i can’t believe time flew by just like that.

i never thought it would take me this long to create this newsletter again whew.

Click the image below to view this on mobile or pc ↴

i think i spent too long at level 38 ‘coz i only just reached the 39th level recently. urgh

like last week. what level are you in your life?

Elle

my maximum dump was set at 15 but apparently i dumped 2 more so i guess i need to up the maximum a little bit. i know i don’t have the capacity to deal with any of them yet hahahaha.

the great thing is, i don’t have to sort all of them right now. i just need to sort at least 2 thoughts and organize them efficiently.

‘organizing’ them means i may have to just add it to a more related database, or just remove them from my brain bank if i no longer have any use for them.

my brain bank retains my bathroom thoughts, questions, analysis, poems, ideas for content, book, notion dashboard, anything just about anywhere.

so here are some tips i can share from my thought process of creating my version of ‘Pensieve’.

• you don’t have to do this in notion tbh. all you have to do is have a dedicated notebook for all your messy thoughts. make sure it’s not something you’re attached to though hahaha.

• just write anything to dump them off. no need to organize them yet. but of course you have to consider that it should still make sense to you in the future when you’re already up to organizing them.

• you could re-visit any of these thoughts and just pick which one you will organize, no need to organize them all at once.

• if you feel truly resistant to organizing any of them but already feel overwhelmed, make sure to always pair that action with doing your favorite thing. ❤︎

• after organizing it, cross it off like you would a checklist, or just tear the whole page off so it can be more satisfying 😁⁠

what i love about my Pensieve is there is no deadline for me to adhere to when it comes to organizing my thoughts. doing that is purely energy-based so i don’t have to feel guilty if i could only organize 2 thoughts out of the 17 i’ve dumped so far.

anyways, here’s my newest creation for 50% OFF ‘til August 31, so grab it early!

The Reader's Inkpact

start creating your own world:

💎 Build your own Gamified Template 💎

series, books, food to eat, where to eat, movies, people. to be or not to be. 😌

but ever since I saw the free randomizer template, it opened up more than a few possibilities for me.

no more ‘which book should i read?’

there are still soooo many unopened in my TBR 😅. I get so overwhelmed that I end up just re-reading I’ll be the Matriarch in this Life or binge read Cheese in the Trap in one sitting. which I never regret though tbh.

So in my new gamified reading tracker, I made it so that it will feel like you’re being “isekai’d” into your favorite novel. plus you can choose which character to “embody” beforehand. all you have to do to is use a “badge” to activate the system. 😘

i mean, it’s supposed to prevent me from just re-reading my default favorites. who knows, but here’s to hoping 🥂

my Café dilemma

it’s my birth month soon and I’m planning to go Café-hopping solo so I can explore which coffee shops offer great food, ambience and of course, coffee, the blood in my veins. I’m still thinking about whether I should use my gems to use it or not, but ehh, not bothered about that for now. 🤷🏽‍♀

I’m currently at 💎2,218 so I don’t want to spend it on anything yet hahaha.

all i know is i’m ready to explore new delicious foods and ambience i could soak up for hours.

️

checking off my movies

i’m a binge watch kinda girl so i normally prefer series to films, but a button to choose which movie i’ll watch to wind down for the night will definitely come in handy.

i’m planning to do it probably when i’m checked in at a hotel and i’m just snuggled up in bed, ready to stay awake for at least 5 hours ‘coz my hours are just so out of whack these days.

who to hang out with??

another thing I’m planning to create is have the system choose which friend I’ll drag to a café. 🤣

not sure if i wanna do that yet on my birthday though ‘coz i have a lot of pettiness to catch up on. 😤😄

anyways, here’s my newest creation for 50% OFF ‘til August 31, so grab it early!

The Reader's Inkpact

start creating your own world:

💎 Build your own Gamified Template 💎

she gave us a sample report card where we’ll grade ourselves on the topics related to CITT. like getting 2 credits per ‘subject’.

it sparked an overwhelming urge for me to create in notion. again. 😂

‘coz what if we got good grades on our favorite books?

then wouldn’t it be awesome if we got a job based on the knowledge we’ve gained from all we’ve read so far? literally quantifying the things we’ve learned all our life.

and so i spent a sleepless night coming up with a whole ass system, i was too fired up.

☕ instead of experience points (XP), we get knowledge points (KP), which i’ll use to apply to ‘jobs’.

☕ then i’ll turn the books into classes and i’ll call the topics “lores”, where i’ll earn the KP’s.

☕ i also had the idea of ‘buying’ characters, ‘coz i either wished i was them, or i wish i had them in my life hahahaha.

