Notion VIP Roundup // October 2023

Dearest VIPs — Since Notion stole my heart in 2019, I've developed countless workspaces and worked intensively with the Notion team, top experts, and users of all stripes. Along the way, I established a set of core principles for maximizing Notion. They underpin every strategy I hone and resource I craft. And the more I employ them, the more powerful they prove to be.

Let them guide your own approach to Notion. You'll get the most from the uniquely versatile app—and it just might steal your heart too.

The video references Bulletproof Blueprint and Bulletproof Tasks. I want you to have them for free and 80% off, respectively. Two quick requests:

1. Like the video (honor system)
2. Reply to this email with this message: October_VIP

We'll send back a discount code. And as always, you can join Notion A-to-Z for just $100 with the code VIP_AZ. (Both valid for the next 48 hours.)

Bits 'n' Bytes

Formulas 2.0

• With an overhaul to the Formula property, Notion fixed clunky bugs and added powerful new capabilities.
• Among the most advantageous upgrades, you can:
  1. write cleaner code with line breaks, dot notation and comments;
  2. apply text formatting to returned values; and
  3. fetch properties of related items (like a Rollup).
• I have guides in the pipeline. Until then, Ben Borowski's overview is fantastic.
• In the spirit of Golden Rule #7, formulas are essential to maximizing Notion.

New & Notable Features

• Freeze Columns — In any table-formatted databases, click a column and choose Freeze up to column.
• "Automations" — Above databases you'll now find a ⚡ icon, where you can configure actions for specified trigger events. I'm happy to see this baby step, but the feature is mostly useless without formula-generated values or webhooks.
• Dynamic Template Values — When creating a database template, you can now enter dynamic values like @me, @today and @now. When the template is used, those values would populate with the creator, the current day and the current time.
• Translation — Among the preconfigured AI properties, you'll now find AI Translation. For each instance, you specify the language and which property to translate.

Zoom Out

• The Streamline — As I say in Golden Rule #11, Notion is just a piece of the productivity puzzle. When you integrate and automate, you amplify Notion's contribution to your broader productivity system. In The Streamline, I cover the bigger picture for next-generation professionals. Subscribe →
• Coda 4.0 — For many teams, Coda is more important to that productivity puzzle than Notion. With the release of Coda 4.0, it gets even more powerful, with new capabilities that previously gave Notion an advantage, including sub-items and dependencies. Explore Coda 4.0 →
• You Probably Need a Robot — This weekly newsletter is a beautiful complement to Notion VIP and The Streamline. The talented team at Lake Checkout delivers actionable AI insights that pair nicely with Notion to bolster your overall productivity system. Subscribe →
• Prompts Daily — Another indispensable guide to leveraging AI for productivity. Aadit Sheth offers a snapshot of each day’s top stories and trending tools, along with a useful ChatGPT prompt. Subscribe →

Red-Hot Resources

Snag any resource's template at 80% off: Just like its YouTube video and reply to this email (honor system 🤞).