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Ben Lang

Ultimate Brain for Notion — Tasks, notes, projects, and PARA organization all in Notion

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Ultimate Brain is a complete second brain template for Notion. It’s the productivity system I’ve always wanted, combining notes, tasks, projects, and goals, along with advanced features: recurring tasks, GTD, Tiago Forte’s PARA organization system, and more.

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Thomas Frank
Hey all! 😁 I'm Thomas Frank, and I'm a YouTuber and Notion creator. I'm pumped to share my template, Ultimate Brain, with you. (Thanks so much for hunting it, @benln !) I've been using Notion daily since 2018, and since then I've wanted to create a truly all-in-one system for my personal productivity within it. I wanted a place to track my tasks and projects, take notes, clip web pages and highlights. and plan my day. Ultimate Brain is that system. It's a template that you can drop into your Notion workspace to create a complete productivity system. My team and I launched Ultimate Brain in April of this year; since then, we've sold over 7,500 copies, made several tweaks and updates, and answered over 830 threads in our support community. I'm confident Ultimate Brain is the best productivity template you'll find for Notion, and here are a few reasons why: 🦸‍♂️ Active Support - Highlighting this first! Ultimate Brain comes with an active support community led up by the absolutely fantastic @aantoszek , who does a fantastic job of answering every question in detail. 📚 Comprehensive Beginner's Tutorial - Including written guides, an interactive demo version of the template with tons of example content, and over 6 hours of video tutorials. The videos cover everything from how to get started, to how you can deeply customize the template and add to it. 📄 Update Guides - when Notion releases new features, we make detailed, step-by-step update guides that show you exactly how you can upgrade your template to include them. 🗃 P.A.R.A. Organization (12:55 in the video) - I'm a big fan of @fortelabs PARA system, so it's deeply integrated into Ultimate Brain. ✅ GTD Dashboard (27:37 in the video) - Ultimate Brain supports a complete GTD workflow ➡ Inbox, Next Actions, Calendar, Snoozed Tasks, Someday/Maybe List, etc. However... the GTD features are completely optional - you're not forced to use them. You can practice GTD, or follow a more traditional (and simple) productivity workflow. 📅 Recurring Tasks (32:50 in the video) - Ultimate Brain has an extremely robust recurring tasks system, allowing for complex intervals: End of the Month, Last Workday of the Month, Mon/Wed/Fri, etc. @yomartholomew spent two full months developing the most monstrous Notion formula I've ever seen in order to make it all work seamlessly. Our docs even have a guide showing you how to automate your recurring tasks - for free - using Make.com. 🥅 Quick Capture Dashboard (03:12 in the video) - an always-clean page that lets you quickly capture notes and tasks. 🧹 Auto-Cleanup Features - one problem with task and note apps is that we often capture and schedule too much, and then end up with tons of overdue tasks and irrelevant notes. I know I deal with this messiness myself, despite my best efforts to do weekly reviews. So I built in auto-cleanup features to help with this problem. - Cold Tasks (25:50 in the video): Tasks that are more than 2 weeks overdue and non-high-priority go to a safe "cold tasks" page and disappear from your normal due lists (this is also easily customized). - Fleeting Notes (35:02 in the video): Ultimate Brain has a special area for notes that are "fleeting", i.e. only relevant for a short period of time. After a month, they go to your safe Archive and don't crowd your inbox or other folders. --- There are a lot of other features I could list, but I'll wrap up this comment by mentioning that Ultimate Brain has a no-questions-asked refund policy. I set out to create a world-class customer experience with this template, including active support, multi-modal tutorials, and help docs. I believe a great refund policy is part of that experience as well. If you try it out and decide it's not for you, we'll refund you. Just like that. If you have questions, I'll be here (along with some of my team) to answer all of them! P.S. - I'm always happy to answer questions and nerd out about the biz/marketing side of selling Notion templates as well. Don't hesitate to comment here or reach out on Twitter 😊
Porush Puri
@benln @aantoszek @fortelabs @yomartholomew @tomfrankly Super resourceful. Congratulations on the launch!
Bassel Ghazali
At first I was hesitant to get the template. It seemed super useful but I thought I could do something similar myself. However, seeing the level of thought that went into it made me realise I’d be saving weeks of work for a very low price. I bought it and it’s been incredible so far! I especially love the book tracker and how it can be linked to the other resources.
Thomas Frank
@bassel_ghazali thanks so much Bassel! Really happy you like the book tracker too. That was a fun addition. Is there anything you'd like to see added to it?