☕ so of course i had to earn gold and what better way than the ‘job’ i applied to?

after that, i thought maybe i should have the characters fight off villains from other ‘worlds’. like Sung Jin Woo fighting off the constellations in ORV.

or idk, Firentia Lombardi against that bitch dolores umbridge. 👿

and so i created a page where they can ‘Conquer Trials’. it was therapeutic, to say the least, defeating those villains. 😌

afterwards, i thought i should definitely equip my characters with something. hence, i expanded my shop (i call it Caravan this time) to include weapons, armor, spells, wardrobe and health potions, ‘coz i don’t want my characters to die during the fight (like some of them did in the book). 😭

i thought i was finally done. after all, i already included some of my favorite gamified mechanics from my previous dashboards. Points system, rewards shop and boss fights.

however, another idea struck. 🤯

what iF, by a click of a button, i could somehow get ‘isekai’d’ into a world inside a novel? that’s just awesome, i could live as an introvert student at Hogwarts, making sure i steer clear of the trio ‘coz i just wanna live a cozy, magical life. 😂

even if i didn’t know how to do it yet, i know i could find a way.

i stumbled upon a randomizer template where it will open up a page at random and it was such a great find. ❣️

so i went back to my drawing board and was able to create an ‘isekai roster system’ where i will need an entry ‘badge’ to use the system. each time i use the system, it will cost me 1 badge.

i thought it was also such a great way to reduce my decision making time.

‘coz remember when you get the urge to read a new book from your TBR but you take soooooooo long to choose which one? then you end up re-reading your favorite book for the 19384850th time?

yep, you can do it easily through the roster system instead (even if you don’t end up following the system and you still end up re-reading that worn-out book). you can add all your books (your TBR and your completed books) and have the system decide which ‘world’ you’ll explore next.

another unique thing is you can use which character you’ll ‘embody’ in that world you get isekai’d into.

now the next thing i truly had a hard time on is deciding what concept i can use with this whole system and make it a unique one.

at first, i wanted to use a manga concept, where each page takes the story forward, and the databases are incorporated in the story line. but i suck at drawing 😂.

i may do it at another point, but probably not this year 😂.

so i had to scrap that idea and choose a reader POV instead.

the first thing you’ll see as a reader, is a ‘notification’ that you’ve been isekai’d to Narraverse.

and the story goes on from there. i don’t wanna spoil it too much but feel free to check it out here. ↴

The Reader's Inkpact

it’s 50% off ‘til august 31, 2026!

start creating your own world:

💎 Build your own Gamified Template 💎

Whew, I never thought it would take me this long to create Dream Life Meadow. I hope you enjoy 2026 using this new dashboard!

(Flash sale on Dec 31 - Jan 1 ONLY)

Click the image below to view this on mobile or pc ↴

Can’t believe I still get pimples at my age urgh,

Elle

Dream Life Meadow was born because I wanted growth to feel visible and emotionally real. I wanted productivity that felt like tending a garden instead of fighting a clock. This notion gamified dashboard exists because I needed proof that slow progress still counts.

I wanted my days to feel intentional instead of reactive. I wanted tasks to feel like quests, rest to feel valid, and my chaotic thoughts to feel welcome.

Dream Life Meadow became the place where all of that could coexist without pressure.

why this dashboard exists in the first place

I built Dream Life Meadow because…

Growth felt invisible before, like I was doing so much and feeling nothing. Making progress visual helped me feel it in my body instead of just tracking it on a list.

This notion gamified dashboard treats rest as part of growth, not something you earn later. Low energy days are not failures here. They are part of the design. Sometimes doing one tiny quest is more than enough, and the system actually respects that.

Dream Life Meadow also exists to reduce mental clutter. Button automations handle the boring math behind the scenes so I can focus on living. One click can level up skills, progress projects, grow relationships, update journals, and boost XP, HP, MP, and Gems. My brain finally gets to relax a little.

meet the avatar who lives your life for you

At the center of Dream Life Meadow is your Avatar. This is not a static profile. This is the character who actually lives your life with you.

Your Avatar tracks growth in ways that feel playful instead of judgmental. Energy levels matter here. Some days you are unstoppable. Some days you are basically a decorative pillow. Both are allowed.

Here is what your Avatar manages.

• 🧍 XP, HP, MP, and Gems

• 🔋 Energy Status

• 🎭 Archetypes that change based on energy and role

• 🌱 Skills and Traits

• 🐾 Pet affinity through quests, scenarios, and gifts

• 📜 Character bio and personal lore

• 🧠 Pensieve Status showing how many thoughts you can organize today

Dream Life Meadow adapts to you instead of demanding performance. Low energy as a CEO does not mean Low energy as a Couch Potato. The number of quests adjusts so you never feel punished for being human.

home is where your day gently unfolds

The Home page in Dream Life Meadow is where everything slows down. This is your daily anchor. It helps you check in without spiraling.

