In this post, I am showing you how to create Notion buttons.
Notion is the best app for organizing your life. Personally, I use Notion for writing texts, planning my tasks and projects, as well as storing notes.
The unique selling point of Notion is its innovative combination of blocks and databases. However, one small hurdle so far has been the somewhat cumbersome process of making changes in the databases.
Especially with recurring tasks like checking off to-dos or adding pages to databases, there was a lot of clicking required. That was also one of the reasons why I kept looking for alternatives to Notion.
Fortunately, this problem has disappeared with one of the recent Notion updates – the introduction of Notion Buttons in March 2023.
In this post, I want to show you what this update means, how to create Notion Buttons and the use cases where you can employ these buttons.
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What are Notion Buttons?
As hinted earlier, with Notion Buttons, you can efficiently perform frequently used actions or insert content, and they can be inserted on any Notion page.
They can be used to:
- Insert blocks on a page.
- Add pages to a database.
- Edit pages in a database.
- Open specific pages in your Notion workspace.
How do you create Notion Buttons?
- Type “/” and search for “Button”.
- Now you can label the button and even add an emoji.
- Specify what happens when the button is clicked: + Add a step.
Here, you can add the following steps:
- Insert Blocks: Insert a Notion block above or below the button. In theory, you can insert any possible Notion block, even another Notion button.
- Add Pages to: This will add a page to a database. Simply select the appropriate database and choose the properties that should be filled.
- Edit Pages in: Edit pages in a database, so that you can change the date or status, for example. You can also use filters to specify that only pages with specific properties should be modified.
- Show Confirmation: This option is useful when you want the user to confirm an action. It can be used, for example, when redirecting them to an external page in the next step.
- Open Page: This opens an external page.
Important: You can add multiple steps to your buttons, allowing multiple actions to be performed with a single click. I’ve heard, up to 100 steps can be added per button, but I haven’t tested that myself.
4 Application Examples for Notion Buttons
Now that you know how to create a Notion button, let’s explore what you can actually do with it. Below, I provide you with 4 specific application examples from my Notion templates:
AI Summarization of Notes in a Zettelkasten
Thanks to the Notion button, you only need to click twice to have the Notion AI generate a summary of the page content.
For doing so, I have created a Notion button that creates an AI block when you click on it. Now you only have to click on “Generate” once more, and the AI summary of the page is magically created.
I find this function very important for my Notion Zettelkasten, as it allows me to quickly create readable text from a series of unformatted notes.
Show or Hide All Answers in a Spaced Repetition Template
The Spaced Repetition method is one of the best techniques for reliably memorizing a large amount of information. My Spaced Repetition template now brings this method closer to the Notion community.
In the template once again, the Notion button comes into play, as it allows you to show or hide all the answers to the upcoming questions with a single click.
To achieve this, I selected the step “Edit Pages” and linked it to the Spaced Repetition database. To hide the answers, I chose the “Reveal Answers” property and instructed the checkbox to remain unchecked everywhere. To show the answers, I created another button where the checkbox is marked as active.
Start or End a Pomodoro Interval
The Pomodoro method is a time management technique developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. It divides work into intervals, typically 25 minutes long, to ensure regular breaks for regeneration.
Francesco Cirillo used to measure time with his Pomodoro kitchen timer, hence the name Pomodoro.
My Notion template allows you to implement the Pomodoro technique directly in Notion and connect your work tasks with your Notion task manager.
The only drawback: The template does not include a Pomodoro kitchen timer :(.
With the help of a Notion button, you can start a new Pomodoro interval or end an ongoing interval. The database will track the duration of the interval, allowing you to monitor your work time.
To start a new Pomodoro interval, the Notion button adds a new page to the Pomodoro database. The start time is set to “Now,” and the status is set to “Active.”
The button to end the Pomodoro interval updates the database and all active pages. The end time is set to “Now,” and the status is changed to “Done.”
Adding New Habits and Marking them as Completed
In my Habit Compass template, I use Notion buttons to add new habits for the day and check them off.
Users of the template are invited to customize the button. For example, they can change the habit’s name and indicate which vision from the vision board it should be associated with.
“Add Habit” adds an entry to the database.
“Check Habit” modifies database entries and marks the respective habit as completed.
Conclusion
Notion buttons are simply brilliant! They allow me to make changes to my Notion pages and databases with just one click, saving me a lot of time.
In my tutorial, I showed you how I use Notion buttons in my workspace. However, I’m also curious about your experiences. How do you use Notion buttons in your work routine? Do you have any useful tips or tricks you’d like to share?
I look forward to hearing from you!
Yours, Philipp