Notion

I only started using Notion this past year, and I can honestly say it's changed the way I work, eliminated 90% of procrastinating and made me feel much more organised and free of worry about tasks and deadlines. Bear in mind, I was unemployed and not in education so there weren't any impending commitments, however as a content creator and blog writer, I see my blog as my personal project, it could be a full-time career. That being said, I absolutely regret not finding Notion much much earlier. So if you're going in to architecture and finding yourself reading this, well done, you're one step ahead of the game.

Why is Notion the best tool? (in my opinion)

So Notion is great for task management because you can create multiple databases along with various views of the data. So if you prefer looking at a checklist, you can absolutely do that. If you want to relate each task to a project you're working on like your design project, your thesis or even a side project, you can do that too.

Other than task management, Notion is a great storage system. As mentioned in the 10 Key Principles lesson, it's a slow burner. You can add in notes or save resources off the web and make it your workspace for whatever you need. It's also great for companies and working in teams but that's just one of the applications.

I truly believe Notion is the best tool for architects because as much as it's about building the things you use, it's also a very successful and visual-based workspace. The level which you use it as is completely up to you. Some people may only need a digital notebook or a quick capture page where they have a simplistic checklist. Others may want to assign dates and deadlines to these tasks and projects along with tags or priority levels. The most fun and satisfying part of Notion is its customisability. You build your own system (with help from templates) and you use that system to your advantage.

The point of the Archi Brain is for this system to manage your tasks, keep track of your calendar, meetings and deadlines so you know exactly where you need to assign your time. In turn, this makes your productive habits so much better because you spend less time worrying about what to do next and instead, you're able to know exactly what you have planned for the next few hours, weeks or months.

Getting Started with Notion

It can be pretty daunting once you create a Notion account, but that's exactly what templates are for. I would suggest looking through Notion's template library and adding everything that interests you. The beauty of this is that there's no obligation for you to keep these pages, they are never set in stone (well maybe templates you create). Students might want to start crafting a university template where you can store all your notes, references, tutorial notes etc.

Khe Hy has a wonderful article about exactly how to set up your Notion. You might find that the Notion Web Clipper becomes your best friend when saving architecture projects that inspire you. Sharing is another aspect of Notion which is wonderful. Imagine your tutors had access to a curated page of your online portfolio that they could comment on and review in real time.

Another acronym you will come across very often is GTD 'Getting Things Done' by Khe Hy. It's loosely based on the principles of the same titled book by David Allen. This is the first system I would suggest you take a look at and create yourself. Don't rely on the free template just yet. Because we both know, creating something is the best way of learning too.