have decided to use a "Active" checkbox rather a "Done" checkbox (like in the Task DB) to make the GO -> Projects rollup. The second option looks cleaner as it would only require one tick instead micro managing active ones.. Am I missing something here? Thanks in advance

[@kuya.justin]

August, Im very happy to have found your channel which is helping me creating my own system in Notion right now. If you havent already, could you make a video showing all your page templates for various aspects of your notion life os? Many Thanks :)

[@augustbradley]

Thanks Justin, I too am very happy you found us! The series goes through showing each page one by one (and then some). it's all int eh videos. And lots more to come!

[@kuya.justin]

@@augustbradley Ok, will take my time to digest the videos completely, so I dont miss anything.👍🏼

[@augustbradley]

FAQ: If you want to roll-up data further than one database level, use a formula to mirror the data in the first rollup - then that formula info will rollup to the database above it. Get my NOTION TEMPLATES and join the NEWSLETTER at: www.mindandmachine.io/notion-templates Related Videos in this Series: + Alignment Zone: kzbin.info/www/bejne/on6UqaCraa-AeJo + Daily "Action Zone" Dashboard: kzbin.info/www/bejne/onzCiqacZbCib6c + Overview of Notion Life Operating System: kzbin.info/www/bejne/al63ioaXnZdoi68

[@CJohnOl]

Just accidentally found out about this myself, ready to write you a message, excited about telling you first :D This is really nice since I can take a time value from a time tracking database up to my annual summary through all the daily, weekly, monthly databases!

[@augustbradley]

Great minds think alike! Though it seems to have some trouble with rolling up text/links, it works great for numbers.

[@krystinacdg]

I love this idea of using the combination of rollups and mirrors so it fills hierarchical links for me and I began to play with it in the system. I m wondering whether you found out significant drawbacks to generalizing this approach compared to the direct relation fields. Thanks !

[@augustbradley]

@@krystinacdg Only small drawbacks, such as extra fields and links do not pass-through the mirrored rollups. But it does bring the data through, Trades offs, decide what's most important to you.

[@Seeker51]

Thank you for this! I was wondering if you had an alternate link for how to do the rollups of rollups. When I try to access the link above I get the following message: You do not have access to The King's Castle. Please contact an admin to add you as a member.

[@Justin-jr6ny]

Appreciate reducing the clutter of the remaining actions! I'm stuck on something though, in my project pages, the linked relation to the Action Items database still shows all the actions, done and undone. How would I have it remove the finished items and only show the undone action items? I'm seeing here it says "Action Items (Next)" but I'm not sure which video talks about that? My life is so much better with this, thank you!

[@az3848]

Hey August, another great video! How did you learn to create such complex systems and structures? Are there books you recommend?

[@augustbradley]

I've learned it largely by doing system design for businesses, then expanding to personal systems. Systems Thinking Resources: * KZbin videos of Russell Ackoff * "The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision" by Fritjof Capra and Pier Luigi Luisi * Donella Meadows' "Thinking in Systems"

[@eduardo-da-silva]

August, another great video! I am happy to see you shared a principle I wrote down for myself a few weeks ago, namely: do not link "non-adjacent" databases on the pyramid. This is a good principle from Database design (for the ones with computer science background), as those relations don't have a direct relation on your design (you may get some implicit relations with the roll-ups). I have added that principle on my "implementation", which I am putting together as you share more and more insights of your setup / PPV method - this is the current status of my DB design: esilva.net/assets/EduardoDaSilva_PPV-based_NotionOS_DB-desgin.png As you may notice I am tweaking some parts of the shared PPV, namely breaking down Projects and Value OKRs (I use this name instead of original Goal Outcomes) tables with specific Specific Key Results related tables, so it allows me to have a more fine grained planning for action (e.g.: Task X is a step to achieve the Project Y, specifically the Key Result Z from Project Y)... still not 100% happy with it, but satisfaction increasing as I "use & tweak the system". Keep up with the great work! Cheers!