This notion gamified dashboard makes planning feel calm by keeping everything visible but not overwhelming. You are guided, not rushed.

Here is what lives in Home.

• 🌤 Daily Check in

• 📅 Mood Calendar

• 🌸 Habit Garden

• 💎 XP, HP, MP, and Gems

• 🎉 Special Dates

• 🍲 Cookbook and Meal Planner

• 🩺 Healthcare Appointments

• 🧺 Pantry

• 💆 Self care kit

• 🗺 Energy based quests

• 🎭 Current Archetype

Dream Life Meadow treats care tasks with the same importance as work tasks. Feeding yourself and resting your body count as real progress here.

work and study without the dread spiral

Work and Study in Dream Life Meadow feel structured without being suffocating. Everything connects so nothing feels like busywork.

This notion gamified dashboard lets work grow organically. You can plan content, manage clients, track projects, and store ideas without duplication. Study becomes skill building instead of information hoarding.

Some highlights include.

• 🧠 Brain banks for random ideas and thoughts

• 💾 Learnings and handy bookmarks system

• 📈 Project and portfolio tracking

• 📱 Content planners and social platforms

• 🗂 Synced notes everywhere

• 🎓 Classes as quests

• ⭐ Skills and traits doubling as notebooks

Dream Life Meadow helps you see how learning feeds work and how work feeds growth. Nothing feels isolated anymore.

the bazaar, cafe, and village where life gets cozy

This is where Dream Life Meadow really becomes a world.

The Bazaar handles money without shame. Budgeting feels neutral and organized. The Cafe is where rest lives. Hobbies, journaling, dates with companions, and quiet joy all have a place. The Village holds memory.

Here is what these spaces allow.

• 🛍 Budgets, expenses, accounts, and wishlists

• 🧪 Gears, spells, potions, and gifts

• ☕ Journaling, hobbies, and inventory

• 🌿 Habit garden growth

• 🏛 Museum of memorable quests and milestones

• 🏘 Community of characters, mentors, pets, and inspirations

Dream Life Meadow lets you revisit memories gently. Past versions of you feel like friends instead of strangers. Growth becomes something you can look at and feel proud of.

the dungeon where hard things get faced safely

The Dungeon is where challenges live. This is where tasks become scenarios and fear gets a health bar.

In Dream Life Meadow, hard tasks are not avoided. They are faced with structure, humor, and a little dramatic flair.

Inside the Dungeon you will find:

• 🗡 Avatar level, XP, and HP

• 🧟 Scenario health bars

• 📋 Tips to win checklists

• 🎒 Inventory of gears and spells

• 💬 Dialogue that updates every strike

• 🏁 Battle results and rewards

Deadlines raise stakes. Rewards feel earned. Penalties exist but never shame you. This notion gamified dashboard turns pressure into play instead of panic.

why dream life meadow changed how i see productivity

Dream Life Meadow helped me fall in love with being productive again. Not in a hustle way. In a caring way.

This notion gamified dashboard showed me that growth can be romantic, slow, and kind. Tasks do not have to feel heavy. Rest does not have to feel guilty. Life can be organized in a way that feels beautiful.

If your days feel loud, scattered, or joyless, maybe you do not need more discipline. Maybe you need a world that wants you to succeed gently.

YOUR World is ready to load:

Dream Life Meadow is an invitation to gamify your life with intention, softness, and joy. Start where you are. One quest is enough today.

If you want a Notion system that feels like a mix of progress, play, and personality, now is the best time to jump in. The Gamified Notion Planners are 50% off until January 1, MIDNIGHT EST.

50% OFF

start creating your own world:

💎 Build your own Gamified Template 💎

Click the image below to view this on mobile or pc ↴

Looking young (i wiiiiish) but feeling like a gnarly old lady,

Elle

That is why this gamified planner exists in the first place. I needed a world that felt fun enough to trick myself into staying on track.

I leaned heavily on aesthetic and cozy gamification because my focus needs color and story lore to behave. It started as a tiny experiment and became a full gamified planner walkthrough filled with quests and comfy aesthetics.

the café page that turned my planner into a tiny slice of comfort

The café page came from a deep desire for comfort while organizing my mind. I wanted something that felt like a warm corner booth with soft lighting, cup of my favorite hazelnut macchiato and too many pastries.

The result became one of my favorite parts of this gamified life planner since it combines cozy vibes with structure.

