Notion 101: How to Make a Notion Dashboard
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Not sure how to organize all of your Notion dashboard ideas to create a simple Notion dashboard that works for you? No problem! If you need a Notion dashboard how to, let me teach you how to make a Notion dashboard! You’ll be well underway in making the aesthetic Notion dashboard of your dreams in no time!
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Creating a Notion dashboard seems intimidating but it’s really easier than you might think! It really comes down to getting clear on what you want to use Notion for and creating a basic structure that you can grow into. Your dashboard will never be finished but if you give yourself a solid foundation, you can grow your dashboard into whatever you need in no time!
If you’re looking for a true beginner’s guide to Notion, click here to read How to Use Notion for Beginners!
Finding Notion Dashboard Ideas
Before you begin working on your Notion dashboard, you should spend some time looking at Notion dashboards for inspiration. Take note of what you like and dislike about them. Great places to find inspiration are Pinterest and TikTok!
Just be sure to set a timer, I often get distracted looking at Notion ideas and then find I’ve wasted much more than the 10 minutes I allotted to my search!
Organize your ideas and inspiration into one place and then figure out what would work well in your life. I’m going to talk about widgets and aesthetics in a minute but look beyond how pretty they are. How would this support your life and your work?
Notion Dashboard-How to Get Started
Now that you have ideas and inspiration, let’s narrow down why you want to use Notion in the first place.
Think about previous planning systems, what a perfect system would look like, and why you’ll be using Notion. Make a list and write everything down to use when you start to create your dashboard.
While your list should be comprehensive, try not to add things to the list just for the sake of adding them. If you already love using Goodreads to track your reading, do you need a Notion page as well?
You don’t need to know everything right now and everything you think of doesn’t have to make it into the final dashboard. I’ve cut so many ideas from my dashboard because I know I’ll never use them and I’ve add more on a whim because I realized they’d be helpful! Once you set up your dashboard, you can even save these ideas in a Callout Box block at the bottom or in a new page if you’re afraid you’ll forget them.
How to Make a Notion Dashboard
Now that you’re inspired and have a clearer vision of the pages and systems you’ll need in your dashboard, it’s time to actually get started on making your dashboard. If you haven’t already created a Notion account, definitely do so now.
Open up a new page and give your dashboard a title. If you’re feeling inspired and know exactly what you want, start adding and adjusting columns and blocks that you know you want first. You can, of course, set up your page however you’d like but I prefer two columns, one holding a Table of Contents or Menu and one with a to-do list and database.
I typically make the Table of Contents a Toggle List block and write out the names of the pages I’d like inside. For example, I have pages for Goals, Projects, Hobbies, Wardrobe, Homeschooling, and more on my Personal Dashboard. Don’t worry about creating pages for these yet. Just write out the titles for the pages you think you’ll need and you can work on them at a later time.
Now is also a great time to add a database. If you want a calendar on your dashboard, that’s a great place to start! You can edit the database and add more views, templates, and properties once you’re done with your set up, unless you’re sure you won’t get distracted and abandon your project!
Benefits of a Simple Notion Dashboard
I’m a big advocate for having a simple, easy-to-use Notion dashboard. This is especially true if you’re first starting out with Notion. When I’m working with clients on their first dashboard, I always advocate for a simpler layout that does exactly what they need without a ton of bells and whistles.
Why? Well, it’s much easier to add new features than it is to take them away. Obviously deleting things only takes one click but depending on the block you’re deleting, you may need to find a replacement or reorganize your entire page to make it look balanced again. When you add new blocks as you need or want them, you’re usually much more confident that they’ll add function and dopamine to your dashboard rather than just take up space!
So what’s on my Notion Dashboard?
I like my day to day pages pretty simple as it makes it much harder for me to get distracted. I have my Menu Toggle with all of my top level pages and my Callout Box with my To-do List at the top. Below that I have my database with a Gallery View filtered by current projects and tasks. It’s simple and easy to use.
If I’m being completely honest, I don’t love most widgets. They looks very cool but they don’t always serve a function. And I, personally, am using Notion for function over aesthetics. That doesn’t mean I don’t want my dashboard to look cute, I just don’t want it to look cute at the expense of something more functional.
I’m also not a scroller, I’m a clicker. If I have to scroll down for more than three seconds to find something, I’m likely not ever going to use it. But I will click through my pages to find exactly what I need. So real estate at the top of my dashboard is really important to staying organized.
The Aesthetic Notion Dashboard
If you found this article via Pinterest, this is probably why you’re here. You want to know how to make that Aesthetic Notion Dashboard. The It Girl Notion Planner.
Before we get started, let me give you my Spotify Widget rant:
Yes, it seems very cool to have your playlist right in your workspace.
However, it only plays for 30 seconds.
Don’t waste the space! I believe you can embed a Soundcloud playlist that will actually play but I don’t use Soundcloud so it’s not something I reach for unless someone specifically asks for it. You are much better off creating a link to your Spotify Playlist and clicking it when you’re ready to get started!
With that out of the way, there are lots of ways to customize your Notion dashboard that don’t require coding or embeds! Easy peasy, right in Notion customizations!
Change the font style, text size, and page width by clicking the three dots in the upper right-hand corner.
Change the icons for each page and some blocks (like a Callout Box). I prefer the minimal icons over the emojis. For some of my templates like my Garden Planner, I’ve made custom icons in Canva with images I’ve purchased from Creative Fabrica.
Change the Cover images with Unsplash. I like to theme my dashboards. I’ll search for ‘wildflowers’ or ‘fall’ or ‘yellow’ and add Cover Images that match the theme. I’ll also add a cover photo to my Gallery View databases to match the theme.
Change the Colors. You can change the color of the text or the color of the background of most blocks by clicking the six dots to the left of the block.
Add Images. You can add an image block and add images from Unsplash or upload your own. This is a great way to add family photos, wedding photos, or inspiration. It’s so easy to change you could easily update it weekly or even daily.
Are you excited to get started with your Notion dashboard yet? If you’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s ok! It seems very overwhelming to start! Just get a little bit done at a time. It may not seem like much but all of a sudden you’ll sit down and realize you have a functional dashboard!
For more help with your Notion Dashboard, don’t forget to check out Notion Dashboard Bootcamp! It’s a 5 day program that gets you up and running with Notion in a week! And it only costs $9!