[@augustbradley]

That's awesome Eduardo! Get thoughts, I link you disciplined and structured thought process here.

[@bassim3amer187]

What about adding a roll-up to the complete Action Items and know the number of checked items and use it in the progress bar formula instead of writing it. I just did it and fortunately, it works.

[@nikkisartvideos6412]

This is an awesome video...Thanks so much August! I do have a question re: using Goals as a rollup from the Projects db. Are ALL your tasks connected to a project? I have relatively general personal tasks and even routine business tasks that are connected to goals (ex. clear out paper clutter connected to my home organization goal, or reconcile my business accounting connected to my Profit First goal) but these tasks aren't necessarily connected to a project per se. Do you create projects for everything you do and they all filter up to goals or do some of your tasks not connect to projects whereby how do you connect them to goals then? Obviously, I understand I could just not use goals as a rollup, but I was just curious if there was a way that you treat this?

[@augustbradley]

No, many of my or anyone tasks are not connected to a project. That's normal. The ones connected to projects tend to be bigger ones advancing life objectives, but there are many smaller ones that are not part of the Alignment zone hierarchy. That;s normal. Just make sure you get a good number of tasks done each week also that are connected to projects. Hope that helps!

[@juanian]

Hi! do you know why the relation fleid in my Roll Up setup is always empty? I can´t pass through this step.

[@francescaromanacentini2070]

I don’t understand how the creation pipeline works with the project one. Let’s say you have a giant project in which you have multiple things to create for one of your channels, how do you organize them?

[@room9podcast]

Once Again amazing information. If you have not found a video editor yet I am ready to trade that for some consulting!

[@augustbradley]

Thanks! Massively appreciate this. The offer sounds great, though trying an editing solution right now -- just submitted the first two videos today.

[@room9podcast]

As I have said before August, you are giving out invaluable information for free, I'm the one who should be saying thanks. The most challenging part of starting any business is exactly what you are helping people do. If the video thing does not work out I would love to talk more or... once I get out of this covid hole and have the finances to do so; I will set up a phone call with you.

[@yusraisonfire]

Appreciate this video! I use your daily habit tracker that I have connected to my Weeks and Months database. I have averaged meals, sleep time and weight on the Weeks database using rollup, but I am unable to do so for the Months database. Any tips/fix arounds?

[@augustbradley]

Great progress Yusura! You cannot do a rollup of a rollup, which is what's stopping you. But if you want to get around that and roll the same data up further to months just use a formula to mirror the data in the weeks rollup - then that formula will rollup to the months. Instructions here: www.notion.so/Rollup-of-Rollup-Notion-48672cca693246c393ec57fbdad8acda

[@yusraisonfire]

@@augustbradley Thanks August! That's really helpful

[@DarylJames]

How are people dividing actions into group of task you can batch together? For GTD and time boxing I may like to do all the next action items for email, photo editing or next Indesign etc.. These task can span across many projects and Goal Outcomes. I have been using Pillars to do this but as August points out this is at a higher level. Any thoughts?

[@augustbradley]

That's a great approach, particularly for batches that are re-occurring like morning startup routines or weekly collections of rituals. Great thought.

[@OiGabs]

Hello, I need your help, I managed to create the rollup to count how many projects I have in each area of life, but I put the areas of life in a gallery, and there only appears the number of projects, but I would like the name to appear: Leisure ( Projects) 2 ( Completed) 1 Something like this only appears in the gallery: Leisure 2 1 How could I solve this? could you help me create the formula?

[@sanchitraizada7533]

August there's no Value Goals & Goal Outcomes Template Available Please Help!!!

[@arielramirez1605]

Thanks again for sharing your valuable knowledge with us. I have a question for everyone, how to combine 2 tables into one correctly. I have 2 tables of tasks and 2 of projects, related to each other (personal and work). Any ideas?