The café interior layout works because the fantasy themed planner pages are not pretending to be anything serious. Everything looks like a relaxing location in a tiny role playing game. The more I leaned into gamified layouts, the more fun the whole thing became.

Here is what the café page lets you do (for the moment 😜).

☕ log ‘pastries’ as your journal entries

🎁 buy gifts to give to your favorite companions

🍵 buy potions to replenish your HP and MP

📚 chill with books, movies, series and games

💞 have a deep convo with your date

🌸 watch your flower garden grow as you complete your habits

The café page instantly became my emotional support corner. It helped me stay consistent with gamification because it felt like a safe location in my daily story.

the merchant district page for your business quests and cash missions

Once the cozy café was done, I needed a separate dashboard that will help me tackle business and career life without panicking and being overwhelmed.

That is how the merchant district was born. This sneak peak of the gamified life planner page was inspired by medieval market maps mixed with modern productivity chaos.

The merchant district feels like a full city zone inside this gamified planner. It uses gamified layouts to make every boring responsibility look like a quest reward waiting to happen. Planner pages for gamification work best when everything looks like it has treasure hidden behind it, so I leaned into that concept.

Here is what the merchant district connects to.

🧠 Brain Bank

💰 Money Quests that for your real life career and business missions

🏪 Databases for your Store, discounts, customers and reviews

📁 Projects, learnings and bookmarks

📱 Social media planner, platforms, content ideas and sequence planner

🔗 Your links like socials and websites

📝 Synced notes

The merchant district was the page that convinced me fantasy themed planner pages could actually organize my entire livelihood.

My gamified life planner finally felt like a full town instead of scattered sticky notes.

the academy page for the inner nerd who wants to collect skills like trading cards

The academy page is where my inner student came back from the dead. I missed the feeling of learning inside a magical setting so I built this zone.

This particular gamified notion dashboard blends school vibes with fantasy aesthetics to make studying feel like leveling up.

Gamified layouts help keep things organized without draining my excitement. Everything feels like it has purpose and potential.

Here is what the academy page includes.

🎓 attend and manage your classes

⭐ manage your skills and traits which double as notebooks!!

📝 dump notes into a synced ‘road’ block

📚 manage notebooks and projects (get rewarded with XP + Gems everytime you level up or complete projects!!)

🚀 go to the academy area to upgrade skills and traits

time to treat your life like the sweetest little RPG

Every section works together to create a world where planning feels playful instead of draining.

Gamification is NOT about perfection. It’s about making your life feel like a story worth playing.

If you want a Notion system that feels like a mix of progress, play, and personality, now is the best time to jump in. The Ultimate Gamified Life Planner is 50% off until December 3 MIDNIGHT and every future update, including new ideas like these, will always be free once you own it.

50% OFF

start your next save file today:

💎 Build your own Gamified Template 💎

The struggle hits fast. You want progress yet your brain wants to stroll through every unrelated thought on earth.

I had to learn how to stay consistent with gamification because my motivation behaves like a squirrel trying to do calculus. I needed gamification tricks for daily tasks just to stop drifting off what-ifs and what-could-have-beens. I also needed to make boring tasks feel like quests or I would simply ignore them until the sun exploded.

the messy toolkit that finally made sense to my feral little brain

Being consistent with your gamification journey is less about discipline and more about tricking your brain into cooperating.

You do not need flawless focus.

You need silly little systems that nudge you in the right direction without making your chest feel tight.

These tricks helped me maintain gamified routines without arguing with myself for a minimum of 3 hours. They also made habits feel like a tiny adventure instead of a punishment.

Here are the methods that kept me afloat.

👉 fake deadlines that somehow work anyway

🎮 do a quest within 2 songs.

🎮 invent a pretend countdown and promise your future self a snack if you finish.

👉 get out of your head without wrestling your thoughts

🎮 treat your thoughts like videos and tell yourself to ‘SWIPE UP’ when they are not urgent.

🎮 set a dedicated time block to overthink then ‘SWIPE UP’ on every chaotic thought outside that window.

🎮 pair dreaded tasks with enjoyable activities like sipping your favorite tea while replying to emails.

👉 build quests so tiny your brain cannot protest

🎮 opening laptop 2 XP.

🎮 typing the email 10 XP.

🎮 sending the email 20 XP.

🎮 create a list of tiny wins from your past victories and use them as boosters.

👉 turn terrifying tasks or projects into boss fights

🎮 assign the boss a health bar and attack power.

🎮 pick a weapon and imaginary allies to boost your stats.

🎮 choose rewards for a little gacha system like potions, gear or gifts.

🎮 offer real life rewards like an hour of doomscrolling or buying a book.

