🔁 How I Use Notion to Manage My Entire PhD Workflow (Templates + Tips)

 Published on: PhD Hacks Lab

Description of this post:

Overwhelmed by your PhD? See how I use Notion to manage everything in one place — from thesis planning to literature reviews. Free template included!

🎓 Intro: How I Stay on Top of My PhD

Let’s be honest — doing a PhD is hard.
You’ve got a mountain of research, teaching, deadlines, and meetings... and it’s easy to feel scattered.

I’ve tried all the productivity apps.
But once I found Notion, I stopped switching between tools. It became my one-stop academic dashboard, and now, I’m sharing my exact setup with you.

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✅ Why Notion Works So Well for PhD Students

• Everything’s in one place — notes, tasks, chapters, timelines

• It’s fully customizable

• You can use it on your phone, laptop, or tablet

• And best of all? It’s free.

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🧩 My Notion Dashboard Setup (And What You Can Copy)

Here’s how I organize my PhD inside Notion — and yes, you can duplicate it for free.

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1. 🗓 Thesis Timeline Tracker

Plan your research year by month, week, or quarter.

View: Gantt-style Timeline | Tags: Chapter, Stage, Status
Use linked databases for real-time updates across your dashboard.

Break your thesis into bite-sized steps using a visual timeline.
I use it to plan months ahead and stay on track without panic.

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2. 📚 Literature Review Tracker

Your second brain for all academic articles.

Fields include:
✅ Title | ✅ Author | ✅ Summary | ✅ Key Insights | ✅ PDF link
→ Filter by topic, journal, or relevance

This part changed my life.
I tag each paper with the topic, method, and key quotes and even attach the PDF.
It’s searchable — so no more digging through folders.

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3. ✍️ Writing Hub (Chapters Workspace)

Each chapter = one Notion page with:

• 🎯 Word count goals

• 📝 Outline

• 🔗 Reference links

• 📊 Draft status

Each chapter has its own Notion page.
Inside: an outline, word count goals, and a place to dump ideas when inspiration hits.

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4. 🧪 Research & Data Log

If you run experiments or collect data, this is gold.

Track research progress with:

• Variables tested

• Dates

• Observations

• Outcome notes

• Next step suggestions

Use tables with filters + progress bars.

Track what you did, when, and what happened. It will be super helpful when writing your methods section later.

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5. 🧑‍🏫 Supervision Notes

I log every meeting with my supervisor.

Never forget what your supervisor said again.

Each meeting =
📅 Date | 💬 Notes | 📍 Action Items (linked to your to-do board)

Each note has action points, reminders, and links to related work — no more “Wait, what did they say again?” moments.

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📥 Grab the Free Notion Template

Want this whole setup ready to go?
🎁 Click here to duplicate my free Notion PhD Dashboard

(No email is required. Just click and copy it to your Notion.)

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🧠 Extra Tips to Use Notion Like a Pro

• 🧩 Use Notion AI to summarize research notes or clean up your writing

• 🔄 Sync with Google Calendar for automatic reminders

• 📤 Export chapters to PDF or back them up monthly as a PDF  for supervisor reviews (just in case)

• 📌 Install the Notion Web Clipper (Notion Web Clipper extension) to save papers in one click

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🔍 FAQs – Notion for PhD Students

Is Notion free for PhD students?
Yes! The personal plan is free, and it’s more than enough.

Can I use Notion for my literature review?
Absolutely. It’s perfect for organizing papers and summaries and tagging by topic.

Is there a Notion PhD template I can use?
Yes — scroll up to grab mine. It’s the same one I use daily.

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🧡 Final Thoughts

Notion won’t do your PhD for you. But it makes managing it 10x easier.

And once everything’s organized, you’ll feel less overwhelmed — and more like the focused researcher you’re meant to be.

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“If you're just getting started, here are Top 10 Time-Saving Tools for PhD Students in 2025 (Boost Productivity)”

“Trying to finish faster? Check out my 6-month thesis plan.”

👀 Coming Next:

“The Ultimate Morning Routine for PhD Students”
Subscribe to get it first: Join the list

“5 Ready-to-Use Notion Templates for PhD Students”

🖋🖋𖣯 Have a question or collaboration idea? Drop a message below.