For a lot of people, keeping track of assignment deadlines and requirements can quickly become overwhelming when the work really starts piling on. During midterms and finals season, it seems like professors start assigning even more work on top of prepping for exams. If there is anything that a student can use to easily reduce the stress that comes with organizing your course content without having to worry about what to do and when, Notion is the app for you. Available both as an app on your smartphone, desktop, and in browser view, Notion has made school a lot more manageable and fun. I am not sponsored by the company (although I would love that), I just really like the app, and want to share it with my fellow students!
A first glance at Notion can seem a little daunting because of the sheer amount of options and resources that are available to you, but that is where I see the beauty in the app. You are not confined to a specific format in how you should organize your course content. Using the interface as a new user, Notion provides you with pre-set pages that serve as examples of how you can use the app itself. Pages such as a movie or book list may appear on the left side of your screen, those have been made for you as a guideline. They are removable, but even with those pages you can customize them however you like if you choose to keep them. I personally removed all the example pages after I had gone through the tutorials on those specific pages. Some pages will show you how to use certain formatting choices, such as embedding a song or article onto a page (I use these a lot). Our focus on this article is to talk about how Notion can help you with your schoolwork, so you may or may not need to embed things as much as I do, this is all personal preference.
If you are like me, I sometimes struggle with keeping my full attention on schoolwork that takes up a good chunk of my day, so with Notion I like to make my pages look as pretty as I’d like, while also still having a relatively simple structure so that nothing looks overwhelming. In terms of creativity within your pages, the sky’s the limit. Changing fonts, colors, text size, location, it does not matter, Notion will be able to do it. I even figured out how to embed GIFs (pronounced as a J or G?) into some pages so that I can appreciate the moving pictures while I do my work! You can have a calendar in your pages if you prefer to keep all school related events in one place as well, this can also apply to assignment deadlines. This would be called a “view.” A view is essentially a different way of looking at your assignments. For example, if you prefer a table over a calendar you can easily change that view.
If you know anyone that already uses this app and you are still interested in giving it a try, you are able to actually share your page with people in order to collaborate with them. This means that working on group projects becomes a lot simpler, as you’re able to work with your classmates in real time. Suggestions can be made, you can restrict access to view only, with several different ways in which you can structure your Notion account! An added bonus is that students are able to make an upgrade to their accounts for free when they verify which educational institution they attend (always take up those uni discounts!).
The most challenging aspect of using Notion personally was figuring out how I wanted to make my pages creative. I always look to Youtube for inspiration, so I will be linking a few videos; some are basic tutorials on how to use Notion, others can include detailed templates that you can actually transfer and use on your own account. Have fun!