Bassel Ghazali
@tomfrankly Thanks Tom! I’ve transferred over from using a physical planner since I felt the way things connect in this template were next-level. I’ve been slowly adapting it for personal preference (you’ve made it very easy to do so, thanks for that) e.g. I prefer a weekly journal page divided into days, instead of a daily journal page. One thing I’m going to add, which I’ll share in case you find useful: In my physical planner, there is a calendar view for the month, which I found myself using to briefly summarize each day (e.g. “went to x restaurant with sister”, “saw cool new park”, etc.). I liked having that view of the month so I can remember what I did. I can’t speak for everyone regarding if they’d like this, but I personally would and I’ll be working on adding it to my workspace soon!
Thomas Frank
@bassel_ghazali oh yeah, that would be a great addition to the journal page!
Andrew Barry
Thanks to his amazing YouTube videos, most people know how much Thomas knows about Notion. What a lot of people don't realize is how comprehensive, hard-working and thorough he is. In every interaction I've had with him, I've been blown away by the level of effort and excellence he puts into things. On top of this incredible ethic, he's also just a good dude (see the support services that come with this product). I cannot endorse Thomas, his team, and his work product highly enough.
Thomas Frank
@andrewbarry5 thank you so much Andrew! And thank you for being a huge influential figure on my path to finally launching my own products. I'm not sure if I told you, but Creator's Companion (my first product) was inspired by everything I learned in your course creator's fellowship. I intended to create a course (which is why I joined), but ended up making a product instead!
Andrew Barry
@tomfrankly that's very kind of you to say my friend, and sounds like you made a wise choice back then!
Aruna Chawla (she/her)
This is so exciting. I am going to go very deep in my review simply because of how much I've gained from the Ultimate Brain. I've been using it for the last ~3 months now. I'm a founder-in-the-making and working on launching my company very soon! I've used UB in this context. My why: I am a learner for life but it's impossible to remember everything. It's worse when I need to access specific data but don't know where to find it. This means I need a system not just to record data when I'm consuming it but also to bring it back up when I need it. What else did I try: Google Docs, notebooks, notes, paper notes, planners, heck even my own notion workspaces. But the system itself was always broken. Either I felt overwhelmed with the amount of info, drowned in the guilt of not being able to manage it well, or just simply that I'd lose the physical notes. UB: ultimate brain helped me synthesize not just note-taking but also note-using. I hadn't read Tiago Fortes' before this but the template itself was so intuitive that I didn't need to do anything beyond. It's also a super efficient system to manage life. I don't record everything (for ex: i don't record books, recipes, etc.) except for work stuff + my day planner, but that itself has been such a benefit. I know I'm happier, more in control, and less stressed about my knowledge consumption and utilization. Recommendation: if you're just starting your journey, don't rush to 'fill' everything. Use it regularly. Maybe you'd need 2-3 diff note-taking systems but you want to aim for moving to your UB eventually. If you rush to fill it in instead of using it, productivity inertia will come in! Excited about @tomfrankly 's work and vision to make knowledge workers' life more manageable and productive :)
Alex Antoszek
@tomfrankly @arunachawla Thank you so much for sharing your story, Aruna! It means a lot to us (Thomas especially), knowing that after such a long journey, you found UB, and actually, it was **the** solution. Appreciate the tips, I definitely agree! It's better to take things slowly rather than rush everything at the same time. We're honored to have you as part of our community 💚
Ben Lang
This is an incredible resource, go Thomas! 🙌
Thomas Frank
@benln thanks so much Ben!
Yassen Shopov
Amazing work, Thomas! Glad to have you in the Notion creators space
Alex Antoszek
@yassenshopov On behalf of the entire team - thank you! Appreciate the support 💚
Dominik Sobe
What an amazing template! Congrats, it must have been a lot of work, Thomas 💪
Alex Antoszek
@sobedominik Thanks, Dominik! We absolutely love HelpKit - it helped us build a comprehensive help center very quickly. What a terrific product. Thank you so much for your support here 🙌
Chris Malanga
My son introduced me to Notion and I was hesitant. I loved the idea of a free-form system but it had such a steep learning curve. When searching for help, I came across Thomas’ Notion introductory course and took it. His course helped me to be comfortable with Notion. I wanted to create something like this but Ultimate Brain had everything I could possibly need, so I bought it without hesitation. I’m so glad I did! I use Ultimate Brain religiously for everything - notes, tasks, projects. It truly is my second brain. I dump everything in there when I think of it, then process it. I trust that anything I need to remember or do is there, safe and ready when I need it. I have dumped several apps - Things 3, Agenda/Apple Notes, and Goodlinks - in favor of it all being stored in UB. The template is top-notch and the tutorials will help any user become confident in its use. The support community led by Alex is amazing! Not only does Alex provide great support - including video responses to questions, but the knowledgeable community members are always willing to help. It might sound like hyperbole, but Ultimate Brain has changed my life for the better. I am confident knowing that at any time, I can know what I need to do and have the resources I need to do it right in Notion. Kudos to Thomas and team for a great product! Thank you for helping me to get organized and clear with my life.
