Level Up Your Reading: How to Sync Readwise with Notion

If you're a bookworm or love saving articles, you know how tough it is to keep track of all those great highlights. That’s where Readwise and Notion come in. They’re a match made in heaven for organizing your reading notes! This tutorial will walk you through connecting these two powerhouses so you can automatically sync your highlights and build a killer knowledge base.

Step 1: Get Your Accounts Ready

First things first, you’ll need accounts for both services:

• Sign up for Readwise here: https://readwise.io/
• Grab a Notion account if you don’t have one yet: https://www.notion.so/

Step 2: Connect Your Reading Sources to Readwise

Readwise is like a central hub for all your highlights. Let’s get it hooked up to your reading apps:

1. Log into your Readwise account.
2. Head over to the "Sources" section in your dashboard.
3. Connect the apps and devices you read on, like Kindle, Apple Books, Instapaper, Pocket, or even Twitter (for those insightful threads!).
4. Follow the simple steps for each source to import your existing highlights.

Step 3: Link Readwise and Notion Together

Now for the magic! Let’s get these two apps talking to each other:

1. In your Readwise dashboard, click on "Export" in the sidebar.
2. Scroll down until you find the Notion integration and click "Connect."
3. You'll be whisked away to Notion to give Readwise permission to access your workspace. Just click "Allow."

Step 4: Tweak Your Notion Export Settings

Readwise gives you control over how your highlights are sent to Notion:

1. Back in Readwise, you’ll see some options to customize the export.
2. Choose whether you want to export everything or just highlights from specific books or articles.
3. Decide if you want to include the page number or location of each highlight (I find this helpful!).
4. Pick how often Readwise should sync – daily, weekly, or whatever works best for you.
5. Choose a specific page or database in your Notion workspace where you want your highlights to land.

Step 5: Make Your Notion Database Your Own

Once the first sync is done, it’s time to make your Notion database shine:

1. Hop over to your Notion workspace and find the new Readwise database that was created.
2. Play around with the database view! Add filters to see highlights from specific books, sort by date or color, and create different views for different topics.
3. Consider adding your own properties to the database. Maybe you want to add a tag for the main topic or a status field to show how you’ve processed a highlight.

Step 6: Automate the Sync

No one wants to manually sync stuff, right?

1. Double-check in Readwise that the "Automatic sync" option for Notion is turned on.
2. Now, any new highlights you make will automatically show up in your Notion database – no extra effort needed!

Step 7: Put Those Highlights to Work!

The real power comes from actually using your highlights. Here’s how:

• Make it a habit to review your synced highlights in Notion regularly.
• Use Notion’s tagging and linking features to connect related ideas and build a web of knowledge.
• Create summary pages or topic-based pages where you synthesize information from multiple sources.

Tips for Making the Most of Readwise and Notion

• Custom Views are Your Friend: Use Notion’s database features to create views for different types of content – articles, books, tweets, etc.
• Tag, You’re It: Use tags and properties in Notion to categorize and filter your highlights so you can find exactly what you need.
• Templates for the Win: Create templates in Notion for processing and expanding on your Readwise highlights. Maybe a template for summarizing key takeaways or one for connecting highlights to your own projects.
• Regular Review is Key: Schedule time each week or month to go through your synced highlights and integrate them into your knowledge management system.

Wrap-Up

By following these steps, you’ll have an awesome system for capturing, organizing, and using your reading highlights and notes. The combo of Readwise and Notion creates a smooth flow of information, helping you remember more of what you read and connect the dots between different ideas.

Don’t be afraid to experiment and adjust your workflow as you go. The goal is to find a system that fits your needs and helps you get the most out of your reading!