This resource is part of Dr. Katherine S. Cho's UNO series— her Utilization, Navigation, and Organization through Notion. More updates and pages will be coming. Stay tuned~
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Curious about Dr. Cho? Have questions or comments? Check out my website:
Image and link description: the embedded link directs to Dr. Katherine S. Cho's website (www.katscho.com). On the right side of the site information is an image of three notebooks— a pink one, a brown grid one, and an open-faced lined one— and two pens.
As a note: while Dr. Cho loves this system and what is in here works best for her, it might differ for you. Feel free to modify and adapt and also know that the best system for you is the one that works for you. And maybe, that doesn't look anything like this~ (Also, as a note, the remainder of this page is written in first-person).
The semester plan is created by the National Center for Faculty Diversity and Development (NCFDD) as a way to keep track of goals. (Shoutout to Dr. Melvin A. Whitehead for reminding me about this resource). Essentially, the system is about setting realistic goals, breaking them down, and then placing them within a timeline and semester. NCFDD has a great video (embedded to the right or below, depending on Notion app viewing mode) that walks you through the process, I'd also recommend checking out some of their other videos, especially if you are involved with academic (e.g. student, faculty, postdoc, and more). You can learn more here (or scroll in the video).
I am a planner. I love planning. I love bullet journalining and journaling in general (which I write about in droves here, here, and here). I create yearly plans, monthly goals, weekly to-dos, daily tasks, and these things help me stay organized and on-track... ish. Because I rarely met my monthly goals. Instead, I easily fell into, "Oh, I'll work on this the next month" and transfer those goals. And wind up month after month with something like "finish this [insert writing project]" because I never meet it.
Goal-setting sounds different when you say, "I have x-number of weeks to make this goal." And you see it on a spreadsheet... because it feels more like a countdown. That's the beauty of the semester (or quarter) plan and why I've now moved into this new system.
So first! A belated welcome if you are new to Notion. I could go on forever so to help save "space," click the toggle below:
Link description: This link is for the first webinar in NCFDD's series that is about planning a semester.
With the semester plan, NCFDD has the rows serve as the weeks in the semester, and the columns as your personal and work goals. I expanded it to so that I had a column per "thing" (shoutout to Dr. OiYan Poon for this modification)— writing projects, the courses I am teaching, the grants and professional development deadlines I should be watching, and of course: a column for me (i.e. personal) because we should be taking care of ourselves.
But, what I also wanted, was a way for me to have these week-by-week goals transfer into a place so I could break down my task per day. And that is how I wound up at Notion. One of the best features I appreciate about the "infinite" page-option within Notion, is that the first column in a created table (or different column if you move it) becomes a page automacially. And then, whatever was in the cells are already there. No recopying needed. And it is within those pages that I write out my daily tasks.
I function best, when I can breakdown tasks. I also function best, with the ability to cross things off. So, as you look at the table, you will see a little icon in the "Dates." When you click that space, you can "open" the page and then you will see rows in the cells and also see the days of the week, all laid out and toggled like so:
Once you click the toggle arrow , you'll see a dropdown appear (as it is right now) because this is the system that works for me. I breakdown my day into 5 different things: the events I need to attend; the writing I need to do; the "work" as in my teaching, advising, committees within my faculty role; the networking and community building (or even things like applying to conferences); and then personal. Each Saturday, I open next week's page and spend some time filling out each section.
You might have a completely different system that works. And that is great! You should modify the toggles! And that is how my semester plan is laid out. Here's the template so feel free to check it out. You can duplicate by clicking the option in the upper right-hand corner; fair warning, you are duplicating the page but you can delete all of my narrative.
THE SEMESTER TEMPLATE [I USUALLY RENAME IT TO THE SEMESTER + YEAR]
Like I mentioned in my abridged Notion explanation, I love the community aspect of this platform and how people share tips and templates. Here are some that I've really enjoyed, including ones to getting started. I have tried to credit the developers as much as possible, so if you know the names of ones missing and-or have additional suggestions, please send them my way~
COMMUNITY-DRIVEN NOTION TEMPLATES & RESOURCES
Stay tuned for more notion tips as I expand the UNO series.
Or, my utilization, navigation, and organization through Notion
If you like the work I do, I'll gladly accept a cup of coffee in gratitude. You can "buy" me one here! ☕
Katherine S Cho is creating resources for academia & templates for productivity