Get Comfortable with AI: Notion and Canva AI Features to Boost Your Productivity
It’s easy to feel intimidated by new technology, especially when it seems to be changing the way we work and create at a rapid pace. Using new technologies within apps and platforms you’re already familiar with can be a better approach to breaking through the fear.
The basics: Notion and Canva
AI, when properly utilized, can be a powerful tool to help us be more productive and efficient, and who doesn’t want that? Notion and Canva are two of the most popular project/personal management and content creation tools. Canva has over 100 million users as of 2023 in more than 190 countries and Notion crossed the $10Bn valuation and 20 million users in December 2022.
Odds are, you’ve used these tools at least once. If for whatever reason you haven’t, Canva offers a free 30 pro trial so you can test out all the features, or you can stick to the free version which is very useful, you just need to create an account. Notion is also free to sign up for personal use, so it’s very easy to try it out, works as a browser, desktop, or mobile app.
Keeping up with tech trends, both platforms have recently integrated AI features into their work environments. When you have a solid and easy-to-use platform and add AI to that, productivity can be heavily increased. Let’s dive in.
Notion and AI
In November 2022, the platform announced the upcoming AI feature and the possibility to join a waitlist to get early access.
Why start with a waitlist? Well, like many AI platforms, it’s a great way to test out an alpha version of the AI tool, get feedback from users, and identify bugs and areas for improvement, all before launching it as a complete feature. The company even announced they are actively seeking software developers and machine learning engineers to perfect and expand the AI feature. They are taking AI straight on, and so should you. Whether you’re a long-time user of the platform, or recently joined in, it’s vital that you know how to make the most out of everything it has to offer, AI included.
You may think, “well, I can perfectly do everything without AI, and keep using it”, and while that is true, AI can help reduce your time on non-crucial tasks, and provide assistance in recurrent ones.
There’s no additional benefit to not using AI.
Here’s what AI can do for you in Notion
- Need help with the first draft of your writing? Ask Notion AI to generate some ideas for you to work with.
- Not sure where to start? Notion AI can help by providing a list of ideas to get your creativity flowing.
- Need an editor? Notion AI can catch spelling and grammar errors, and even translate your writing into over 10 languages.
- Don’t have time to read a long document or sit through a meeting? Notion AI can summarize the most important points and action items for you.
As with any new feature, there are still some things that the AI tool is flawed at. While this improves over time it’s necessary to remain critical when using the tool, and don’t rely on it 100%. Use it like an assistant rather than a lifesaver.
You can learn more about it with this video.
Canva Magic Write
I’m sure you know about Canva, and if you don’t, how? Even if you’re not a content creator, it offers greater business templates, resume, and cover letter designs, and so much more. Honestly, forget the AI, just try it out for everything else, the pro version is even free for educators, there’s no downside here.
Now, into the AI feature of Canva.
Canva has strategically added AI as one of the tools within specific content creation templates: documents. They have not incorporated the feature as an accessible tool within everything you do. This makes it easier for users that are not interested in trying it out to work as usual, while still having the option available.
The Magic Writing feature in Canva is designed to assist with the creation of social media posts, emails, and other types of content. With this feature, you can generate content ideas, refine your writing style, and optimize your copy for engagement.
One of the key benefits of the Magic Writing feature is that it provides helpful suggestions for content ideas. You simply enter a topic or keyword into the Canva editor, and the AI will generate a list of related ideas to choose from. This can be especially useful when you’re feeling stuck or are short on time.
The Magic Writing feature also provides suggestions for different types of writing styles. For example, you can choose from options like “formal,” “friendly,” or “persuasive,” and the AI will adjust its suggestions to match your selected style.
Finally, the Magic Writing feature helps you optimize your copy for engagement. It provides recommendations for improvements in areas such as sentence length, word choice, and readability. This can be particularly helpful if you’re writing social media posts or other content that needs to grab the attention of your audience quickly. You can try it out with your free account as well.
Overall, the Magic Writing feature in Canva can be a valuable tool for anyone who needs help with their writing while creating a personalized document. Its content ideas, writing style suggestions, and engagement optimization features can help you create more effective and engaging content with less effort. You can learn all about it, and tips and tricks, here.
Additionally, Canva has added a text-to-image tool to help you create as many wild images as you want. You can learn more about that feature here.
Some final thoughts
As AI continues to advance, it’s becoming more and more important to learn how to integrate it into our daily lives. AI has the potential to make our lives easier, more productive, and more efficient. Additionally, learning to work with AI can provide us with valuable skills that are in high demand in the job market. As such, learning how to integrate AI into our lives isn’t just important for our personal productivity, but also for our professional growth and career advancement.
By embracing AI and using tools like Notion and Canva with their AI features, we can optimize our workflows, automate mundane tasks, and free up time to focus on more important things.
These AI features can help us to save time, be more creative, and create more engaging content. With these tools, you can tackle even the most daunting tasks with ease, and create content that engages and inspires your audience. In conclusion, if you’re looking to be more productive and make the most of your time, integrating AI-powered tools like Notion and Canva into your workflow is definitely worth considering.
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