How do I write reading notes with Notion

With hindsight, I only heard last week that the personal version of Notion has become a gospel of free appointments. I didn't pay attention to this news because I used the university email to register and it was always free. In the end, I learned that I found it by the way when I saw the news that Notion was banned in China.

The reason for the ban is still unknown, at least there is no official explanation from the Chinese government, but the ban has now been lifted. During the period, the founder and CEO Ivan Zhao wrote a letter "Hello, Friends of the Notion Chinese Community" to explain the situation. There are useful people who are uneasy about his background (born in China), for fear that he will be "recruited". However, Ivan refuted netizens online, saying that he was a "Chinese" who immigrated to high school. Later, Notion also issued a statement , stating that it is an American company, the data is stored in the United States, it does not own user data, and it complies with GDPR regulations. This is commendable

By the way, it is said that Beijing Evernote was the first to register the trademark of Notion. Later, a suspected copycat version of Notion appeared, called "Hanzhou" ...

I have used a lot of text software or programs, from Microsoft Word, which I must use in the past, to Google Doc, and I also use Evernote, Cold Turkey, Google Keep, Apple Note, Typora... If I have time, I can write a comparison article. But the conclusion is that Notion is the most attractive for the time being, especially I have been trying to achieve the effect with Google Doc and Googlesheet in the past. When Notion is a built-in, basic, "one-click" function, I finally feel that I have waited.

Notion not only has almost all the functions of the text software, but also has database and connection functions. The following is my reading note Page (Page can be regarded as the basic unit of Notion, and now individual users can open it for free and unlimited)

In the reading notes Page, I built a Database, added the desired categories, and it was clear at a glance. It is very convenient to search, sort and filter if necessary. My reading notes are few and far between, but they're useful when managing what I've written.

Let’s talk about the purpose of these reading notes first. Here we only talk about general books, excluding textbooks and papers. Because I have tried many times after reading a book for several years, I only want to quote the content of the article one day when I write it, and it took a lot of time to find the paragraph I used. For example, when writing a letter (yes, I still write) when I want to quote a novel, I end up rereading it almost once, because I forgot where that passage was and the novel was fascinating. Since then, I have not only written notes or highlights, but also made reading notes on the computer. The purpose is that I don't need to have the book in hand when I use it, and it can also save the time of searching.

With this goal in mind, the basic elements of this type of note are page count, content, and small notes.

When writing reading notes in Google Doc, I didn't get a template for this. I usually open a file, make a copy and delete the old content. The small notes are written directly under the content, and different colors are used to distinguish them if necessary.

But Notion is in the form of Blocks, (if you have built a website, you probably know that this freedom will also bring some pain), it is more convenient to design a Template than Copy&Paste or make a copy and then delete the content, so I made a very simple one Version. Can be used if needed.

Note that the items in the Template will automatically become the items of the Database, but you can freely choose which items are displayed in the Database. For example, my Templates record when I started reading that book, but I think I don't need this information when I look at Database, so I hide it.

Notion's Toggle list is also very useful, allowing me to put away chapters that I don't need, so I don't have to reel in long pages when writing or reading notes.

If you want to link related web pages and files, it is not difficult for other document software to do it, you can do it through hyperlinks. It's just that Notion has a good user experience. It can directly search for pages that have been created. For example, when reading this book, I suddenly trigger the content I have read in another book "The Last Intellectual", and I can connect them. For another example, if you see news one day, although it may not be relevant, you can observe it again in the future, and you can also put the link on it.

It is more convenient to create a new Page directly in Page. For example, if I want to write Salami Tactic's notes separately, I can immediately open a Page with this name, and then connect the two pages like a normal text link.

For example, when reading a book, if you want to save a screenshot, it is also very convenient, so you can upload it directly to Notion. Both Google Keep and Apple Note work, but I've forgotten if Google Doc works. In Notion, it will not directly add the pictures you uploaded to the Page, but directly open the Page in the Page for you. Since it's just a demonstration, I'm too lazy to change the name, but if you really need it, you can change the name according to the number of pages, or even use screenshots to take notes. To use the screenshot on the original Page, click in and drag the image to the desired position in the upper left corner.

Finally, it is recommended to click Page Lock after finishing the note. Because Blocks is really convenient to move freely, sometimes when you look at it on your mobile phone, you just dial the dial and the position is adjusted. The worst thing is that you only see the wrong dial, but you don't see anything moved, and you go to Page history Look. But to be fair, its mobile phone program is well designed. If you want to shift when dialing, it will vibrate to remind. Google Keep's checkboxes don't.

This is how I write reading notes for general books in Notion. Other readings will be different, and I will talk about them when I have a chance. However, Notion also has some drawbacks, which may be less obvious for writing reading notes, such as:

• Or because of database or toggle list, etc., it takes more time to load than a piece of text software/program. Fortunately, the situation is not serious, and the synchronization is also well done.
• There is no problem with adding pictures, but it lacks the function of editing pictures. It seems that it does not even have the function of cutting small. If you really want to do it, you need to force it by adding blocks.
• Text editing options are limited, such as text color and Highlight cannot be used on the same word. There aren't many font choices, but less is more for notes.
• I'm not used to writing articles in blocks, so if I write long articles, most of them are written in Google Docs. But when doing data collection or post-management, Notion is used again, which is now a two-line parallel.
• Anything to add a table is basically a database; even if sometimes I just want a normal, non-functional table. Of course, because it uses blocks, all the text can be moved around, and it can still be created if necessary, it's just a hassle.
• Templates are the same as database. Only after the database is built, templates can be designed, and they cannot be moved casually. Suppose I wrote Templates on the Page of Book Notes and wanted to use them in Blog Post. And because of the relationship between Blocks and linkage, copying and pasting is not feasible. However, Pages can be moved freely, so my suggestion is to open a database for Templates separately. Don't categorize them first. Every time you press Template, you can open a new Page before placing it freely.

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