How I use Notion to manage five client projects without losing my mind
A practical walkthrough of my project dashboard, task dependencies, and weekly review ritual that keeps everything from falling through the cracks.
I run a small design studio that’s really just me and a few contractors. At any given time, I’m juggling four to six client projects in various stages. I’ve tried Asana, Trello, and even a whiteboard. Notion stuck because it lets me shape the tool around my workflow instead of the other way around.
Here’s the core setup: one master Projects database with a status property (Backlog, Active, Review, Done) and a linked Tasks database. Each project page pulls in its tasks via a relation. I use a formula to calculate “days since last update” so I can spot stalled projects at a glance. Every Monday I run a filtered view of tasks due that week and assign them. That’s it.
The trick is to resist the urge to overcomplicate. I don’t use tags, complex rollups, or multiple views. The system works because I spend 10 minutes a day maintaining it. If you’re drowning in client work, start with one database and add only what you actually need next week.