Learning AI Over 50: Lesson 11 – Notion AI – Part 2

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Hands-On Activity & Quiz

Activity: “Build Your Notion System”

Time needed: 75-90 minutes

Objective: Set up Notion, explore its features, practice using Notion AI, and create one functional organizational system you’ll actually use.

What you’ll need:

  • Google account (to sign up for Notion)
  • One area of your life you want to organize
  • Willingness to experiment

Part 1: Get Started with Notion (15 minutes)

Step 1: Create your account (5 minutes)

  1. Go to notion.so
  2. Click “Get Notion free”
  3. Sign up with email or Google account
  4. Choose “For myself”
  5. Select “Personal use” (free plan)
  6. Complete onboarding (can skip team setup)

You’ll land on your workspace homepage!

Step 2: Explore the interface (10 minutes)

Take a tour:

Left Sidebar:

  • “Teamspaces” section (where your pages live)
  • “Private” section (just for you)
  • “+ New Page” button
  • Templates button
  • Settings (gear icon)

Main area:

  • This is where pages appear
  • Currently might show welcome/getting started pages

Top bar:

  • Share button
  • Search
  • Updates
  • Settings

Try these actions:

  1. Create a test page:
    • Click “+ New Page” in sidebar
    • Title it “My Test Page”
    • Start typing – each line is a “block”
  2. Experiment with blocks:
    • Type “/” on a new line
    • See all the block options (headings, lists, images, etc.)
    • Try adding:
      • A heading 1
      • A bulleted list
      • A to-do checkbox
      • A quote block
  3. Rearrange blocks:
    • Hover left of any block – see 6 dots?
    • Click and drag to move blocks around
  4. Delete this test page:
    • Click “…” menu at top right
    • Select “Delete”
    • Confirm

Now you know the basics!

Part 2: Try Notion AI (20 minutes)

Step 1: Enable Notion AI (5 minutes)

  1. Create a new page: “AI Testing”
  2. Look for purple “Try AI” or sparkle ✨ button
  3. If prompted, start free trial of Notion AI
  4. (Usually 30-day free trial, cancel anytime)

Step 2: Test AI writing (10 minutes)

Test A – Generate content:

  1. On empty line, press spacebar twice
  2. Notion AI prompt appears
  3. Type: “Write a welcome message for my personal workspace”
  4. Press Enter
  5. Watch AI generate text
  6. Click “Insert” to accept or “Try again” for different version

Test B – Improve writing:

  1. Type a rough paragraph about anything Example: “I want to get organized this year. my notes are messy and I forget stuff. Need a better system for tracking things.”
  2. Highlight the paragraph
  3. Click “Ask AI” button that appears
  4. Choose “Improve writing”
  5. See improved version
  6. Accept or reject changes

Test C – Change tone:

  1. Write a formal sentence Example: “I am writing to inform you that I will be unable to attend the meeting.”
  2. Highlight it
  3. Click “Ask AI” → “Change tone”
  4. Select “Casual”
  5. See casual version: “Hey, I can’t make the meeting.”

Test D – Continue writing:

  1. Start a sentence: “The three things I want to accomplish this month are”
  2. Put cursor at end
  3. Press spacebar twice
  4. Type: “Continue writing”
  5. See how AI completes your thought

Step 3: Test AI organization (5 minutes)

Test E – Extract action items:

  1. Type messy notes like: “Meeting went well. Need to send proposal to John by Friday. Also remember to call Sarah about the budget. Should schedule follow-up meeting for next week.”
  2. Highlight the text
  3. Click “Ask AI” → “Find action items”
  4. AI creates task list

Test F – Summarize:

  1. Copy a long paragraph from any article online
  2. Paste into Notion
  3. Highlight it
  4. Click “Ask AI” → “Summarize”
  5. Get concise summary

Part 3: Choose & Build Your System (35 minutes)

Now create ONE functional system you’ll actually use.

Choose from these options:

Option A: Content/Blog Management System

Best for: Anyone creating content (blog, newsletter, social media)

Setup (20 minutes):

  1. Create new page: “[Your Name]’s Content Hub”
  2. Add database (type “/database” → “Table – Inline”)
  3. Name it “Content Ideas & Pipeline”
  4. Add these columns (click “+” to add):
    • Title (text)
    • Status (select: Ideas, Research, Draft, Editing, Published)
    • Due Date (date)
    • Topic (select: create your categories)
    • Notes (text)
  5. Add 5-10 content ideas manually
  6. Try different views:
    • Click “+ New view” → “Board”
    • Group by Status
    • Now you see pipeline visually!

