Notion is a really versatile and powerful workspace management system. However, great power comes with great responsibility.
If you don't understand the psychology behind Notion's design and features, you may end up using it like Evernote or Google Keep.
There are chances that you will end up with a suboptimal solution if you use popular templates and try to customize them to your workflow.
Your Notion system should be optimized keeping mental models and systems thinking concepts in mind.
- Reduce frictions/bottlenecks - The aim of any all-in-one workspace management system is to reduce the friction associated with getting things done. You can end up introducing unwanted frictions in your system by overusing the features Notion comes with. Self-imposed constraints play a role here.
- Weigh in the chain of consequences - Whenever you make changes in the system, it can have some desirable/undesirable consequences in its other parts. Whether it's good or bad, the unintended consequences are always bad. Whatever changes you make, directly/indirectly they all should be purposeful.
- Preserve optionality - Notion is such a flexible system that whatever changes you make can be easily reversible. But, some decisions you make in your systems design can cost a lot of money and energy to refactor. So whenever you make changes in your system, you need to constantly ask - “What other possibilities or bridges am I burning by making this change or building it this way? Will the current system I’m building be 100% compatible with new features that Notion may implement?”.
- Second brain - By designing your Notion system in the same way the brain works, you'll increase cognitive ease and creativity.
- Unlock hidden insights and emergence - Notion is fundamentally designed to operate holistically as an all-in-one system. When you implement all your systems in Notion - like task management, project management, goal tracking, meeting notes, team wiki, SOPs, you can feed the insights provided by these processes into each other. It leads to the emergence of new ideas and insights to growth hack your business.
Along with these, you need to make use of proven organization structures and productivity frameworks, to make sure your Notion workspaces are bulletproof.
There is a lack of Notion consultants who can train you holistically from a systems thinking perspective.
In this page, we have listed some of the well-known Notion consultants whose help you can take to create intelligent workspaces.
Top Notion Consultants
August Bradley
August's system-thinking approach and use of innovative technologies are legendary. I personally have borrowed a lot of concepts from PPV to improvise my Notion workspace to get more room for emergence embracing holism.
He's a Harvard MBA with 25 years of startup and major brand experience.
He was previously COO of Kite & Lightning, an immersive software company that created virtual worlds and interactive experiences based on AI technology.
As a creative and strategic consultant, August has worked with leading brands including the Gap, J.Crew, Banana Republic, Amway, Coke, and Xbox. Which was a pleasant surprise I got to know, when writing this piece!
In addition to being a Notion Pro, August Bradley is also a certified Notion Consultant. Consequently, he works closely with the company to discuss new features, and can help resolve problems by accessing other Pros and the Notion team.
His experience as a consultant for Notion and as a host of the popular Notion YouTube channel provide him with unique perspectives and a comprehensive understanding of how to use the platform effectively.
You can book a consultation session with August, here on this page.
William Nutt
William is the founder of Nutt Labs, a digital strategy firm and consulting firm based in New York.
Nutt Labs empowers organizations to achieve their business goals and accomplish their dreams by providing advanced digital strategies and Notion implementation solutions.
William works directly with Notion in a variety of capacities besides supporting users. As host of the Notion at Work webcast, he has co-authored the Help & Support page of Notion.
He is best known for his aesthetic sense and knowledge of design principles. In addition, he's an expert in tools that power savvier organizations; an early proponent of the no-code movement.
In case you are interested in his consultation, you can discover more here.
Marie Poulin
Marie will help you streamline your digital systems, workflow, and productivity so you can spend more time on what counts.
Besides being a designer, teacher, and professional connector, her superpower is being able to connect seemingly disparate information, identify valuable opportunities, and help you create momentum in your own life.
She founded Notion Mastery, Run Your Learning Launch, Digital Strategy School, and co-founded Oki Doki with my husband, where we help people build, launch, and market online courses and training programs.
It was Marie who is considered to be one of the early tinkerers of Notion and her use of the platform gained a following around the world.
I would like to say that Marie does not just teach Notion to you, she teaches you on how to think! She teaches you on how to think in systems.
If you would like Marie to help you in your business process then you can book a consultation session here from her website.