When can AI actually be helpful?

As someone with ADHD, it can be difficult to get organized. Squirrel syndrome can be debilitating at times, and it's hard enough even creating a simple to-do list. I've tried many different apps in the past, and I mean a lot. Just like how I bounce from task to task, not able to stick with anything for any length of time, I also bounce from app to app. Nothing has truly stuck. Reminders, Things, Todoist, Trello, Wrike, GoodNotes, Google Keep, and more. It's just like me and journals. I think I have 10 floating around the house. Not one is full, and every single one has a jumble of things written in them, getting lost just like socks in the dryer.

Notion might change that. As we've been learning, AI is baking into everything these days. Notion is no exception. I had actually downloaded Notion a couple months ago because I had read you can program it to help accomplish just about anything you need. I was trying to come up with Gantt charts for personal projects at the time. Par for the course, I let it fall away. Notion is actually very difficult to grasp, since it can to do so much, meaning it feels overwhelming at times. But things have changed since then.

Creating a Study Plan

I'm working on a literature review for my dissertation proposal. I was not aware that Notion had started incorporating AI functionality. I asked Notion to create a homework study program for me. 


This kind of blew my mind. It even gave me an outline of how to summarize my research articles.

It's very difficult for me to read long research papers. I can usually only last 10 min before having to take a break. My brain swirls after a while, so having a list like this to follow for each research article will be invaluable. 

Tools will change your life.

I was shocked at the list of things you can do with this program. A simple forward slash (/) opens plethora of tools to choose from. The first section is Blocks which are formatting things like headers, quotes, to do lists, collapsing lists, bullets, sub pages, even callouts and tables.  Then there's Media like video, images, audio, links, or even code snippets. Next is an entire Database section. Did you know you can create your own Wiki??  You can create a Kanban board! You can create calendars, charts, and timelines. Meaning you can create a GANTT chart! That's the timeline database, and you can even use dependencies. See, I told you you could do that. 

Now, there's a ton to still learn. You can tell by the Notion Academy page that their primary market is to ingratiate themselves into Enterprise applications. But frankly, based on everything I've seen so far, this will be a game changer. If I can get comfortable with everything this app can do, I plan on utilizing it in all of my projects with all of my community organizations. I just hope that I won't have to pay for it! Though I might end up subscribing if I feel it's needed.


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