Use Notion AI (15 minutes):

  1. Below database, press spacebar twice
  2. Prompt: “Generate 15 blog post ideas about [your topic]”
  3. Add AI’s best ideas to database
  4. Click one idea, open its page
  5. Press spacebar twice
  6. Prompt: “Create an outline for this topic”
  7. Use outline as draft structure

Option B: Project Planner

Best for: Anyone with a specific project (home improvement, event planning, learning goal)

Setup (20 minutes):

  1. Create page: “[Project Name] Planning”
  2. Add these sections (use “/heading1” for each):
    • Goals & Vision
    • Timeline & Milestones
    • Tasks & To-Dos
    • Resources & Research
    • Budget (if relevant)
    • Notes & Ideas
  3. Under “Tasks & To-Dos”:
    • Type “/todo” and add checkboxes for initial tasks
    • Add at least 5 tasks
  4. Under “Timeline”:
    • Add key dates and deadlines

Use Notion AI (15 minutes):

  1. Under “Goals & Vision,” press spacebar twice
  2. Prompt: “Help me define clear goals for [your project]”
  3. Review and edit AI’s suggestions
  4. Under “Tasks,” press spacebar twice
  5. Prompt: “Create a comprehensive task list for [your project]”
  6. Add useful tasks from AI’s list to your checkboxes
  7. Under “Resources,” press spacebar twice
  8. Prompt: “What should I research for [your project]? Create a list of topics.”

Option C: Personal Knowledge Base

Best for: Learners, readers, course-takers

Setup (20 minutes):

  1. Create page: “My Learning Hub”
  2. Add database (type “/database” → “Table”)
  3. Name it “What I’m Learning”
  4. Add columns:
    • Title (text)
    • Type (select: Book, Course, Article, Video, Podcast)
    • Topic (select: create your categories)
    • Status (select: Want to Learn, In Progress, Completed)
    • Date (date)
    • Key Takeaways (text)
    • Rating (select: ⭐ to ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
  5. Add 5+ books, courses, or articles you’ve consumed or want to
  6. Create topic pages:
    • Below database, create pages for your main learning topics
    • Example: “Gardening Knowledge,” “Photography Skills,” “Health & Wellness”

Use Notion AI (15 minutes):

  1. Click on one completed book/course in your database
  2. Open its page
  3. Type your rough notes or paste highlights
  4. Highlight notes, click “Ask AI” → “Summarize”
  5. Add summary to “Key Takeaways” column
  6. On topic page (e.g., “Gardening Knowledge”):
    • Press spacebar twice
    • Prompt: “Based on what I’m learning about gardening, create a study guide with key concepts”
    • Review and organize AI’s output
  7. Press spacebar twice again
    • Prompt: “What are 5 practical projects I could do to apply gardening knowledge?”
    • Add best ideas to your projects list

Option D: Simple Personal Dashboard

Best for: Anyone who wants one place for daily organization

Setup (20 minutes):

  1. Create page: “My Dashboard”
  2. Add these sections with toggle lists (type “/toggle”):
    • Today’s Focus (3 main priorities)
    • This Week (to-do checkboxes)
    • Ideas & Notes (bullet points)
    • Waiting On (things you’re waiting for from others)
    • Someday/Maybe (future ideas)
  3. Under each section, add relevant items
  4. Add a simple table for tracking something (habit tracker, expenses, etc.)

Use Notion AI (15 minutes):

  1. Under “Today’s Focus,” press spacebar twice
  2. Prompt: “Help me identify 3 meaningful priorities for today based on: [paste your current to-dos or concerns]”
  3. Under “This Week,” press spacebar twice
  4. Prompt: “Break down this project into weekly tasks: [describe your current project]”
  5. Add AI’s suggestions as checkboxes
  6. Under “Ideas & Notes,” write stream-of-consciousness thoughts
  7. Highlight them, ask AI to “Organize these thoughts into categories”

Part 4: Test Your System (10 minutes)

Use what you built:

  1. Add content to your system
    • If content hub: Add 3 more ideas
    • If project: Check off completed tasks, add new ones
    • If knowledge base: Add a new learning item
    • If dashboard: Update today’s priorities
  2. Use Notion AI to enhance
    • Generate additional content
    • Improve something you wrote
    • Summarize or organize information
  3. Access from different devices (if possible)
    • Open Notion on your phone or tablet
    • See how your system looks mobile
    • Notice it syncs automatically
  4. Customize appearance
    • Add an icon to your page (click “Add icon”)
    • Add a cover image (click “Add cover”)
    • Change text colors or backgrounds
    • Make it feel like yours

Part 5: Reflection & Next Steps (10 minutes)

Answer these questions:

1. System evaluation:

  • Does this system solve a real problem for you?
  • Will you actually use it regularly?
  • What would make it more useful?

