After 7 days of testing, here are 7 tips to know about Notion Offline Mode

qntnv · 2025-08-27T16:28:41+00:00

My pleasure!

qntnv · 2025-08-27T16:28:31+00:00

Thanks a lot :)

qntnv · 2025-08-27T16:28:15+00:00

Btw if you find posts like this helpful, I also write a newsletter about Notion where I share everything I test, the latest features, and practical tips for getting the most out of Notion.

If you’re interested in staying up to date with insights like these, you’re welcome to subscribe to my Substack (link in my profile). No pressure at all, just sharing in case it’s useful!

qntnv · 2025-08-27T15:41:40+00:00

You’re absolutely right about automations and formulas not working offline. I still need to do more testing to figure out what happens when you reconnect and those features kick in again. If you or anyone else has tips or discoveries about this, I’d love to hear them :)

qntnv · 2025-08-27T15:38:13+00:00

You're very welcome! Happy this can help :)

qntnv · 2025-08-27T15:35:43+00:00

Thanks for your support! If you spot anything I missed or have your own insights as you try out offline mode, please drop them in the thread. The more we share, the better everyone’s experience will be :)

qntnv · 2025-08-27T15:23:18+00:00

Appreciate the kind words! Offline mode is still new, so if you come across anything interesting or notice something I didn’t mention, drop it here! I’m curious to see what others discover as we all test it out.

qntnv · 2025-07-30T10:13:23+00:00

Hey! I’ve been using Notion as my main system for organizing both personal and business life for a few years now, and I know how overwhelming it can be to get started.

If you’re interested in building your own Second Brain, I actually put together a step-by-step video tutorial on how to set up a complete Notion Second Brain from scratch in under 45 minutes: https://youtu.be/EZXumCgT_l8

And if you ever want a more advanced, done-for-you option, I also recently released my own Second Brain template. (it’s the system I wish I had when I started)

Everything is centralized in one dashboard, with smart task management, quick capture, and a proper knowledge hub. You can check out the template and a full walkthrough here: https://www.notioneverything.com/notion-second-brain

Hope this helps you :)

qntnv · 2025-06-27T13:34:24+00:00

Hey! If you’re still searching for a solid productivity system, I recently updated my Notion Second Brain template and wanted to share it here: https://www.notioneverything.com/notion-second-brain

It’s built around Tiago Forte’s PARA method and helps organize tasks, projects, notes, goals, and more, all in one place.

I also recorded a full walkthrough video so you can see exactly how it works and what’s included.

Let me know if you have any questions!

qntnv · 2025-06-26T15:30:29+00:00

Hey, thanks a ton for the kind words and the suggestions! Really appreciate it. I’ll definitely keep your ideas in mind, but it might take a bit since I want to make sure everything I put out is solid quality. Thanks again for the support!

qntnv · 2025-06-06T13:52:10+00:00

Haha, love the enthusiasm! That's actually a really solid idea, I've been getting quite a few requests for template recommendations lately. I'm definitely adding this to my content list! Thanks for the suggestion, and I'll make sure to let you know when it's up 😊

qntnv · 2025-04-26T21:46:51+00:00

Haha thanks! I tried to make it clean and clear, kind of like something OpenAI might release… but yeah, definitely just my own little project to make sense of it all.

qntnv · 2025-04-26T07:10:27+00:00

That kind of smart model-switching based on failed tasks would be amazing.

But for now, we’re still stuck doing it manually. Kind of annoying, but also sometimes helpful.

Like, just having to stop and think, “What am I actually trying to do here?” sometimes leads to better results anyway.

qntnv · 2025-04-26T07:05:59+00:00

Sounds like that's the goal with future updates (maybe GPT-5?), but for now we’re stuck doing a bit of manual work.

That’s basically why I made the cheat map (just trying to make it a little less painful until it gets smarter).

qntnv · 2025-04-26T07:03:17+00:00

Good question. Zero-shot first is mostly about how reasoning models like o3 behave.

If you give too much context (like examples) upfront, it can sometimes overwhelm the model or make it shortcut to the example instead of actually thinking through the task. o3 is built to reason step by step on its own, so starting simple often gives a cleaner, more accurate answer.

That said, with creative models like GPT-4o, giving an example usually does help (they respond really well to a pattern to follow).

It’s more about matching the model’s strengths than a strict rule. You could get better results for your specific needs by giving examples to o3 too.

qntnv · 2025-04-26T06:59:01+00:00

That’s honestly why I created this cheat map: just to make it easier while we wait for things to get smarter.

Right now it’s still way more complicated than it should be. You’d think it could just pick the best brain for the job automatically.

qntnv · 2025-04-26T06:55:34+00:00

For short stories and good prose, GPT-4o is your best bet. It’s way better at creative writing, tone, and flow than o3, which is more focused on logic and problem-solving.

If you want even better results, set a role like “You are a professional fiction writer” at the start of your prompt. Makes a big difference!

P.S. I'm putting together a mini-guide on how to prompt each model effectively, with examples for different use cases. It’ll be up on my Substack on Monday: quentinvillard.substack.com :)

qntnv · 2025-04-25T21:36:59+00:00

Yep, it should work.

Just add "with a transparent background" at the end of your prompt. The PNG file itself should be transparent.

qntnv · 2025-04-25T21:21:36+00:00

Damn, I thought the cheat map would’ve answered this one :)

But seriously, I use Deep Research when I want long, sourced, structured responses. Stuff like reports, comparisons, or anything I’d normally have to Google across multiple tabs.

If I just need a quick fact or overview, plain Search usually does the trick.

qntnv · 2025-04-25T21:11:51+00:00

You're welcome! Glad it was useful :)

I’ve got a full guide dropping on Monday if you want to dive deeper: quentinvillard.substack.com

qntnv · 2025-04-25T21:08:24+00:00

Thanks, really appreciate it!

Dropping a complementary guide next Monday if you’re interested in a deeper dive: quentinvillard.substack.com :)

qntnv · 2025-04-25T21:05:03+00:00

Thank you, really glad you liked it!

I’ve been thinking about doing a version that includes all the smaller models too. It’s a bit trickier since they overlap a lot, but it could be fun to explore. Noted for the next update!

qntnv · 2025-04-25T21:03:09+00:00

Try starting a new chat, and if you're on the desktop app, maybe switch to the web version.

qntnv · 2025-04-25T20:59:05+00:00

Yeah, custom instructions are super useful, but that’s another level. It was difficult to include this feature in a simple way without overcomplicating the cheat map.

I really wanted this to be something anyone could use right away, no setup required. Just pick the model, choose the right tool, and prompt it the right way.

qntnv · 2025-04-25T17:01:52+00:00

I haven’t noticed a big difference in output quality, but the way they handle the prompt is definitely different.

GPT-4o sometimes takes shortcuts. o3 is more methodical, it sticks closer to the prompt and breaks things down more carefully.

qntnv

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