Distractions come in many forms—even from your own ideas and projects. They can also present themselves to you as friendly suggestions from someone you know.
However, there’s a way you can get back on track while saving those bits of information for later—because who knows? They may just turn into something amazing.
In this article, we’ll take you through some lists in Notion you can use to avoid distractions and prevent you from losing your brilliant ideas.
1. The Ideas Page
Sometimes your best ideas come to you when you’re working on something completely unrelated. Naturally, you get excited and want to explore them further, but the stack of work in front of you takes priority.
While your best ideas can become a distraction, they’re also easily forgotten when you try to push them aside. There are many apps that help prevent distractions on your devices, but when it’s you distracting yourself, you can turn Notion.
Creating an ideas page in Notion will give you a place to park your ideas so that you can find them and return to them later. An added benefit is you’re visiting the idea once the initial excitement has worn off, so you can better decide if it’s worth taking action on.
The example above uses a toggle list to keep the page tidy. However, you can expand upon your idea by placing blocks inside. This list type will come in handy if you have a few points to jot down alongside your idea, so you can avoid forgetting them, too.
2. The Revisit Page
Likely, we’ve all had a task or project that’s been on our to-do list for some time.
Sometimes you may end up with a to-do that feels like an obligation, but really it’s optional whether you do it or not. For example, you’re learning to draw, but you can’t seem to sit down and do it.
Whether you’ve had to change priorities or you’re simply not motivated right now, place it on your revisit list so that you can assess if you want to do it at another time. By doing so, you’ll avoid being distracted by it in your current to-do list, and it may even relieve some of the pressure you’re putting on yourself to get it done.
Ask yourself if the task or project is a should or must. If it’s a must, put it at the top of your list and get it out of the way. If it’s a should, park it on your revisit list. Perhaps it just isn’t your thing, or you need to put your focus elsewhere for now.
The example above uses a simple bullet point list. It gives you a clean list without needing to expand on the task or feeling like you need to fill in a checkbox beside it.
Placing items here doesn’t mean you won’t get back to it. Think of it as being on hold. Once you’re ready to pick it up again, it will be there waiting for you.
3. The Random Page
Is it a task? Is it an idea? If there’s something that doesn’t seem to fit on any of your other Notion pages, it goes on the random list.
Making a random page in Notion is beneficial because you will have a place to park distractions. For example, your coworker suggests you check out a video game trailer while you’re in the middle of a task.
Rather than searching for it or checking the link right away, park the suggestion on your random list and go about your day.
This is the perfect place for good ideas and suggestions you’re interested in taking action on at some point, but they really aren’t a priority right now. You’re just putting them there to not forget them entirely.
The example above uses a to-do list so that you can check things off as you complete them. If your list gets too full of checked items, you can move them to an archive page if you like to keep track, or just delete them since it’s random anyway.
Types of List Blocks You Can Use in Notion
Notion offers four basic lists that will help you build organized pages: the to-do list, the bulleted list, the numbered list, and the toggle list.
In the examples above, we covered to-do, bulleted, and toggle. If you have a list you’d like to put into numerical order, here’s an example of what that looks like if you’re new to or have yet to use Notion.
If you want to get in-depth with your ideas, you may want to check out the list database block. Simply put, this block creates a new page in your Notion for every line you enter. You can also customize it with additional properties, but for this example, we’ll keep it minimal.
The main benefit of using a database list is you can quickly put it on the list and jot your initial thoughts into the page right away, or come back and expand on it later.
Another benefit is the ability to move this in with your main pages once you’re ready to turn it into a project page. To do so, go to the page options and select Move to. Until then, it stays in the list database, where it’s less likely to distract you.
How to Add a Page and Make a List in Notion
To create your ideas, revisit, and random lists, you’ll follow the same steps each time. Start by selecting New page in the bottom left corner. Next, give it the name you’d like to use.
You can add the list of your choice by using the forward slash to bring up the commands and selecting the one you want. To narrow down the options, type lists after the slash.
Your list will appear, and you can start typing items in.
Each list works much like the bullets and lists you find in word processing software. Pressing enter will bring up a new point, and indenting will nest another list within.
Limit Your Distractions With Notion
By creating these lists in Notion, you can prevent ideas and suggestions from falling through the cracks or becoming distractions. If you’re new to Notion, using it may seem complex, but it’s one of the easiest project management tools to use.
Once you get the hang of it, you may just want to use it for everything.
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