[@aadilkader]

How or why are you wanting to combine them? If you don't want to differentiate them between personal and work, you could simply drag or move all the personal rows/pages into the work table or vice versa. If you still want to be able to sort them according to work or personal, you could create a new "Select" property in each table, name it "Type" and tag all the work pages as work and all the personal pages as personal before moving them all into the same table

[@augustbradley]

Exactly what Yusuf said - he nailed it. Thanks Yusuf!

[@aadilkader]

@@augustbradley 🙂👍

[@arielramirez1605]

@@aadilkader Thanks for your answer, I will try it

[@dailydoseofraphael8045]

Can we get a glimpse into the quarterly / yearly databases / reviews?

[@augustbradley]

I am redoing the Annual & Quarterly Review approach, I have much better ways of doing it now.

[@Salentinu13]

I have some rollups I don't use frequently but they do add convenience. I had performance issues with rollups, i.e., I gained a lot of performance when I stopped using a rollup that would calculate the average % Done of action items related to an entry in my projects database. I noticed that when I switch a rollup to text property, that the rollup actually stays intact when switching back to a rollup. So, does anyone happen to know if turning a rollup to a text property when it is not used might serve as a way to save performance, or is the information still gained from the other databases but just not shown correctly because the property is now a text property?

[@wishcompta1299]

Hello August Can you share Alignment Zone dashboard please ? I really want to know how to do that

[@augustbradley]

Yes, it comes wit the course: www.yearzero.io/notion-course (plus a lot more)

[@krmatthews]

In the projects database, couldn't you still use the Status property as before (with "Completed" as an option) and just make the new Active property a formula (which produces a check-box by checking if Status is Completed) instead of a manual check-box? Assuming you can roll-up a formula which produces a checkbox in the same way that you can roll-up a checkbox, that is.

[@augustbradley]

I've been doing that lately. There are pros and cons, it's a trade off. But I'm inclined to go this way and will be mentioning it soon in another vid.

[@ronbraz9043]

Could you create a database of milage,repairs,mpg.for two different vehicles or types. I get so confused

[@augustbradley]

Sure, why not? You can create a database for any data.

[@miguelpulido1683]

What I want to know is what kind of client could imagine ghosting August Bradley; see disappointments at 16:36

[@Th4tY3ll0wGuy]

Hey August, I’m a little unsure on why Goal Outcomes has “completed”, “goals”, and “progress” properties. Is the goal outcome not the end goal of a project or habit? That being said, I would think that the progress of the project should indicate how close one is to a goal. Having those properties for Goal Outcomes seems redundant, but please tell me what your thought process was for including it!

[@augustbradley]

Goal Outcomes are higher level than Projects. Projects are designed to move you toward the Goal Outcomes, you could have several Projects needed to get you all the way to the goal outcomes (or could be just 1). Projects are an undertaking (what you are actually doing/executing), Goal Outcomes are, well, an outcome - a measurable end result. It could take many projects to achieve a goal outcome (in the same way it takes many tasks to complete a project). I have videos on each to help clarify. Hope this helps!

[@krzysztofkuc1013]

Guys: Is there a way to import View settings from "Original Database" to "Linked Database"? I'm so fed up with setting up the chronology of properties all over again each time I link a new one.

[@krzysztofkuc1013]

For example: when I change the order of the properties in original Production Pipeline I can sync the View into "In Production" so I don't have to do it manually, so it may look the same

[@venessag-author]

I have a question. One thing about using rollups is that it's only a display of what is in that field of that record on that other table. It doesn't attach the current record you're working on to the rolled up piece of data. For example, if I create a Project and create a relation to a Goal Outcome, then rollup my Pillar from the Goal Outcome to display on the Project, it doesn't add that Project to that Pillar (since a rollup is only meant to display data). So if I go into my Pillars, I won't see any of the Projects that are associated with that Pillar (assuming I do this as a matter of course). Am I just being weird that I like seeing that information? Obviously I can do what I want with my stuff, but I guess my question is something like: does it matter that I can't track Projects associated with Pillars when using rollups (as per the example)? Is there a rule of thumb for when to use rollups and when to use relations? I feel like maybe on Actions, using rollups for the higher level things would work, because you may not want every single action ever done listed on a Pillar page. Input is appreciated!

