How to Change Notion Calendar Color

Customizing the color of your Notion calendar might seem a bit elusive at first, but it is actually a straightforward process once you know where to look. Notion's flexibility is one of its greatest strengths, allowing you to tailor your workspace to fit your personal needs and style. In this guide, we'll explore how to personalize your Notion calendars, making them not only more visually appealing but also more functional.

Why Change Your Notion Calendar Color?

Before diving into the how-tos, let's consider why you would want to change your calendar's color in the first place. A splash of color can make your calendar more than just a tool. It can become a part of your workflow that sparks joy and creativity. Here are a few reasons to consider:

• Visual Clarity: Assigning different colors to distinguish between types of tasks or events can help you quickly scan your calendar.
• Personal Expression: Colors can reflect your personality or mood, making your calendar feel more personal and less like a generic tool.
• Improved Organization: Using colors strategically can improve your organizational skills by grouping similar tasks or projects.

And while Notion doesn't offer direct color-coding for calendars, there are creative ways to achieve a colorful, organized view. Let's get into it!

Setting Up Your Notion Calendar

First things first. If you haven't already set up a calendar in Notion, here's a quick refresher. You can create a calendar in a few simple steps:

1. Open your Notion workspace and navigate to the page where you want your calendar.
2. Type /calendar to bring up the calendar block.
3. Select Calendar - Inline to add a calendar view to your page.

Once your calendar is set up, you'll have a blank slate ready for customization. Remember, Notion's true strength lies in its versatility, so feel free to experiment with different layouts and views until you find what works best for you.

Using Tags for Color Coding

Notion's calendar doesn't support direct color changes, but you can use tags as a workaround. Here's how:

1. Create a new property in your calendar database. Call it something like Category or Type.
2. Set this property to Multi-Select so you can assign multiple tags to an event.
3. Assign different colors to each tag. For example, you could use blue for work-related tasks, red for personal events, and green for reminders.

By using tags, you can visually differentiate between types of events. Although it is not a direct calendar color change, this method offers a flexible way to achieve a similar outcome.

Incorporating Iconography

Adding icons to your events is another way to enhance visual distinction. Notion allows you to add icons to pages, which can help make your calendar more visually engaging:

1. Open an event in your calendar.
2. Click on the Add icon button at the top of the page.
3. Select an icon that represents the type of event or task.

While icons don't replace colors, they add another layer of recognition at a glance. Combine icons with tags for a truly personalized calendar experience.

Custom Views with Filters

Notion's filters are a powerful feature that can help you focus on specific parts of your calendar. Here's how you can use filters to customize your view:

1. Click on the Filter button at the top right of your calendar view.
2. Add a filter based on the Category property you created earlier.
3. Filter by specific tags to show only the events you want to focus on.

This method allows you to toggle between different views depending on what you need to see at any given time. Filters don't change the color, but they help you manage the complexity by narrowing down what's visible.

Advanced Techniques: Using Formulas

If you're feeling adventurous, Notion's formula property can add an extra layer of customization to your calendar:

1. Create a new property in your calendar database and set it to Formula.
2. Write a formula that changes the display based on certain conditions, such as if(prop("Category") == "Work", "💼", "🎉").
3. This formula will display different icons based on the category, adding another visual cue to your calendar.

Formulas can be complex, but they're incredibly powerful once you get the hang of them. They offer a dynamic way to add more context to your calendar entries.

Spell: A Faster Way to Customize Documents

While customizing a Notion calendar requires a bit of manual setup, Spell offers a way to streamline your document creation process. Imagine having an AI document editor that helps you write and edit high-quality documents in seconds. With Spell, you can generate drafts quickly and refine them with ease, saving you time and effort.

Though Spell is geared more towards document creation, it's a great tool to have in your productivity toolkit alongside Notion, especially if you're working on projects that require both detailed planning and high-quality document production.

Using Linked Databases for More Control

One of Notion's standout features is the ability to link databases, providing you with more control over how data, including calendar entries, is displayed:

1. Create a new page and add a linked view of your calendar database.
2. Customize the view with filters, sorts, and groupings that aren't possible in the original calendar view.
3. Use this linked database to highlight specific tasks or events with different priorities.

Linked databases are incredibly versatile, allowing you to create multiple views of the same data with different color-coding schemes or layouts. This method is particularly useful if you manage complex projects or multiple calendars.

Integrating Third-Party Tools

For those who want even more color customization options, integrating third-party tools can be a viable solution. There are several tools available that can sync with Notion and offer enhanced visual features:

• Zapier: Use Zapier to automate the integration between Notion and other apps, potentially pulling in data from color-coded calendars.
• Google Calendar Sync: Sync your Notion calendar with Google Calendar, which offers more direct color-coding options.

While Notion doesn't natively support these features, third-party tools can fill the gaps, offering more robust color customization options and integrations.

Final Thoughts

Changing the color of your Notion calendar might not be straightforward, but with a few creative approaches, you can achieve a personalized and organized calendar view. Whether you're using tags, icons, or linked databases, there's a solution to fit your needs. And when it comes to creating high-quality documents alongside your Notion planning, Spell is an invaluable tool that can help streamline your workflow by generating and refining documents quickly and efficiently.