6 lessons learned building a Notion system for a multimillion-dollar advertising company

Notion is one of the most popular organizational and productivity platforms available, recently surpassing 100M users. Its block-based system is highly flexible, allowing users to create customized solutions for managing data. Whether used as a time tracker, project management tool, CRM, event planner, or simply for organizing notes, Notion enables users to build systems tailored to their needs. This broad applicability made it an appealing choice when a multimillion-dollar outdoor advertising company approached me to design a custom system.

My prior experience of using Notion with this client for a different project reinforced our decision to build their system with it. Its scalability makes it suitable for large projects, but without core project management and system-building principles, its complexity can quickly become overwhelming. While applying these principles during the project, I noticed six that stood out as particularly helpful—lessons that could benefit anyone building systems in Notion, whether for large business needs or small personal projects.

6

You don’t have to use one central database

There are exceptions to this common advice

Centralized databases are common advice in database theory and tools like Notion because they simplify workflows, reduce duplication, and maintain consistency. In this project, a centralized database was used to manage overlapping data categories such as locations, CRM entries, and industry-specific details.

As the system grew, it became clear that not all information belonged in a single database. Some location or intersection data appeared similar or even identical but served different contexts and purposes. Combining their properties caused confusion, and separating them into distinct databases just made sense.

Start with a centralized database for simplicity, but don’t hesitate to create specialized databases if your scope expands. Notion’s linking capabilities make it easy to maintain connections, even across databases, like using Rollups and Relations. If it feels like your database is getting too big, you are having trouble navigating it, or some data is just too disparate, trust your instinct to create a separate database. While some make it sound like a hard-and-fast rule, it isn’t.

5

Give everything a unique name

So Notion search can do its thing

Naming conventions for every property, database, and page are important. Unique names are essential when using Notion’s search function, which works great across the board and will quickly get you to what you’re looking for.

The project had over 500 location entries, across three cities, and included Notion Properties that required clear differentiation. Properties with industry-specific terms and data could vary with different city bylaws, and two cities could even have the exact same location address.

Investing time in a consistent naming strategy that ensures everything has a unique name and title saves countless hours down the line and lets you fully utilize Notion’s ability to find anything on any page, property, or block.

4

Create empty page templates early on

To standardize the content you’re organizing

Notion’s pages use blocks, with each line being treated as a separate block, and a lot of different block types to choose from. Notion often compares working with their blocks to playing with Legos. I’m one of those people who love designing a good spreadsheet, and I also still love playing with Legos and building my own designs, and appreciate the creative freedom.

The possibilities are crazy, so if you’re anything like me, you’re going to end up with some complex organizational systems and page layouts. Creating templates for these early on and editing the template rather than individual pages will help you get page consistency down the line.

For example, templates in the location database ensured consistency across fields like zoning details, traffic flow, permit statuses, contact gathering, and more. Being able to create pages with inline databases, views from other databases, toggle headers, embeds, tables, and everything else available was a blast.

That doesn’t matter though, if you open a page that looks different or doesn’t have the information it should. Templates not only save time but also prevent disorganization. They’re particularly useful in collaborative projects where other users are not very organized and are likely to omit important details.

Related

Should you use Notion, Evernote, Obsidian, or OneNote?

Finding the perfect note-taking app for your workflow

3

Document how to use what you’re building

Things can get complex quickly

A well-built Notion system is only as effective as its documentation. Without clear instructions, even the most thoughtfully designed systems can become difficult to use. Notes on how databases link together, the purpose of templates, and how to apply filters are invaluable.

In this project, documentation made training simple. It ensured that team members could navigate multiple interconnected databases and pages without confusion, and enter the correct data in the intended place. Embedding instructions within the workspace itself allowed users to access guidance exactly where it was needed.

I personally rely on good documentation because I’m AuDHD and having quick reference material helps me get back on track if I’m distracted by something else that’s caught my interest.

2

Create a development change log

Even if it’s a simple one

Tracking changes for anything you’re developing is good practice. Notion is also a popular tool for habit tracking. The amount of things you can do with all the building blocks in Notion, though, made it a necessity. A change log—even a basic one—provides a history of updates, so you know what you changed and why.

The other system architect that worked on this project with me was also constantly trying new things and working to streamline the system. We needed to ensure that what we were working on didn’t overlap at any given time, and that if it did, the changes we made could be easily reversed if it interfered with another initiative.

1

Create a temporary clipboard page

It’s easy to go overboard designing your layouts

Notion’s block-based design invites experimentation, but testing ideas directly in your live workspace has the potential to end in a bad build that’s hard to reverse. A “temporary clipboard” or “whiteboard” page acts as a sandbox for trying out new layouts, templates, automations, or workflows without affecting your main system.

Even the way you work with the body of a page in Notion is different, and it’s good to be able to see what your idea will look like before integrating it. I just create a private page that appears in the left menu, give it a clipboard icon, and it’s always there for me when I need it.

I’ll be using Notion again for business builds in the future

Notion is a powerful tool for building systems that manage everything from small personal tasks to large-scale business operations. Its flexibility requires thoughtful planning to get the most out of it. By applying strategies like establishing naming conventions, using page templates, documenting processes, maintaining a change log, and utilizing a temporary clipboard page, you can avoid major layout changes that you might later regret and struggle to reverse.

I also use it extensively to organize my personal life and stay on top of things. If you’re one of those spreadsheet enthusiasts like me, be prepared though—it’s surprisingly easy to get lost in building some truly complex setups.