Time Blocking in Notion: A Complete Guide for Students
Balancing studying and having a social life can be tough. Having a good plan helps, but let’s be honest, it’s not always easy to stick to it.
I’m a fourth-year college student double-majoring in Law and Business Administration, and having a good schedule has been key to making time for myself.
Notion has been my lifesaver for scheduling. The platform is easy to use, aesthetic, and most importantly, free!
This guide will show you how to use time blocking in Notion to build a simple student productivity system and manage your daily schedule effectively.
What is time blocking?
Time blocking is a time management method where you divide your day into specific blocks of time, each dedicated to a single task or activity. This helps you stay focused, reduce distractions, and plan your day more effectively.
Not only that, but time blocking enables you to visualize your day, identify free time, and ensure that you complete everything on your to-do list.
For example, instead of writing “study” on your to-do list, you would block 10:00–12:00 for studying and 14:00–15:00 for reviewing notes.
Who Should Use Time Blocking in Notion?
- Students with busy schedules
- People who procrastinate
- Anyone juggling study + work + social life
Setting Up Time Blocking In Notion
Whether you are a Notion pro or a total beginner, time blocking is easy and interactive. This step-by-step guide will help you set up an optimized student time management system.
1. Create a Database:
Databases are the origin of our timeline. You can create a new database for your “timeline” or use an already existing one. Don’t worry, either way, the process is very simple:
- Click on the + button.
- Choose “timeline view.”
If you want to connect the timeline to an existing database, follow these steps:
- Click on database settings.
- Go to “Manage Data Sources”
- Choose “Link Existing Data Source”
And just like that, you’ve created your time-blocking setup. You’ve already done the hardest part. Now, let’s go to the interesting part.
2. Customize Your Time Block
The second step for time blocking in Notion is to actually create a task:
- Click on the blue + on the right side of your timeline.
- Add the name of your activity.
- Create a time-bound task:
- Choose date
- Include time
- Put an end date
This turns your tasks into time blocks.
3. Categorize Your Tasks
This step is especially helpful if you feel overwhelmed or struggle to prioritize your day.
For optimal student time management, it is essential to categorize all the tasks. Visually identifying different types of tasks allows you to have a more productive layout of your day.
Some examples of task categories are “college”, “chores”, “social”, “work”, etc.
Creating categories within Notion is extremely easy:
- Open a task
- Add a property
- Choose the “select” type.
- Name the new property. I chose “category”, something simple and easy to understand
- Create category options
4. Make Your Database Visually Appealing
One of my favourite things to do with my planners is to make them colourful. This not only makes planners aesthetic, but it also helps visualize your day.
- Click on the database “settings.”
- Go to “conditional color.”
- Create “new color setting.”
- Choose the property you created in the previous step. In my case, “category”.
Now you can see your time blocks colored according to their categories.
5. Turn Your Timeline Into a Calendar
One of my favourite time blocking tips is to use the Notion calendar. You can turn your current timeline into a calendar and have a better overview of your tasks.
By clicking on “Manage in Calendar”, Notion will instantly create a new calendar for you.
How to Make Your Time Blocking System Work Long-Term
Now that you have your time blocking page set up, it is time to create an effective Notion page for students.
The platform has plenty of features, and it’s one of the most powerful productivity tools available. It allows you to keep everything in one place: class notes, planners, timers, trackers, and playlists. Anything you use in your everyday life, you can have in Notion.
You can start your journey by reading my blog post on how to create the ultimate Notion template for students. Or you can borrow my Notion templates for students.
Whatever you choose, I really recommend using Notion. In my experience, once you set up a workspace that fits your needs, you won’t feel the need to use other platforms.
Do you have any favourite Notion features? Or is there a feature you would like to learn about?
If you want to start time blocking today without building everything from scratch, you can use my Notion template for students to set up your system in minutes.