🎮 add a deadline. If you do not defeat the boss in time, you lose gold or earn no item.

🎮 banter with your inner demon every time you hit strike.

These habits made it easier to stay grounded. How to stay consistent with gamification became less theoretical and more like a functioning pattern. Gamification tricks for daily tasks helped break the ice when fear or dread tried to glue my feet to the floor.

the real start of consistency is not glamorous at all

Being consistent with your gamification journey does not mean you suddenly become a productivity deity.

It means you accept that your brain prefers chaos and you choose to build playful systems around that reality.

Making boring tasks feel like quests matters because stories bypass resistance in a way that traditional discipline rarely does.

Gamified routines became the backbone of my day. Habit gamification stitched together the parts of my life that used to fall apart whenever I lost focus. It is not perfect but it works, which is better than all the perfection I attempted in the past.

small quests create big worlds

Being consistent with your gamification journey is not about becoming flawless.

Try one tiny quest today. Turn one task into a boss fight. Give yourself XP for something unbelievably small. Progress counts even when it looks ridiculous.

If you want a Notion system that feels like a mix of progress, play, and personality, now is the best time to jump in. The Ultimate Gamified Life Planner is 50% off until December 3 MIDNIGHT and every future update, including new ideas like these, will always be free once you own it.

50% OFF ALL MY NOTION TEMPLATES

I was so exhausted ngl. But I’m back with a vengeance my lord and ladies!! Whoop whoop. I’m running a 50% OFF sale on all my templates on Etsy, link in my newsletter so make sure to bookmark it!

view this either on mobile or pc, either is good! Click the image below ↴

Motivated and inspired but not getting a lot of ideas for real,

Elle

I used to think I needed more motivation. Or a stricter routine. Or a better planner. But honestly? I just needed one thing: a way to make starting feel smaller and less dramatic. The kind of start that doesn’t ask for discipline or perfection, only a tiny bit of curiosity. That’s exactly what gamification did for me. It gave my brain something it could say yes to.

How to make “starting” easier

The secret is simple: your brain loves play, not pressure.
When a task becomes a “quest,” something shifts. It stops being this looming responsibility and instead becomes a mini storyline.

Suddenly there’s a reason to take the first action.

Suddenly you get XP for wiping the counter.

Suddenly “start the report” becomes “defeat the mini-boss in stage one.”

Two completely different emotional experiences.

Gamification gives you:

• a micro starting point instead of a big wall

• a reward for doing the smallest version of the task

• a story that feels lighter than “you should be doing this already”

You’re not forcing yourself to start.
You’re inviting yourself to play.

how I use tiny quests when everything feels heavy

When I feel that familiar freeze, I don’t ask:
How do I finish this?
I ask:
What’s the tiniest quest I can do that moves the story forward?

Sometimes the quest is literally open the document
or
put the laundry in one pile
or
set a 3-minute timer

And because it’s a quest, it comes with a little XP, a little sparkly Gold coin, a little narrative.
Tiny, yes — but enough.

the magic moment: when “work” starts behaving like a game

This is the part that surprised me.
Once I connected everyday tasks to quests, XP, streaks, companions, progress bars… the tasks themselves stopped feeling like chores. They became playable.

Not easier.
Not more glamorous.
Just… easier to approach. More playful to do.

Gamification didn’t fix my brain overnight.
It simply gave it a format it could work with.

maybe you should give it a try

here’s your first tiny quest:

1. Pick one task today.

2. Rename it into a quest.

3. Give it XP + Gold.

4. Give yourself a 3-sentence storyline.

5. Then do the smallest possible step.

Not the whole task.
Not the “productive” version.
Just the playable version.

And maybe, it will give you enough momentum for the rest to happen naturally.

your next adventure begins here

I create cozy, story-driven Notion systems that make the everyday feel lighter, easier, and a bit more magical. If you want tools that turn starting into something your brain can actually handle, you’ll love my gamified setups.

Try one quest today… or dive into a whole world of XP, quests, characters, and gentle momentum.

💎 Build your own Gamified Template 💎

If you want a Notion system that feels like a mix of progress, play, and personality, now is the best time to jump in. The Ultimate Gamified Life Planner is 50% OFF until December 4 and every future update, including new ideas like these, will always be free once you own it.

50% OFF ALL MY NOTION TEMPLATES

Some days productivity feels like walking through mud, even when the to do list is small.

If you’ve ever opened your Notion workspace and wished it felt more alive, more playful, or more like a world you actually want to return to, you’re not alone. That’s exactly why I’ve been brainstorming fresh ideas for future dashboard expansions — concepts that might make it into the next update of my Ultimate Gamified Life Planner.

