[Basics] 6 Notion properties you should learn first.

"Databases" are a key and fundamental feature of Notion. And "properties" are essential for organizing information within those databases.

This time, for those new to Notion, we'll introduce 6 carefully selected properties that you should learn first and that are "all you need to know"!

🔗 You can find a detailed explanation of "databases" here!

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🎬 Director: Rei
✍🏻 Writer: Kurumi Mino

1. What are properties?

Do you know what role properties play?

For example, a bookstore has countless books, but you can easily find the one you want, right? This is likely because books are organized with indexes by publisher or author.

Notion databases also have a similar function to indexes for organizing the ever-growing pages and information. This is called "properties."

Properties come in various types, such as "tags" for categorizing and organizing, "dates" for scheduling, and "formulas" for calculations. By utilizing properties, you can create databases that are customized for any purpose.

2. Let's add properties

Now, let's add properties to your database.

🔗 You can find a detailed explanation on how to create a database here!

Once you've created your database, follow these steps to add properties:

1. Click the "+" button on the right end of the database.
2. Select your desired property.

You can change both the "icon" and "name" of all added properties.

1. Click on the title of the added property.
2. Click on the icon and choose your preferred icon.
3. Hover over the text area and rename it as you like.

However, it's recommended to use the original icons at first to help remember the different property types.

Also, if you're using it with multiple people in a company or group, changing the icons can make it difficult to distinguish property types. Therefore, it's recommended to only change them for pages you use individually.

2. All you need to know! Basic properties

There are currently 21 different types of properties, which can be overwhelming at first. You might not know which ones to use.

This time, from among these many properties, we'll introduce 6 basic properties that are "all you need to know"!

2-1. Text

Text is a property that allows you to enter text, as its name suggests. It's very convenient for writing small notes, remarks, or explanations, and can be used in various situations.

For example, when writing a diary in Notion, you can use it as a field to record reflections.

2-2. Select

Select is a property that allows you to create tags as choices and select one from them. It's useful for categorizing or saving the effort of typing text.

For example, in a to-do list where you group tasks, selecting a category with a select property makes it clearer what type of to-do it is.

2-3. Multi-select

Multi-select is a property that also allows you to create choice tags, similar to select. The difference from select is that you can apply multiple tags.

For example, if meeting minutes cover multiple topics, you can attach all relevant tags with multi-select. Be sure to use select and multi-select appropriately.

2-4. Status

Status is a property that allows you to manage progress in three groups: Not Started, In Progress, and Completed. It's perfect for managing projects and tasks.

You can also add your own statuses and change their colors. For example, if your workflow includes a review step, you can add "Under Review" to the "In Progress" group.

This property is also ideal for managing progress in a Kanban-style by converting the database view to "Board View".

2-5. Date

The date property allows you to enter date information using a calendar. This property is useful for managing social media post dates or setting project durations.

By using the date property, your scheduled items will be reflected on the calendar when you switch to calendar view, like this.

If you set a start and end date, you can also display the duration in a timeline view like this.

2-6. Checkbox

Finally, we introduce the checkbox property. It displays a checkbox, allowing you to manage "done" or "not done" with a checkmark.

This is a versatile property that can be used for habit tracking, to-do management, and more.

Summary

That concludes our introduction to the basic Notion properties you should learn first!

If you're new to Notion, please try using the properties introduced here.

All the use cases mentioned in the article are available as templates! You can find a list of templates here!

The ultimate task management template to achieve with Notion, "Todotion," is here!

The "Notion Master Course," a 2-hour video course to learn Notion from scratch, is now available!

The book "Notion Life Hacks," which introduces 36 ways to use Notion, is also now on sale!