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This week I put the finishing touches on a guide that I've been working on for a few months. It stemmed from a question that one of our students asked in the community, in a post titled Learning about neurodivergence for PKM and designing workspaces.

The student has ADHD and wondered if there were any resources or literature highlighting the differences between a neurodivergent and neurotypical perspective, and how we might think about how these differences influence our approach to designing digital workspaces.

It got my gears turning, especially as I had recently returned from speaking at both the Make with Notion conference, and the Second Brain Summit, both of which touched on how our unique brains and ways of being often require different approaches in order for us to be at our best.

Now, the term neurodivergence can be a loaded and controversial term, and many communities disagree on its usage, meaning, and relevance.

While I personally think it's a bit unrealistic to label people as being either ND or NT (as though it's a binary), I think its important to simply recognize the idea that our way of moving through the world is not necessarily the norm, the average, or the ideal.

Here's a perfect and hilarious example:
​Asking people to draw what calendars look like in their head.

EVERYONE has a different picture in their head. There are some interesting and common themes, but a ton of weird difference!

Even within the ADHD community, there’s a ton of difference in terms of how severely people are impacted by executive functioning challenges, time blindness, impulsivity, brain fog etc.

So I decided to take this on as a mini research project, pulling together some good practices to consider, highlighting a variety of considerations and approaches, and whether or not they make sense for your unique context (personal or team, project types, collaborator preferences etc).

Through my research I realized that many of the challenges of workspace design can be addressed by leaning on the principles of good learning design.

Good learning design should help many different types of learners, not just the “average” person.

1. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. What works brilliantly for one person might be completely overwhelming for another.
2. Flexibility is crucial. The ability to customize and adapt workspaces to individual needs isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s essential.
3. Reducing cognitive load isn’t just helpful for neurodivergent individuals—it makes workspaces better for everyone.

The resulting guide explores practical strategies for creating more accessible and effective digital workspaces, covering everything from visual design principles to information architecture and customization options. Whether you're designing workspaces for yourself or a team, these considerations can help create environments that work better for diverse ways of thinking and working. GET THE GUIDE

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences!
​What strategies have you found helpful in designing workspaces that work for different minds?
How do you balance standardization with personalization within team environments?

If you’re interested in diving deeper into these concepts, I cover them extensively in our Principles of Dashboarding masterclass, where we explore how to build flexible, scalable systems that can adapt to different needs and working styles.

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Notion Template

I've revamped my most popular Notion template: Plan Your Year with an updated layout, new Horizons dashboard, and pre-filled dates for 2025 (journals, weeks, months, quarters, year), and all new cover images (psychedelic geodes). You can find it inside Notion's new template gallery:

Just want the 2025 images (psychedelic geodes!) for your own databases?
You can get them here.

Wishing you have an amazing week!

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