This is the documentation for the Commonplace Ecosystem template — get it for free on the Notion Marketplace:
1. How the Commonplace Ecosystem works
The Commonplace Ecosystem is a set of four connected databases: Notes, Topics, Tasks and Initiatives.
They work together as a simple flow:
- Notes are at the center of the ecosystem.
- You can put the Notes into Topics to keep related Notes together.
- Sometimes, the notes you write have actionable items. You can easily create Tasks from your Notes with just one click.
- The Tasks can also be grouped together into Initiatives.
Star what resonates
This ecosystem is built so you can capture all your notes without overthinking where they go, then easily see which ones truly matter.
Every note in the system has a ⭐ Star button. Use it whenever a Note feels important, alive, or worth seeing again.
There is a ⭐ Starred view that shows all your starred items, so the ideas and commitments that resonate most never get lost in the noise.
The power of letting go
Clarity also comes from what you decide not to keep front and centre.
For Topics, Notes, Initiatives and Tasks there is a special 🍂 Let Go button. This archives the item so it is no longer in your day‑to‑day views, while still staying safely stored if you ever need to revisit it.
Use 🍂 Let Go freely. It is there to help you remove clutter, quieten your lists, and keep the Commonplace Ecosystem focused on what still matters.
Cover images across the system
Cover images are part of how this ecosystem stays joyful, colourful, and a reflection of your life. Adding cover images for Notes, Topics, Tasks and Initiates makes the pages stand out and easily recognizable.
You can add cover images in many ways, including:
- getting it from Unsplash
- uploading files from your laptop or mobile
- simply copying and pasting images into the page
If you have not used images in Notion before, these guides from Notion can help:
- Images, files & media – Notion Help Center – how to add and work with images, files, and other media blocks.
In the sections below, we explain where you set the cover and how it shows up in views for each object (Notes, Topics, Tasks, and Initiatives)
2. Notes
Notes are where you catch ideas, quotes, meeting notes, and fragments. The goal is to make capturing so easy that you can freely jot down things whenever thoughts and ideas appear.
Use a Note when you want to remember something, explore a thought, or keep a small record. Notes are cheap. Write many.
A Note can belong to one or more Topics.
A Note can spawn Tasks when you see something you want to act on.
How to create a Note
- Go to the Notes database from the hub.
- Click New.
- Give the Note a short, clear title.
- Add the body content in the page.
- Set the Topic property. See next section to learn about Topics.
You can also create a Note right from the dashboard. Simply click the blue New button then follow steps 3 to 5 above.
If you are new to databases in Notion, these guides from Notion can help:
- Create a database – Notion Help Center – how databases work and how new pages are created inside them.
- Databases - Notion Building Basics – overview of creating and using databases and views.
If you are new to pinned and relation properties in Notion, these guides can help:
Often, you would want to create a Note for a specific Topic. We explain how to do this below.
How to create a Note for a specified Topic
Fast way to keep Notes organised from the start:
- Open the Topic page from the dashboard.
- Click on the Topic you want to add Notes to. This will open the page for that Topic.
- Click the blue New button. This will create a new Note that will be automatically linked to the Topic.
How to set or change a Note’s cover image
- Open the Note you want to add a cover image to.
- Click the empty image placeholder inside the page.
- Choose an image source using Unsplash or Upload (or paste an image).
Covers make Notes quickly recognisable in the Gallery view.
How to star or favourite a Note
The Commonplace Ecosystem includes a property for starring or favouriting Notes.
To star a Note:
- Open the Note.
- Click the ⭐ Star button under the Note’s title.
Starred Notes appear in a dedicated Starred view.
How to archive a Note and how to find archived Notes
You can archive a Note so it is out of the way but not deleted.
To archive:
- Open the Note.
- Change click on the 🍂 Let Go button under the Note’s title.
To find archived Notes:
- Notes, Topics, Tasks and Initiatives all have an Archive view you can click on to see the archived Notes, Topics, Tasks and Initiatives.
How to find and explore Notes
You can see your Notes in three different views (plus the Archive view).
Use whichever view that works best for you.
- Gallery view - a beautiful gallery of your Notes. Each Note’s cover image will show up in the Gallery view and you can scroll through it, giving you that same feeling you’d get flipping through a physical notebook.
- Latest Notes – a simple list of most the recent Notes.
- Starred Notes – notes you have marked as important.
- Table view – a classic table with filters and sorts.
3. Topics
Topics are collections of Notes.
They usually represent big, important areas of your life: “Health”, “Writing”, “Clients”, “Reading”, and so on. They hold the Notes and Tasks that belong there.
Create a Topic when:
- You have a theme or category that you keep writing about.
- You want a place to see everything for one area of your life at a glance.
You can see all the Topics you’ve created by clicking on Topics.
How to create a Topic
- Click on Topics on the dashboard.
- Click the blue New button.
- Give the Topic a clear name (for example, “Client XYZ – Website”, “Deep Work”, “Parenting”).
- Set a cover image (see next sub-section).
- Create a database – Notion Help Center – how databases work and how new pages are created inside them.
- Databases - Notion Building Basics – overview of creating and using databases and views.
If you are new to databases in Notion, these guides from Notion can help:
How to set or change a Topic’s cover image
- Click on the Topic you want to set a cover image for.
- Click on the Cover Image tab under the Topic’s title.
- Click the empty image placeholder inside that tab.
- Choose an image (search on Unsplash, upload, or paste an image).
How to link Notes to a Topic
There are two main ways to link a note to a topic.
- From the Note:
- Open the Note.
- Click on the pinned 📖 Topics property under the page title. It will either show the text 📖 Topics or the names of Topics already linked.
- Select one or more Topics you want to apply to the Note.
