Science writer Swapna Krishna’s project management system
As a freelance writer, Swapna Krishna spends her days writing about space, science, technology and — sometimes — Star Trek. Besides creating up to 7 pieces of content a week, she’s also balancing the business of writing: deadlines, invoices, notes, travel. The project management system she built in Notion helps her organize all her ongoing work.
Insights from
Swapna Krishna
Freelance writer
1
Knowing the status of each freelance project at a glance
At any time, Swapna has a handful of freelance work to go along with her full-time marketing job. Knowing the status of each project became a job within itself. Was this pitch accepted by the publication? Were edits to that piece reviewed? Did an invoice go out? On deadline, moments spent looking though apps or email for these answers were moments wasted.
Swapna uses a Notion board to organize all her freelance projects.
One board to see all her work
Now, Swapna uses a single Notion board to organize all her projects. Each column represents a phase in her process. And every freelance assignment is a card, filed according to where the project currently stands. Once a piece is submitted to her editor, it's dragged to that column. If she needs to fact-check, there's a column for that too. Using Notion, Swapna gets a complete view into every project, so it's clear what's done and what needs to happen next.
Notion has truly revolutionized the way I'm able to work because I can see everything I'm working on at once, and know what it is I have to do.
2
Tasks, context & travel — all at her fingertips
Each freelance project Swapna juggles comes with its own collection of specific tasks or notes, whether it's a list of scientists to speak with or articles to read on the subject. Without a place to collect resources, it'd be easy to lose track of the vital information that helps turn a draft into a polished piece.
Swapna keeps all the information for every article neatly bundled together.
Extensive notes, bundled with each task
Swapna now makes every project its own Notion page, which each live in the board where she tracks all projects. This is especially helpful when she travels — like when she attended the Star Trek Picard press junket and premiere. Hotel booking, airfare and event schedules — normally scattered across email and apps — were all in one place. She even created a sub-page for estimated travel time between meetings in LA traffic. Instead of digging through a digital haystack, Swapna knows exactly where to find what she needs.
I have to be really organized because otherwise, stuff will fall through the cracks. Notion pages are like a record of everything I need for any project.
3
Different workspaces keep work & life on track
It's easy for work-life to spill over into life-life. Swapna is a new mother (more than a full-time job), which she balances with being a freelancer, a wife, and a full-time content creator. She made a commitment to prioritize family this year, which means maintaining strict working hours.
Swapna keeps work and home life separate with different workspaces.
One for home, one for writing
Swapna has two Notion workspaces. Outside of work, she uses Notion to be productive in her home life, too — i.e. did the babysitter get paid this weekend? — while keeping her commitment to stay family-focused outside of freelancing. Even when she travels to cover a story, she creates a Notion page for her husband with a checklist of everything needed on the home front. Swapna's two worlds meet in Notion, while staying separate enough to give her peace of mind.
Notion has the flexibility to be anything you need it to be without being overwhelming.
