Work Smarter & Faster in Notion with this Workflow!

So one of the most asked questions is how I use my creative workflow to run my software business, my YouTube channel, Stationary line, social media content, and more.

The short answer would be; I’m using Notion (ps: check my templates here)

But how I’m actually using Notion to connect all of my different projects and tasks in a way that absolutely works fantastic for me is something we’re going to dive into.

Pre-Notion

Before discovering Notion, I used several different apps for different projects.

I used Apple Notes for note-taking, Google Docs for documenting stuff, Asana for project management, and a whole bunch of other apps to basically run my life and business.

Before using Notion, I documented everything in Google Drive.

Since using Notion, it’s my single main app to store everything.

How I'm using Notion

I literally document and store everything in my Notion. From personal stuff, such as the books I’ve read and the notes I took from each book.

I have a separate "books" database with notes.

To all of my todos for different projects such as my software product, my stationery line, our blog productivityandbrains.com, and of course, my YouTube channel.

Notion Workflow for YouTube

I think especially the way I use Notion to run my YouTube channel is the most interesting to look at.

I'm using Kanban boards with different statuses.

I love working with this Kanban framework, but the real magic really comes from how I’m working with templates to save time and up my productivity and how they’re all linked together to keep everything structured with all the metadata of each task within each project.

How I use my Creative Workflow

The first thing you see when I open up the YouTube project within Notion is a Kanban board with a bunch of statuses such as script writing, filming, etc.

But the very start of creating a new video for my YouTube channel starts here in this tab called ”ideas,” which is basically a separate section where I just store all of the ideas for upcoming videos.

Whenever we need a new video topic, I scroll through all of these ideas and pick one or two, and I can simply just drag and drop them to the script-writing section, which means I can start working on writing the script.

Here’s where the real magic begins.

PS: Download this exact YouTube Content Planner Template here :)

Notion Template Workflow

From here, a new video really starts to come alive. The first thing I need to do is write the script of a video. When I open up the video, you’ll come across a template I specifically designed to start working on a script for a video.

I typically start working on the title of a video; this is something I like to do because it sets the tone of the script. I created this length counter, so I can work on a title that stays under my desired length of 55 characters.

Once I come up with 3 or more titles, I scroll down to the thumbnail. And here, I’ll brainstorm what I think the thumbnail should look like. So, in this case, when we’re talking about the brain-boosting pills, I need those pills to be in the thumbnail, and likely I’ll make my brain explode or something to express the result of taking such pills.

Next, we’ll scroll down, and I'll start writing on the script itself.

At this point, we have a video to work with.

Linked Databases in Notion

Typically, we have a couple of sponsors lined up that wanna sponsor a video, or we’re working with affiliate partners to monetize this video. And this is where the magic of linked databases comes in. Because in the property “sponsorships,” I can actually look up sponsors from the sponsor database, which is a separate database and page within Notion where we list all of our sponsors.

The best thing about linked databases is that it works both ways, so I can see which video a sponsor is sponsoring from the sponsorships database and on the video page itself.

The same goes for affiliate partners. We’re working with a separate affiliate database that contains all of our partners, their URLs, and all the information we need, and we can simply attach and link them to any given video.

The Affiliate database is linked to the video database.

This way, when we visit the video page itself, we immediately see who is sponsoring a video, which is essential because we likely need to include a mention in the script.

Kanban workflow

Once the script has been written, it’s time to move it to the next column, meaning I need to be filming the script.

Once added to the FILMING column, I’ll start filming the actual video and once I’m done with filming, it moves to the “Edit” column, which means my editor will start working on the edit.

Properties in Notion

I do keep track of publishing in a very serious and structured way.

Once published, you’ll find all of the links to the video itself and as well as the blog post, tweet, LinkedIn post, etc., right on the video page itself.

Working with this creative workflow means my team, and I always know what the status of each video is and who needs to do what.

Kanban + Now, Next, Not Yet = WIN!

Besides creating content in Notion, as we discussed, I’m also working with Kanban boards to work on tasks based on the Now, Next, Not Yet method.

If we look at my roadmap for the Strive Stationary brand, for example, you can see this roadmap that consists of the Now, Next, Not Yet framework with tasks I need to do right now and everything that’s coming after.

Strive To-Do Journal with Now, Next, Not yet.

It’s the exact framework the Strive To-Do Journal uses itself. Check it out at bystrive.com and use the code BLOG for 10% off.

BONUS: Today Page!

One last tip I wanted to share about my creative workflow is using a separate standalone page I call “TODAY.”

This is basically a dedicated page with all the things I absolutely have to do today. And so, each morning, I write down my most important tasks and the things I do not need to forget down here on this page.

And this is absolutely a game changer to me, as it helps me stay focused on the things that are most important right now.

I hope my creative workflow was helpful to you; make sure to sign up for free at Notion and start designing your own workflow!