- From the Topic:
- Open the Topic.
- Click the blue New button to create a Note that will be automatically linked to this Topic.
If you are new to pinned and relation properties in Notion, these guides can help:
How to see all Notes for a Topic
To see all the Notes for a particular Topic, simply click on Topics from the dashboard, then select the Topic you want to see all the notes for. You can also see all the Starred Notes for the selected Topic in the ⭐️ Starred view.
4. Tasks
Tasks are small, concrete things you can do. They can be linked to Notes and Initiatives. This keeps work connected to why it matters.
The Tasks database has five views:
- Current – shows the current Tasks that you are working on.
- New – shows Tasks that you have not yet started.
- Board - shows a board where you can see all the Tasks at a glance. It has columns for current, new, done, and paused Tasks. You can drag the a Task between these columns to change the Task’s status.
- Done – shows Tasks that you have already completed.
- Archive - shows the Tasks that you have archived.
Creating a new Task
There are three ways you can create a Task:
- From the dashboard
- From a Note
- From the Initiatives page
We go through each of these in the following sections.
How to create a Task from the dashboard
- Click on Tasks from the dashboard.
- Click the blue New button.
- Write a clear, do-able Task name.
- You can set the tasks status by clicking the Task Status property under the Task’s name. It will either show the words “Task Status” or the one of the following: “new”, “current”, “done”, or “paused”. Set the status to either “new” or “current”.
- You can also link the task to a specific Initiative (optional), by clicking on the 🗻 Initiative property under the Task’s name.
If you are new to databases in Notion, these guides from Notion can help:
- Create a database – Notion Help Center – how databases work and how new pages are created inside them.
- Databases - Notion Building Basics – overview of creating and using databases and views.
How to create a Task from a Note
When you see something in a Note that needs action, you can easily create a Task for it:
- Open the Note.
- Click the ✔️ Make Task button. This will create a new task that is automatically linked to this Note.
- You can set the tasks status by clicking the Task Status property under the Task’s name. It will either show the words “Task Status” or the one of the following: “new”, “current”, “done”, or “paused”. Set the status to either “new” or “current”.
How to create a Task related to an Initiative
- Click on Initiatives from the dashboard.
- In the blue New button. This creates a Task that is automatically linked to that Initiative, keeping your board tidy.
- You can set the tasks status by clicking the Task Status property under the Task’s name. It will either show the words “Task Status” or the one of the following: “new”, “current”, “done”, or “paused”. Set the status to either “new” or “current”.
How to link existing Tasks to an Initiative
- Open the Task you want to link to an Initiative.
- Click on the ⛰️ Initiatives property under the page title. It will either show the word Initiatives or the name of an Initiative already linked.
- Pick the Initiative you want to link this Task to.
If you are new to pinned and relation properties in Notion, these guides can help:
How to set or change a Task’s cover image
- Open the Task you want to set a cover image for.
- Click the empty image placeholder at the top of the page.
- Choose an image source using Unsplash or Upload (or paste an image).
Cover images help you easily browse through the tasks in the Gallery view.
How to assign an owner to a Task
You can assign an Owner for each Task. An Owner is the person who is responsible for the task’s completion.
To set an Owner:
- Open the Task.
- Set the Owner property to yourself or another person in the workspace.
Task lifecycle
Tasks move through a simple flow in the Commonplace Ecosystem:
- New – a new task that you have not yet started.
- Current – a task that you are working on.
- Done – a task that you have finished.
- Paused – a task that is temporarily on hold.
To change a Task’s status, click on it to open it, then change its Status property to either “new”, “current”, or “paused”.
Once you have completed a task and want to move it to “done”, click on the ☑️ Mark Done property. This will change the Task’s status to “done” and will also set the “Date Completed” property to the current date.
Tasks can also be archived if you no longer want to see it on your board but still want to keep it in the database. To archive a Task, click on the 🍂 Let Go property. This keeps your boards and lists meaningful while letting you safely let go of work that no longer matters.
5. Initiatives
Initiatives are projects and bigger efforts, like “Launch new website” or “Improve morning routine”. They gather Tasks around a specific goal.
An Initiative describes an outcome you care about and collects tasks that move you towards that outcome.
The Initiatives database has six views:
- Current – shows the current Initiatives that you are working on.
- New – shows Initiatives that you have not yet started.
- Board - shows a board where you can see all the Initiatives at a glance. It has columns for current, new, and paused Initiatives. You can drag the an Initiative between these columns to change its status.
- Active - shows Initiatives that have “new”, or “current” as their status.
- Completed – shows the Initiatives you have already finished.
- Archive - shows the Initiatives that you have archived.
How to create an Initiative
- Click on Initiatives database from the dashboard.
- Click the blue New button.
- Give the Initiative a clear, outcome-based title.
If you are new to databases in Notion, these guides from Notion can help:
- Create a database – Notion Help Center – how databases work and how new pages are created inside them.
- Databases - Notion Building Basics – overview of creating and using databases and views.
To make your Commonplace Ecosystem a place that feels like home, we strongly recommend setting a cover image — see below for how to do that.
How to set or change an Initiative’s cover image
- Open the Initiative you want to add a cover image to.
- Click on the 🖼️ Cover Image tab under the Initiative’s title.
- Click the empty image placeholder inside that tab.
- Choose an image (search on Unsplash, upload, or paste an image).
How to link Tasks to an Initiative
From a Task
- Open the Task.
- Click on the Initiative property.
- Pick the Initiative you want to link this task to.
If you are new to pinned and relation properties in Notion, these guides can help:
From the Initiatives page
- Open the specific Initiative you want the Task to be linked to.
- Click the blue New button to create a new Task that will be automatically linked to this Initiative.