These aren’t confirmed features yet, but they’re the kind of cozy, gamified elements that turn everyday routines into something you genuinely look forward to. And honestly? Sharing them now is perfect timing, especially while the entire planner (along with all my other templates) is still 50% off until December 4. If these ideas spark something in you, this might be the best moment to grab the full system before the price goes back up.

I. Micro Wins Museum

A micro wins museum is a small place in your Notion space where you collect all the little victories you tend to forget. It can be a gallery of photos, a list of tiny accomplishments, or even a set of quick reflections. This simple idea turns routine progress into something visual and worth celebrating, which makes you feel more connected to what you achieve every week.

It works beautifully in a productivity + play setup because it gives your brain something to look forward to. Instead of seeing progress as a chore, you get a moment of delight each time you add a new win to your museum. This keeps motivation from dipping and makes your entire system feel more rewarding.

II. A pet companion that levels up

A leveling pet companion gives your tasks a sense of relationship instead of obligation. Each time you finish something, your pet gains XP, grows, evolves, or reacts in some cute way. It turns effort into interaction instead of plain check marks.

This works especially well on days where energy is low, because even a single small task feels more meaningful when it helps your companion grow. It adds personality to your workspace and makes your dashboard feel alive instead of static.

III. Life Checkpoint System

A life checkpoint system lets you stop, acknowledge progress, and reset direction without pressure. It works like save points in a game, where you document where you are, what you learned, and what you want to do next. This turns reflection into an easy ritual instead of a heavy assignment.

It is extremely helpful for avoiding burnout because it naturally slows you down without making you feel unproductive. You get to see your story forming over time, which keeps your momentum steady and intentional.

All three ideas work because they replace pressure with play. You are still getting things done, but the process feels softer and more rewarding.

They also remove the sense of isolation that often comes with managing tasks. Whether you are curating wins, leveling a companion, or saving your progress at checkpoints, you are creating a world that moves with you. That makes your Notion space feel more like a supportive environment than a strict office.

Start Building Your Own Game Like Routine

Turning everyday actions into playful systems is one of the best ways to keep your productivity steady without feeling overwhelmed. These Notion inspo ideas show how much more fun planning becomes when you treat it like a small adventure.

If you want a Notion system that feels like a mix of progress, play, and personality, now is the best time to jump in. The Ultimate Gamified Life Planner is 50% off until December 4 and every future update, including new ideas like these, will always be free once you own it.

50% OFF ALL MY NOTION TEMPLATES

Part 1. Creating your quest database →

Part 2. Creating your avatar →

Part 3. Including coins to your reward system →

Part 4: Building your very own mall →

Part 5: Designing aesthetic XP Bar →

Some days you want to be productive but your brain wants something a little more fun. A quick XP rewards setup became my way of bridging that gap. I kept waiting for motivation to strike and it almost never did. The funny part is that the moment I added my first XP pop up, the work felt a little less heavy and a little more doable.

Using XP & rewards in Notion instead of just the regular ole checkbox lets you treat tasks as playful moves in a system instead of burdens. It does not fix everything but it makes starting easier which is often the hardest part.

How to Build Quick XP Rewards using Buttons.

There are actually 2 ways to set this up, if you’ve already built your quest database from the Part 1 tutorial. One is using templates, the other is using buttons. Creating templates is easy enough as you won’t have to re-create the quest every single time. But buttons give you the freedom to just do it when you need that particular quest, without new pages being added unnecessarily to your database.

1. Create a button by typing in any area of your page (I suggest doing it in the first dashboard you use). Type “/button” then choose the Button property.

   

2. Name the button according to the quest or habit you often do and choose any emoji related to the quest you want to create. Next is choosing the action you want the button to do which in this case is adding a new page to your quest database.

3. Next is adding properties you want to auto-populate with the following values. Make sure to use figures that will make you feel sufficiently rewarded for completing each task. Always add it to your avatar so your XP and Gems count!!

   

4. And of course, we always want our pop-up! Here’s how the formula would look like and you can copy the one below:

style(”Done: “ + context(”Page added”).prop(”Quest name”), “b”) + “\n” +
style(”+ ✨ “ + context(”Page added”).prop(”XP”), “b”, “green”) +
style(”+ 💎 “ + context(”Page added”).prop(”Diamonds”), “b”, “blue”)

5. Here’s how the button look like: I added in the value of what I will get each time I do the quest, in the button name.

6. So each time I click on the button, the button emoji also gets featured in the pop-up! (You can also upload gifs or custom images from the internet and use that as your emoji too XD)

Using buttons instead of templates allow for more customization for the pop-up look and it avoids clutter in your database especially for quests you have not done.