Alex Antoszek
@chrismalanga1 Chris, you're making me blush! Thank you so much for the shoutout - knowing that my support work (and, of course, the entire team's tremendous effort) helped you means a lot. Excited for what's to come. On behalf of the team - we appreciate you, Chris! Thanks for chiming in here 🙌
Leandro Zubrezki
Congrats to the entire team! You can tell all the effort you put into building not only the template but the documentation and resources around it 🙌
Alex Antoszek
@leanzubrezki Thank you, Leandro! Always good seeing you here 🙌 We're all huge fans of your work 🎉
Mudit
Congrats on the launch Thomas
Daniel Somoza Villaron
Amazing work, Thomas and Alex!
Alex Antoszek
@iamdsv Thank you, Daniel!
Microgeen
It's worth every penny, the peace of mind you I got after I started using it, I no longer have to over think and stress about anything, I just dump it into my Ultimate brain, put a tag on it, or assign it to a task which belongs to a project which belong to an area of my life that I need to maintain and the system that Thomas built takes care of it for me. I press one button, which is ''My Day'' View, and instantly see what I have to do today. Don't even get me started on the support community behind this product, Alex and the other buyers of the template provided so much clarity and valuable information on how to run the template and tailor it to my needs. Thanks A lot everyone ^_^
Alex Antoszek
@microgeen4 Hey, thanks so much for the kind words! We're truly happy it's working well for you, and that we've managed to build a great support experience. Glad to have you as part of our community 🙌
Will Platnick
If you’re like me, you’re tired of seeing crappy Notion templates that people spent a day or two building on PH. Let me assure you, this is not one of those templates. This is an incredibly well thought out template that has the power to actually help you organize your second brain and stay on top of the things you have to do. It is well worth the money, because building something with the same features would take a long, long time.
Alex Antoszek
@themightyruxpin Thank you, Will, for the shoutout! I can definitely confirm that the entire design process was indeed very long. Thomas & Martin spent well over a year designing and building this powerful system. Thanks for the comment, we appreciate you coming over!
Łukasz Lot
Simply the best template and accompanying tutorials on the market for both personal and business use! You can see author's deep and practical understanding of Notion and that he actually uses it on regular basis for few years.
Ivan Petrov
Really useful product 😊
Alex Antoszek
@ipetrovmarketing Thank you so much, Ivan!
Hansi Seidel
Looks like usefull, thanks.
Thomas Frank
@hansi_seidel glad you think so Hansi!
Virginia Collins
While I considered building my own system in Notion, I am so glad I went with Ultimate Brain -- great attention to detail and extremely well-thought-out and well-executed. It's everything I need in a task and project manager, and the recipe book and book tracker are highly useful. Great guides and support as well!
Thomas Frank
@virginia_collins thank you so much Virginia!
Bugrahan Zeki Kadak
wowowo.. no comment, congratulations!
Thomas Frank
@bugrahannk thank you Bugrahan!
Heather OShea
I found TF & Ultimate Brain by chance on YouTube. I suffer from TBI and have issues with memory loss. I work FT as a Technical Event Planner, handling multiple projects simultaneously. I also run a small business creating customized tumblers. I use Ultimate Brain to manage not only my work projects but my small business and my home and personal life. Having a single source of truth for my entire life has been a game changer for me. I track my work projects down to multiple task levels, the billable hours spent as well as all the creative notes that may be required. I use it to track any travel, expenses and other finances related to the project. I follow a similar approach for my small business, tracking my inventory, sales and future events. I use the Quick Capture area to add in any new ideas, I grab clips of web pages and other images to help support those ideas. I link back to images or partner sites so I can track where I need to refer back to. I use it to track my personal finances and projects around the house. I am an avid ready and the book tracker is a great perk that I use for both professional and personal development. I use the others sections like Goals, Plan, Process for each area of my life. Having all my goals, professional or personal in one spot helps really keep me on track. Having the Second Brain, GTA & PARA productivity methods within the template made it a very easy template to quickly make my own. I have used all separately, but together they are the perfect recipe for success. I have it linked on multiples devices; my Windows desktop, MacBook Pro laptop, iPhone and iPad. Having them all instantly sync within Notions web and desktop or app platforms has allowed me to keep this up to date instantly. The training that Thomas offers through his site, the community and YouTube have really made this an easy transition, even for new user to Notion. It almost makes it failproof. I really can't say enough. For the price, even at full price, you have nothing to lose. Take the leap!
Thomas Frank
@heather_oshea wow, thank you so much for the support and kind words Heather!
Khe Hy
@tomfrankly -- it's so inspiring to watch you develop and build these tools that help so many people. Keep being you!!!
Thomas Frank
@khemaridh thank you Khe! And thanks so much for the support 😁