[@augustbradley]

Thanks Vanessa. There are no rules, and you are right that there are some limitations with Rollups. Push them as far as they're useful. Do what you can, but at ties it won't do exactly what you want. Often relations will take you further, but then it's not as automated. Always trade offs.

[@davecodingpro9900]

Great work August! One idea: could the "Active" checkbox be replaced with a formula that checks if the 'Status' column is a certain value? For example prop("Status") == "Active" will display a checkbox that will change based on the status you have selected in the "Status" column. You might already be doing this and I assume you're at least 10 steps ahead of me, but in case not, that might save you a click.

[@davecodingpro9900]

Oops I just watched your next video and realized you already have that implemented :)

[@augustbradley]

You found it! :)

[@mtracerz]

Hi guys, hoping someone can shed some light on this. I have used Relations throughout my system successfully - I have followed large parts of Augusts design, however also personalising my own pages that I need. However I have stumbled over a problem I have been unable to fix for the last few days. I am building a Client Contact database and I have a single page entry for MR Customer, and another entry for MRS Customer. Now if these customers are Married, I want a relation that shows this. As it is within the same Database, I have tried using the 'USE THE SAME PROPERTY, NO SYNCING' so that I only have one Field. However, when I create 'MR CUSTOMER' and put MRS into the Relation, this does not show inside MRS Customers page. It seems to work when I use 'Create a New Property' however this creates a new Field and looks messy having two fields.... Am I missing something simple here? I hope I have communicated this clear enough... any guidance appreciated, thanks

[@reganscally5507]

August, you likely already know this but one workaround for the inability of Notion to do a rollup of a rollup is to create a function property and have that mirror the rollup for that item. It does create an additional property for each lot of target data in each review but also allows any information you want to come through all of your reviews.

[@SusheeNzeutem]

That's exactly what I was thinking. I would be surprised if that was not possible in Notion.

[@augustbradley]

Yes, I'm aware of this but: (1) that would add a level of complexity to this introduction to Rollups that I did not want to introduce. No need to confuse those learning the core concept. And (2) that would add more data fields when I am striving to limit them, and (3) as I stated several times there is no need for them here because the simple summarisation workaround here actually adds additional value. I have yet to see an instance where the mess and clutter of additional fields from mirroring and adding formulas would add enough benefit to justify it. I'm not interested in applying this just because I can, there has to be a worthwhile payoff greater then the cost. Just because you can does not mean you should.

[@SusheeNzeutem]

August Bradley : Notion Productivity fair enough. Thank you August. By the way, Thank you so much for all this useful content.

[@augustbradley]

Tanks Sushee! Appreciate that. I can imagine I will at some point find a good use for this approach, but I'm also hoping (expecting) Notion to add the ability to hide data fields listed in which case this approach would be more appealing to me in more situations. Or Notion may just let us rollup rollups directly!

[@aadilkader]

@@augustbradley Hi August. I agree with your points 1 and 3, but wondering about point 2... Since you never work with the databases directly (you almost always work with them through dashboards), why is limiting the number of properties for each field so important? Surely even if there are unnecessary fields, you'd never see them or have to deal with them since they're hidden in all your views and especially in your linked databases in your dashboards? Just wondering if there's a practical point I'm missing

[@veganv-taper]

Wish there was a rollup of a rollup. And a rollup of a rollup of a rollup and so on.

[@justbelit]

tried listening on a slower speed for this to sink in. struggling as a newbie.

[@clumein2]

Damn.... slow down a hair so the dumb people can follow.... not impressed with how good & fast you are in Notion...

[@augustbradley]

Ha! 😀 That's what the pause/rewind controls are for.

[@HippieP629]

I had to 75% speed it myself =)