This process seems small but it changes how your day feels. Instead of waiting for motivation to show up, you create a source of momentum you can trigger anytime. When quests turns your effort into visible progress, the work becomes lighter and more playful.

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Weirdly lost most of my XP last week and stoically freaking out,

Elle

We all know that feeling — opening your productivity tool and instantly losing the will to start.

You stare at the endless checkboxes, the sterile dashboards, and that same gray list of “things to do.” It’s efficient, sure. But where’s the spark?

That’s where gamified Notion setups come in. Instead of simply managing tasks, you start playing through them. It’s the same Notion you use for work, but with a layer of story and reward that makes every click feel like progress in a game — not punishment in disguise.

When you start turning the mundane into the magical, productivity stops feeling like something you “have to do.” It starts feeling like something you want to keep doing.

Bring the Fun Back to Functional

The idea is simple: every boring system can be reimagined through play.

• Your checklist doesn’t have to stay a checklist — it can become a quest database, where each task turns into an adventure you complete for XP.

• Instead of ticking boxes mindlessly, you’re earning points toward your next level.

• Replace basic checkboxes with interactive buttons that give you that satisfying dopamine kick when you complete something.

• Add a tiny pop-up animation or emoji reaction — that little moment of joy goes a long way.

• You can even let your avatar do the counting for you. It tracks your daily wins, converts them into XP, and maybe even earns Diamonds or Gold as you go. Watch it level up the more consistent you are.

Suddenly, progress isn’t just visible — it’s alive.

Make It Visual, Make It Yours

The magic of a gamified Notion setup lies in visibility. Instead of vague goals like “be more productive,” you can literally see your growth.

Create aesthetic progress bars that fill up as you work through your day. Add color, style, and personality — because your workspace should feel like you.

Even your big projects can feel more exciting. Rename your project database into a boss fight tracker, where each milestone helps you chip away at your “boss HP.” The more quests you finish, the closer you get to victory. It’s symbolic, sure — but that’s what makes it fun.

Why It Works

When productivity feels playful, it becomes sustainable.

You’re no longer forcing yourself to show up — you’re showing up because you want to see what happens next.

The fun becomes your motivation, and the function just follows naturally.

So the next time your Notion feels too serious, remember: you can bring the fun from functional.

Add a dash of magic. Add a quest. Add a reason to look forward to checking things off.

Turn the mundane into magical

You don’t need a complicated system to turn your day into an adventure. Just start small — one quest, one button, one progress bar. Watch your productivity grow naturally, and let your Notion become a space that celebrates your effort, not drains it.

🏘️ 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭

💎 Build your own Gamified Template 💎

When I built what I thought were strong productivity systems, I found myself viewing Notion as a digital chore list. The perfect dashboard, the ideal task status, the full habit tracker… but somehow I still procrastinated. That’s when I realised: tools like Notion only become meaningful when they align with how you genuinely want to use them. Simple to-do lists were doing their job—but they weren’t satisfying.

Here are 3 use cases that turned my Notion workspace into something I didn’t mind opening.

• Use Notion as a “Rewards Hub” you can claim your long breaks without guilt.

  

• Use Notion as a “Project Storyboard” with “boss fights” and “clear scenario arcs” instead of raw tasks.

  

• Use Notion as a “Habit Garden” where each habit blooms like a plant in your virtual space.

  

These use cases made the system feel custom-built for me—and turned productivity into play.

🏘️ 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭

When you shift from thinking “I must do this task” to “I get to do this quest with [insert favorite character here],” you tap into real gamified productivity.

Your Next Quest: Make Notion Fun

Each of those use cases above linked to a productivity system that didn’t punish me for taking breaks but rewarded gentle progress. The more I used them, the less resistance I felt logging into Notion.

When you explore fun use cases for Notion, you give yourself permission to enjoy being productive. You stop building productivity systems that feel like chores and start building setups you want to revisit.

💎 Build your own Gamified Template 💎

Part 1. Creating your quest database →

Part 2. Creating your avatar →

Part 3. Including coins to your reward system →

Part 4: Building your very own mall →

When you build an XP bar Notion system you get both motivation and clarity. The visual progress replaces fuzzy guilt with real progress, and your Notion progress tracker stops being a chore and becomes a character stat sheet.

How to Add an Aesthetic Progress Bar for your Quests

1. If you’ve already built your avatar database, this is a continuation on adding more properties to that same DB to show your quest completion progress.

