The Ultimate Guide to Building a Digital Garden (with a Free Notion Template!)

I love the idea of a second brain . I wrote about it. I shared my Notion template a few months ago and have used it since then. But building a second brain is not for everyone. You don’t always need that level of complexity. Sometimes, all you need is something simpler to store notes and ideas. A dynamic space that lets your ideas breathe, grow, and connect naturally.

Are you ready to grow your garden? Here's how to do it step-by-step. But first, what is a digital garden?

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Traditional note-taking is linear and static. You have a notebook or any other space and write everything there. But a digital garden isn’t organic. It’s interconnected and ever-evolving. And that’s why it works.

Think of planting seeds (raw ideas), nurturing them (on the workbench), and harvesting valuable knowledge. If done right, a digital garden offers:

• Organized, easily accessible thoughts.
• A dynamic system that grows with you.
• Clearer, actionable insights that avoid overwhelm.

Whatever your daily responsibilities, cultivating a digital garden can transform your productivity and creativity.

Creating a digital garden doesn’t need to be complicated. I will also give you a Notion template to start. But if you wish to update it or create your own, here’s what you may want to do.

Choose a tool that fits your style or that you already know. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, especially if you’re beginning.

Popular options include Notion, Obsidian, Roam Research, or your website. I recommend Notion because it’s user-friendly and highly customizable. Also, if you’re already using my second brain template, it’s easier to integrate it into your existing workflow.

Your digital garden should follow whatever structure you want. It’s yours — organize it as you wish. But a clear structure will help it thrive if this is your first time. Here’s a proven setup.

Use this section to capture fleeting thoughts, inspirations, or interesting conversations. It may be the book you read or the podcast you listened to this morning.

Collect here everything that catches your attention. Anything that has the potential to be helpful in the future.

Example: Notes from books, conversations, articles, podcast extracts.

In this section, you will keep all the polished ideas you’ve developed further.

Some ideas will never make it to this section. Yet, you will upgrade the best ones. You will actively take and build them further. They will become more complex systems. And you can always get back to check them whenever you need it.

Example: Personal lessons, frameworks, summaries.

The resource library is a fundamental piece of a second brain, so we will also integrate it here. In this section, you will keep all your favorite articles, books, videos, and podcasts organized for easy reference.

You can easily retrieve the source if you need to check an incomplete note. Or maybe you want to consult a resource to get more ideas. Put here everything you consume.

You must work on your ideas if you build a digital garden. And sometimes you need a few days, or even months, to fully elaborate a concept — that’s why you need a workbench.

Project, drafts, research notes — collect everything you’re working on in this section.

Example: Draft blog posts, research notes, ongoing projects.

Finally, you will have a central entry point with quick access to recent notes, favorites, and easy note-taking tools.

As for a real garden, a digital one will thrive only if you give it attention daily.

• Make it a habit. Add one new note per day to keep ideas flowing.
• Refine regularly. Review seed notes every month and turn them into evergreen content.
• Delete old ideas. Some concepts remain frozen for so much time you don’t even remember why you wrote them. Delete them before your seed notes section becomes too crowded.
• Connect ideas. Use internal links and tags to create meaningful connections.
• Experiment with formats. Don’t limit yourself to text. You can build mind maps, lists, tables, or visual notes.

To get you gardening quickly, I've created a comprehensive Notion template you can use immediately (find the button below in the article).

What’s Inside:

• Pre-build sections: Seed Notes, Evergreen Notes, Resource Library, Workbench and Dashboard.
• Tagging & filtering system for organizing ideas.
• Example notes demonstrating how to use it.

How to Use It:

• Beginner user → Use it as it is for immediate productivity and creativity.
• Advanced user → Customize with your categories and workflows.

I started building a digital garden a few weeks ago, but it has changed my creativity.

It transformed scattered thoughts into clear connections. Over time, this habit became more than just productivity — it enhanced my creativity and clarity and reduced stress.

Download the Notion template and create your first three seed notes — ideas you've recently found intriguing, insights from something you read, or conversations that sparked your interest.

Share screenshots or descriptions of your digital garden with our community. Let's inspire each other and celebrate these initial steps!

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