2. Notion AI assessment:

  • Which AI feature was most helpful?
    • Writing from scratch
    • Improving existing writing
    • Summarizing content
    • Extracting action items
    • Brainstorming/ideas
    • Organizing information

3. Ease of use:

  • Notion difficulty rating (1-10, where 10 is very easy): ___
  • What felt confusing? ___
  • What felt intuitive? ___

4. Next steps:

This week, commit to:

  • Using this system daily
  • Adding content as I work
  • Exploring one template from Notion’s gallery
  • Creating one more simple system
  • Watching a Notion tutorial on [specific topic]

Ideas for expansion:

  • What else could you organize in Notion?
  • ________________________________________
  • ________________________________________
  • ________________________________________

5. AI subscription decision:

After trying Notion AI free trial:

  • Will subscribe ($10/month) – worth it for my needs
  • Won’t subscribe – Notion free version is enough
  • Will decide after using trial period fully

Congratulations! You’ve:

  • ✅ Set up Notion workspace
  • ✅ Learned the interface
  • ✅ Practiced using Notion AI
  • ✅ Built a functional organizational system
  • ✅ Tested it with real content

Keep using your system this week! Notion only becomes valuable with consistent use. Check it daily, add to it regularly, and let it become part of your workflow.

3 Quiz Questions with Answers

Question 1

What makes Notion different from simple note-taking apps like Apple Notes or Google Keep?

A) Notion has better mobile apps
B) Notion combines notes, databases, project management, and wikis into one flexible, customizable workspace
C) Notion is completely free while others cost money
D) Notion works offline better than other apps

Answer: B – Notion combines notes, databases, project management, and wikis into one flexible, customizable workspace

Explanation: While Notion can take notes like simpler apps, its power comes from combining multiple organizational tools in one platform. You can create databases (tables, boards, calendars), link pages together like a wiki, manage projects with timelines and tasks, and customize everything to match your workflow. Simple note apps are designed for quick capture; Notion is designed for building complete organizational systems. The flexibility can feel overwhelming at first, but it means Notion can adapt to almost any organizational need rather than forcing you into a predetermined structure.

Question 2

How does Notion AI differ from using ChatGPT or Claude separately?

A) Notion AI is smarter and more accurate
B) Notion AI is integrated directly into your workspace and understands context from your pages
C) Notion AI is free while ChatGPT and Claude require subscriptions
D) Notion AI can do things ChatGPT and Claude cannot do

Answer: B – Notion AI is integrated directly into your workspace and understands context from your pages

Explanation: The key advantage isn’t power or accuracy—it’s integration and context. Notion AI lives inside your workspace, so you can highlight text and immediately improve it, summarize it, or extract action items without leaving Notion or copy-pasting between apps. Additionally, Notion AI can see context from your page (your other writing, project details, related information), making suggestions more relevant to your specific work. The convenience of inline AI assistance that understands your workspace context is what makes Notion AI valuable, even though ChatGPT and Claude are also powerful tools with their own strengths.

Question 3

What’s the most important advice for beginners starting with Notion?

A) Migrate all your information from other apps immediately
B) Build the most complex, beautiful system possible from day one
C) Start with ONE simple, useful system and master it before expanding
D) Copy exactly what you see in Notion YouTube videos

Answer: C – Start with ONE simple, useful system and master it before expanding

Explanation: New Notion users often get overwhelmed by seeing elaborate, beautiful workspaces online and try to replicate them immediately. This leads to spending hours building systems that never get used. Instead, start with one practical use case (like a to-do list, reading tracker, or content calendar), use it consistently for a week or two, and only then add more. Notion’s flexibility is its strength, but that same flexibility can paralyze beginners. Build the habit of using Notion with something simple before attempting complex systems. You can always expand later—but only if you actually use what you build.

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