2. Just to refresh this is what properties your avatar should have: (more details in this tutorial)

   

3. Now what we’re going to do is add a Rollup property to your Avatar database, let’s name it ‘Quest progress‘. The relation property should pull from your quest/tasks database, then follow the rest of the functions you can see below:

4. Now for the progress bar, you can get ideas on the graphics to use from emoji sites or from this site.

5. For this tutorial, we’ll use my favorite 🤭. So next add another FORMULA property, name it anything you like hehe. Then, just copy and paste the code below:

   style(”Quests completed:” + “ “ + (prop(”Quests progress”) * 100) + “%”, “b”, “c”, “default”, “yellow_background”) + “\n” +
   (((substring(”██████████”, 0, round(prop(”Quests progress”) * 10)) + substring(”░░░░░░░░░░”, 0, round((1 - prop(”Quests progress”)) * 10))) + “ “).style(”yellow”))

   SOME NOTES about the code:

   • style - this customizes the color and formatting of your text or even formulas, you can even use fancy text generator and paste the text in the formula.

   • “\n” - inserts new line.

   • substring - you can replace the bars with emojis of your choosing. go wild.

6. This is how it looks like in the formula bar:

   

7. And now this is how it should look like in your avatar:

   

Once it’s set up, you’ll feel yourself actually looking forward to finishing tasks just to see the bar fill. My XP bar Notion setup became a micro-game inside my day. Instead of chasing infinite tasks I chased growth.

🎀 Claim your FREE Gamified Template 🎀

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view this either on mobile or pc, either is good! Click the image below ↴

your Notion NPC,

Elle

I used to think I needed more motivation. Turns out, I just needed better rewards.

For weeks, I was grinding quests in my Notion gamification setup — ticking tasks, earning coins, and running my Notion coins system. But eventually, even my own system started to feel predictable. Every checkbox felt like déjà vu, every “reward” felt flat. That’s when the idea of gacha in Notion hit me: what if rewards were random, like pulling from a loot box?

The Spark: Making Luck a Feature, Not a Bug

I wanted to recreate that feeling of surprise when you open a chest in a game — that mix of thrill and risk. My Notion gacha system became a tiny experiment. I made a database that could generate random quotes when I felt stuck, random coin drops for extra dopamine, and mall item rewards for completed quests.

Each spin felt different. Sometimes, I got an inspiring game dialogue. Other times, a “discount coupon” for an item in my mall. The randomness made my gamified productivity setup feel alive again.

What You Can Do With Gacha in Notion

Here’s what I love about using a Notion random reward generator:

1. It brings unpredictability back into a system that can feel repetitive.

2. You can link your gacha pulls to “boss fights” — I coded mine to drop game dialogues each time I strike.

3. It creates excuses to reward yourself with things that actually feel exciting — not forced.

Using gacha in Notion turned my planner into an adventure. I wasn’t just managing tasks anymore; I was building a world where rewards felt earned and delightful.

🏘️ 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭

When Coins Stop Being Enough

Before gacha, I relied too much on coins as proof of progress. My Notion coins system worked, but I realized something was missing — the spark. Randomness gave me that. Suddenly, rewards weren’t something I scheduled; they surprised me.

And weirdly, that made me want to do more. I found myself chasing not the coins, but the curiosity of what might drop next. That’s the magic of how to create gacha system in Notion — it transforms boring repetition into something you look forward to.

Gamification as a Mirror of Real Life

That’s what Notion gamification helps remind me: progress isn’t always linear, but it’s worth playing for.

Adding gacha was my way of embracing uncertainty and finding fun in the small things. It wasn’t about control anymore. It was about curiosity.

The Joy of Earning, Not Just Winning

When I see that boss fight status: — “You got a premium potion!” or “+273 coins bonus!” — it’s no longer about hoarding rewards. It’s about the reminder that I’m still playing. Gacha isn’t a distraction; it’s a system that makes rest and reward feel just as important as effort.

It reconnected me with why I gamified my Notion in the first place — not to push harder, but to enjoy the process of showing up.

Build Your Own Notion Gacha Adventure

If you’ve been stuck in grind mode, maybe it’s time to bring play back into your system. Create your own gacha rewards, tie them to quests, or generate random affirmations. Life doesn’t need to feel like a spreadsheet. It can feel like a story worth logging.

here’s the video I found that worked for my system:

Browse cute free hand icons for a minimalistic feel to your Notion!

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕃𝕚𝕗𝕖

How to Build Your Notion Mall

Now that you have diamonds or coins in your quest, what’s next…

Read more

10 months ago · 𝔼𝕝𝕝𝕖

🎀 Claim your FREE Gamified Template 🎀

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕃𝕚𝕗𝕖

🏪 How I Used My Notion Mall to Stop Feeling Guilty About Breaks

I thought coins were the goal… until I burned out…

Read more

10 months ago · 𝔼𝕝𝕝𝕖