What Are Notion Templates? - A Definition
The term “Notion template” has two meanings (there is a third, used for the “template button”, but I am leaving that out because the concept is very similar to definition #2).
a page built in Notion and offered to the public for free or paid duplication
a page that is part of a database and can be reused as the standard when creating new entries
In point #1, a Notion template can be as simple or complex as the creator wants it to be—due to the versatility of the tool. Publically duplicable notion templates are made by the Notion team or independent creators. The main source to find Notion templates is the official template directory. In addition, there are many directories developed by independent Notion enthusiasts showcasing templates. Here are some examples:
When you intend to duplicate a Notion template, you will need to click the “Duplicate” button at the top right corner of the Notion page. If you already have a Notion account, the template will become yours in a few seconds and you will be able to use it independently.
If you don’t have a Notion account, you will need to set up one in order to duplicate the template. The word “duplicate” is used in the Notion world to signify “making your own, private copy of a public notion template.” Your private copy will be completely detached from the public template.
You can duplicate the same template as many times as you wish, although there is no reason to do so unless you accidentally “broke” some parts of the template and you don’t know how to restore it.
In definition #2, a Notion template is a page with a pre-defined structure (and maybe also pre-defined properties) that can be applied to a new database entry. A database entry is a page, that’s part of a database (to understand the Notion software structure, you can read this post).
A database is a collection of pages with metadata whose meaning is the same throughout the database (e.g., “Due Date”, “Priority”). The difference between an “independent” page and a page in a database is that the latter has properties right below the page title, while the former doesn’t. Database properties are metadata that define your Notion page in the system within which you are using it.
For example, you can have a database named “Projects”. The objective of this database is to keep track of your projects. “Develop my business website” is one of your projects. So, “develop my business website” is a page in the “Projects” database. When you open the page “develop my business website”, you will be able to define properties such as its “status”, “assignee”, “timeline”, and others depending on your workflow and preference.
Regardless of whether a page is inside a database or independent, the page has a “body”—blank space where you can write up freely and use any of the forward slash commands Notion has to offer. When you apply a database template (#2), the content of the page (or at least its main headings) are already defined and customizable to fit the purpose of the page on which you are writing.
For example, you may have a database named “Meetings”. The purpose of this database is to take notes on your most important meetings. You want to standardize the way you take notes. In particular, you want to have 3 main sections: one for “agenda items”, one for “meeting notes”, and one for “next action items”.
You could type those sections every time you create a new meeting page. Or you could save time by setting up a database template with those three sections. Then, every time you create a new meeting page, you can select the template and have the page content automatically populated with the three sections. If something is repeatable, make a template out of it.
P.S: sometimes in your Notion journey, you may come up with the idea to create a template with pre-defined tasks for one of your project types. As of July 2022, this is not as straightforward as you may like it to be (if you use master databases). You can watch this video to understand better what I mean.
Now, let’s get back to definition #1—public Notion templates that you can duplicate on your own account. Sometimes, you may think that “if I just have that Notion template, I would solve my problem X”. In my experience, that can be true to a certain extent, in that a Notion template may get you closer to solving one of the problems that you haven’t articulated deeply enough yet.
At the same time, I do believe there is a component of “hedonic adaptation” at play here. We always seek the next thing as a solution to our current state. When we have that thing, we then get accustomed to it very quickly before moving on to the next “thing”. This is true in pretty much every area of life, for the vast majority of human beings.
I find that it is a more healthy and realistic mindset to believe that Notion templates can be a great starting point for you to then customize for your own preference and necessities. Such a mindset shifts the responsibility on yourself and how you can craft a template to your own workflow needs.
And personal responsibility powers you to take action and understand that a template is not valuable unless you take the necessary measures to implement it in your own existence. With a small shift in mindset, you have now moved the action power within yourself instead of externally. And eventually, your life satisfaction can increase if you develop a system that you use and gives you more independence or freedom in life.
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