This is the exact template from our Notion task system guide, packaged for one-click duplication. It’s deliberately boring: three views, four statuses, no twenty-property dashboard to maintain.

What’s inside

Component What it does
Tasks database Name, Status, Due, Project, Notes — five properties, nothing else
Projects database One property: Name. Project context lives in the page itself
Today view Filtered to in-progress tasks and tasks due today — your morning screen
Waiting view Everything blocked on someone else, sorted by age
By Project view Tasks grouped by project, for weekly reviews

The statuses (and only these)

Not started → In progress → Waiting → Done. No “Almost done”, no “Blocked again”. A task is either being worked on, waiting on someone, or finished. Anything finer than that is ceremony.

How to use it

  1. Duplicate the template into your workspace (the button is on the template page — takes about ten seconds).
  2. Rename the Projects database entries to your actual projects.
  3. Open the Today view every morning. Work it like a queue: do it, or move the date.
  4. Every Friday, sweep Not started — anything older than two weeks gets scheduled or deleted.

Why this template works

  • Fewer decisions per task. Five properties means you can capture a task in five seconds, which means you actually capture tasks.
  • One entry point. You don’t need a dashboard; you need one view that answers “what am I doing right now?”
  • It shrinks instead of growing. When it stops working, you delete properties instead of adding them — see the guide for the full reasoning.

The fine print

  • The template is free and stays free. It’s the practical companion to the guide, not a sales funnel.
  • If you’d rather keep task capture out of Notion entirely, our Zapier + Notion workflows show how to push emails, forms, and Slack messages straight into this database — no manual entry at all.
  • Anything you break while experimenting is one duplicate away from a fresh copy. That’s the whole point of a template.