5 Mistakes You're Making With Notion (And How to Fix Them)
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Listen, we need to talk about your Notion situation. I see you over there with your 47 unfinished templates and that sinking feeling that you're doing it all wrong.
I get it. As someone who spent a FULL YEAR building my Notion system (and three more years refining it), I've made every mistake in the digital book. And honestly? I've watched hundreds of clients make the exact same ones.
Let's cut the crap and get real about the 5 biggest Notion mistakes that are keeping you stuck in digital chaos—and how to fix them once and for all.
Mistake #1: Overcomplicating Your Setup
You've fallen down the YouTube rabbit hole of "ultimate Notion setups" and now your workspace has more linked databases than you have hours in the day to maintain them.
Your ambition isn't the problem. It's the digital equivalent of buying a treadmill, elliptical, AND rowing machine when you've never worked out before. You're setting yourself up to fail.
The Fix: Start Simple, Scale Later
Let's be brutally honest:
That color-coded second brain with 12 interconnected databases? Not gonna happen overnight (or maybe ever).
Start with ONE problem you actually want to solve. Not seven. ONE.
Ask yourself: "If this database disappeared tomorrow, would my life actually be worse?" If not, delete it.
A B- system you consistently use beats an A+ system you abandon after three days. EVERY. TIME.
Real talk from my trenches: I once spent TWO WEEKS building an elaborate client project tracker with rollups, formulas, and relation properties... only to abandon it after 10 days because maintaining it felt like a part-time job. The simple two-database system I use now? Been rock-solid for years. Sometimes boring works.
Mistake #2: Using Templates Without Customization
Stop downloading templates like they're free samples at Costco. That beautifully designed productivity system you just grabbed? It was built for THEIR brain, THEIR business, and THEIR workflow—not yours.
And yet here you are, trying to force your square-peg work style into their round-hole template and wondering why it feels so damn hard.
The Fix: Ruthlessly Customize
Time for some tough love:
Templates are starting points, not solutions. Say it again.
The FIRST thing you should do with any template is delete 50% of it. I'm serious.
If you call them "clients" not "customers," rename every single instance. Your brain needs your language.
Test the template with REAL data for at least a week. Pretty screenshots lie. Your actual workflow reveals truth.
Be a template frankenstein. Take the task management from one, the project views from another, and build YOUR perfect system.
Confession: I've paid for templates I abandoned within hours. Why? Because I was chasing the perfect system instead of building a system perfect for ME. Don't make my expensive mistake.
Mistake #3: Expecting Notion Mastery Too Quickly
Oh, you thought you'd download Notion on Friday and have your entire life organized by Monday? That's adorable.
Notion has a learning curve steeper than my coffee intake on Monday mornings. It took me a YEAR to build my system. A YEAR, people. And I'm still tweaking it three years later.
The Fix: Play the Long Game
This isn't Instagram. You can't just filter it and go. You need to:
Accept that building a truly effective system takes months, not days (I don't make the rules)
Learn one feature at a time. Master databases before you even THINK about formulas.
Follow the 80/20 rule: focus on the 20% of features that will give you 80% of the results
Schedule a 30-minute "Notion improvement" session weekly. Small, consistent changes beat overwhelm.
Find your Notion people. Whether it's a community, a friend, or hiring help—don't go it alone.
The honest truth: My current Notion setup—the one that runs my entire business and prevents me from burning out for the fourth time—took a full year to develop. And you know what? That's NORMAL. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is a burnout-proof Notion system.
Mistake #4: Burning Everything Down to Start Over
We've all been there: you build a Notion setup, use it for two weeks, get frustrated by what's not working, delete EVERYTHING, and start from scratch. Lather, rinse, repeat until you're ready to throw your laptop into the sea.
This isn't a strategy. This is digital self-sabotage masquerading as "starting fresh."
The Fix: Evolve, Don't Demolish
Put down the digital matches and step away from the Delete button:
Create a "Notion Sandbox" page to experiment without torching your entire system
Use the duplicate page feature to create "Version 2.0" while keeping the original intact
Focus on improving ONE aspect at a time. Not your entire life structure. ONE thing.
ARCHIVE pages instead of deleting them. Future You will thank you when you need to reference that old system.
Document what works and what doesn't. Evolution requires learning from history, not erasing it.
My embarrassing confession: I once rebuilt my client onboarding system FOUR TIMES IN THREE MONTHS because I kept starting over instead of iterating. The time I wasted could have built an empire. Learn from my mistakes and evolve gradually.
Mistake #5: Believing Notion Will Solve All Your Problems
Notion is powerful, but it's not magic. It won't fix your procrastination, make you more productive, or suddenly give you work-life balance.
If your life is a mess outside Notion, it'll be a prettier mess inside Notion—but still a mess.
The Fix: Right-Size Your Expectations
Let's get real about what Notion can and can't do:
Be honest—is this a tool problem or a YOU problem? Notion can't fix your habit of saying yes to everything.
Accept that Notion excels at organization but SUCKS at time-sensitive reminders. Use the right tool for each job.
Create actual systems around when you'll check, update, and review your Notion setup
It's okay to use other tools! Notion doesn't have to be your everything.
The goal isn't a perfect Notion system; it's a life where you're not constantly dropping balls or burning out.
Truth bomb: Some of the most effective Notion users I know have the simplest setups. They're not winning awards for database complexity—they're winning at LIFE because their system works for their actual human brain and energy levels.
The Bottom Line: Simplicity Wins
If you take nothing else from this tough-love session, remember this: Notion success isn't about complexity—it's about consistency.
Your perfect Notion setup is the one you'll actually use. Full stop.
Start small. Be realistic. Build for the human you actually are, not the productivity robot you wish you were.
Ready to Transform Your Systems? Join Me at the Solopreneur Systems Summit!
If you want to dive deeper into implementing systems like these with personalized support, I invite you to join me and 20+ other experts at the Solopreneur Systems Summit happening October 13-17, 2025.
You'll get access to over 20 expert sessions on building systems that save time, reduce stress, help you excel, and save energy. The summit is designed for ambitious professionals—whether you're running your own business, leading a team, or climbing the corporate ladder—who want to build burnout-proof systems without sacrificing performance.
Best of all? You can register for a free ticket today!
Head to coachellyn.com/summit to secure your spot and learn how to implement powerful Notion systems, automation tools, and strategic workflows that will transform how you work.
Because your ambition isn't the problem—the way your work is set up is. With the right systems, you can do what you love and love how you do it.
