How to Build a Resonance Calendar in Notion (Incl. 3 Use Cases)

I follow a lot of smart people on Twitter.

Most, if not all of them, tweet thoughts worth saving to reflect on and learn from later.

I used to “Like” my favorites, hoping to return to them later. But without an organizational process in place, I rarely returned to them, and if I did, I often forgot why I “liked” them, to start with.

In this article, I’ll share three new Notion uses cases to help you remember your key learnings, inspire your writing, and collect praise from buyers, colleagues, and more.

1. Resonance Calendar

A Resonance Calendar is an idea I learned from YouTuber, Ali Abdaal.

In his words:

I follow a similar practice but have added Twitter as a source of insight as (1) I learn a lot from the people I follow and (2) Notion has a feature that allows you to embed tweets on a page.

When I see a tweet I like, I “Like” it on Twitter. Then, when I’m doing my weekly review every Friday, I go through my “Likes” and save my favorites in my Resonance Calendar. 

Next, I tag each tweet to give more context such as theme (e.g. decision making), source, and more, recently, “Connection.” If I notice someone tweeting a similar thought to one I’ve already saved, I can save that, too, and link the two together for later reference.

To illustrate, here’s a tweet I saved from Shane Parrish, founder of Farnam Steet.

And here’s a tweet I saved from writer James Clear, who assumingly built on Parish’s tweet a month later. (They follow each other on Twitter.)

Connecting a thought to an earlier source, like in the above example, gives an idea greater context; you internalize it on a deeper level due to seeing the idea evolve over time.

Documenting my biggest learnings in a clear, easily retrievable way, has been an invaluable investment of my time and energy, and a practice I plan to continue for the foreseeable future.

2. Joke Bank

If there’s one lesson I’ve learned from writing hundreds of email campaigns, it’s that readers want to be entertained as much as they want to be informed.

And if you want to “infotain” readers, as copywriter Ben Settle would encourage, you must learn how to be funny.

That isn’t to say that you need to tell jokes in your writing, but you do need to cultivate a fun, playful storytelling style that’s unique to you.

You telling a few buddies over coffee something funny that happened to you—that’s where you want to be in your writing.

In an effort to write better, more entertaining emails, I’m learning from my favorite comedians, humorists, and writers on Twitter.

With only 280 characters at their disposal, joke tellers need to make every word—every letter—count if it’s going to be a hit.

Much like I do with my Resonance Calendar, if I see a tweet that makes me laugh, I “Like” it, and add it to my Joke Bank in Notion.

That way, if I’m ever writing an email and hoping to tickle a funny bone or two, I can refer to my Joke Bank for inspiration. That might be a line I can repurpose for an image caption, or, as illustrated below, an angle for an email opening.

In this email’s introduction, I repurposed one of my favorite gags from The Simpsons. 

You might not be a writer or have an intention to convey more humor. But if you are, and you’re looking to get noticed in your readers’ inboxes, humor is the key to driving more opens and click-throughs.

3. Testimonial Database

A few years ago, I began building a resource I call a testimonial database. 

Here’s how it works: 

Anytime someone writes something positive about me or my work online, I take a screenshot, add it to Notion, and added a relevant tag to help me retrieve it when needed.

For example, if a customer praises my commonplace book, I name it using a YYYY/MM/DD naming convention and tag it as “Commonplace Book.”

That way, if I ever need a customer testimonial for an email or landing page, I can go into Notion, sort by “Commonplace Book,” and crop the image as needed.

I believe that building a testimonial database is an essential resource for business owners or otherwise. Yet, it’s one many overlook building until it’s needed. 

You need to overcome a potential buyer’s objection but can’t due to poor organization. You forget what you’re capable of because you haven’t recorded what others say about what you already accomplished.

You need to build your well before your thirsty, as the saying goes, and a testimonial database is a convenient way to fill your bucket, as and when needed.

Which Is Your Favorite Notion Use Case?

I was a long-time Evernote user before I moved to Notion. But I never had as much fun with Evernote as I do with Notion. 

I’m discovering new ways to get more out of the platform all the time—mostly from people on Twitter. 

And at the rate I’m going, I don’t think that will change for a long time. 

Maybe ever.