Notion To-Do List: Three Setups, From Simple to Database

There are three good ways to keep a to-do list in Notion, and each one is a step up from the last. The simplest is a checkbox list on a page: type [] and start writing. The second is a task database, where every to-do is its own page with properties such as a due date, a priority and a status, and saved views show only what is open. The third is a board view of that same database, with columns for each status and cards you drag across. Start with the simplest one that holds your work, and move up only when it stops holding it.

Below: how to build each setup, as Notion’s help center describes it as of October 1, 2026, what each one is good and bad at, and the point where a dedicated board app is the better tool.

Setup 1: a checkbox to-do list on a page

This is a Notion todo list in its plainest form, and for one person with a short list it is often all you need. Notion’s writing and editing basics↗ (opens in a new tab) give the shortcut: type [] with no space between the brackets and the line becomes a to-do checkbox. You can also type / and pick To-do list from the block menu, or use Turn into on an existing bullet to make it a checkbox.

This week

Must do
[] Send the Q4 budget draft to Dana
[] Renew the business license
[] Book the venue for the October 16 offsite

If there is time
[] Clean up the shared drive folders
[] Read the vendor security questionnaire

• Good at: speed. Nothing to set up, and checking a box feels like progress.
• Good at: mixing tasks with context. A to-do can sit under the meeting notes or the project brief it came from.
• Weak at: anything beyond done or not done. There is no due date, no owner and no priority, except as words you type into the line.
• Weak at: lists that grow. Checked items stay where they are, so a busy page turns into a scroll of finished work, and nothing filters it.

A simple habit stretches this setup further: start a fresh page each week and copy over only what is still open. The weekly to-do list post has a template and a 20-minute review that work just as well inside Notion.

Setup 2: a Notion task database

When you want dates, priorities or more than one person on the list, make it a database. Notion’s introduction to databases↗ (opens in a new tab) explains the core idea: every item you enter into a database is a Notion page. So each task gets a title, a row of properties, and a page body for notes, links and checklists of its own.

1. On a new page, choose Table, or type /database on an existing page. A full-page database appears in your sidebar; an inline one sits inside another page.
2. Rename the first column to Task. That is the title of each page.
3. Add a Status property with To do, In progress and Done. Use a checkbox property instead if done or not done is all you track.
4. Add the properties you will actually use: Due (date), Priority (select: High, Medium, Low), Assignee (person) if others share the list, and Project (select or relation).
5. Add a few tasks, then open one. The page body is where the detail lives, so the row stays short.

Resist adding a property for every idea. Each one is a field someone has to fill in, and empty fields make the list harder to read, not easier. Four or five properties carry most personal and small-team lists.

Views that hide what is done

The real gain over a checkbox list is views. Each view is a saved way of looking at the same tasks, and Notion’s guide to views, filters and sorts↗ (opens in a new tab) notes that each view keeps its own settings. Three views cover most to-do lists:

• Open: filter Status is not Done, sorted by Due, then Priority. This is the list you work from.
• Mine: the same filter plus Assignee contains Me, for a shared list.
• Done this week: Status is Done and the last-edited date is within the past week. Useful for a weekly review, and nothing else.

When you add a filter, Notion asks whether to save it for everyone using the view or only for you. On a shared task list, save the Open view for everyone, and keep your personal tweaks to yourself so you do not change a teammate’s screen.

For bigger tasks, Notion also offers sub-items and dependencies↗ (opens in a new tab) in task databases: sub-items break a task into smaller pieces that can each be assigned and tracked, and dependencies link tasks in order. Turn them on when a task genuinely has parts, not by default.

Setup 3: a board view of the same tasks

A board view does not create a new list. It shows the database you already have as columns, which is why it is the third step rather than a separate choice. Select + next to your view names and pick Board. Notion’s board view help↗ (opens in a new tab) says a board groups pages by a property, by default the status property if there is one, and that dragging a card between columns updates that property for you.

• Group by Status for a classic to-do, doing, done board. Group by Assignee instead to see who is carrying what.
• Use sub-groups to split each column by a second property, such as Project.
• Hide the Done group, or filter it to the last week, so the board does not fill with finished cards.
• The number beside each column heading counts its cards by default. Watching the In progress count is a cheap way to notice when too much has started.

Most people end up keeping two views of one database: the Open table for planning and the board for the day. Because both read the same pages, a task checked off in one is done in the other. If you are deciding between the two shapes in general, kanban board vs to-do list walks through the trade-off.

Which Notion task list setup to pick

• Just you, a short list, done or not done: the checkbox list.
• Just you, with dates and priorities, or a list longer than a screen: the task database with an Open view.
• Two or more people, or work that moves through stages: the database with a board view, grouped by Status.
• Repeated busywork, such as setting a date when a task is marked done: add automations to the database. Notion automations covers buttons, database automations and their plan limits.

When a board app fits better

Notion’s flexibility is the point of it, and it is also the cost. A to-do database is as good as the person who set it up, and it drifts: a property here, a view there, until nobody is sure which view is the real one. Signs you have outgrown it as a task list:

• You spend more time maintaining the database than working the list.
• You want to bring in a client or contractor to see and comment on the tasks, without opening the rest of your workspace to them.
• You want an AI assistant to work from the list, and you would rather it touched only the tasks than everything you can reach in Notion.
• You want stable references for tasks, such as BUG-012, rather than page titles that get renamed.

That is where fenbs fits. A fenbs board is already set up and stays that way: four lanes, To Do, Next Up, In Progress and Completed, and three kinds of task, feature, enhancement and bug, each with a priority from 1 to 10. Each person on the board has a role, so a client can comment without seeing more than you allow, and AI assistants such as Claude or ChatGPT connect over MCP as members of the board, with History recording who changed what. Add many turns a pasted list into tasks, so moving a Notion checklist across is quick. Be clear about what it lacks: fenbs has no due dates, no recurring tasks, no settable assignee and no custom columns, so a to-do list that lives on dates is better left in Notion. Many people keep writing in Notion and link each fenbs task to the page it came from. The fenbs vs Notion comparison sets out where each one is the better choice.