How I Use AI & Notion to Maximise the Value of Reading

I read a lot. I also have a lot of interests and side projects. I need to read loads to learn so I can support my side projects, and yet, there are not enough hours in a day or years in my life to read everything I want, and then also remember everything and apply the "knowledge" where I need to, at the right time.🙂

I started playing around with AI to help me out with this, and wrote a prompt that, alongside my Notion reading database, speeds up how I read and apply what I learn. If you find yourself in a similar boat, you might find it useful too.

The Reading List Template

First, click here to download my Notion Reading List template.

It’s pretty self-explanatory once you’re there, so I won’t go into much detail, but here is a summary:

• Title: The title of the book/journal/article;

• Author: The author of the book/journal/article;

• Status: Reading status;

• Feeds: Projects that the book/journal/article feeds. Can be multiple.

• Notes status: If you’re taking notes, then this is a column that showcases the status of where you are with it.

• Area: The genre/topic/area that the book/journal/article is exploring.

• Format: Book/journal/article, etc.

• Priority: Won’t be important for most, but for me, it shows which content I need to prioritise for certain projects and things I want to do (e.g., I might need to read something to complete a certain project, so it will be of high priority, whereas some material might be purely just for fun, so it will be deprioritised).

• Effort: Whether it needs to be fully read, partially read, or simply skimmed. E.g., I might be reading a book to find or understand a very specific thing, which means I can just partially read it rather than spend hours reading the whole thing in full.

• Pages: Not important for most, but I add it to know how much time I can expect to spend on it once I pick it up. It lets me prepare mentally before I start.

• Why read: I have hundreds of books on my list - some recommended by people I trust, some that just caught my eye when I added them. I use this section to explain why I saved it into my reading list and why I need to read it: what sections are important, what questions I should be able to answer after reading, etc. I use AI to help me with this section now, and I will share with you how later.

• Source: a link to the book (e.g., Goodreads or Amazon).

• Files & media: I rarely use it, but sometimes I upload research papers there as I highlight them when I read, and I want to have the highlighted file saved there. For most, this will not be relevant and can be just removed.

• Relation: I removed this from the template because I use the relation columns to connect my reading list with my content calendar and projects that directly benefit from specific reading material. I highly recommend you add this in after downloading, too, if relevant.

Now, within this database, there is also a templated page (set as the default). This means that each time you add a new entry, you will get a page with the template within it. You can update it as you please. The current template has the following sections, and I will explain which ones you need to fill out and which ones we will outsource to AI for this particular exercise.

Page template:

Before reading:

• Why I’m reading this book / What I want to learn: I did fill this in myself at the beginning until I asked AI to give it a go, and found it does a much better job than I do. :)

During reading:

• Key highlights: I personally highlight the areas I want and paste them in this section. AI can’t know what I’m looking for exactly and what words, paragraphs, or quotes will deeply move me. I also highlight long paragraphs, not just ideas, because I don't want to reread the same books over and over. I just want to extract all information I find important and interesting, so I only need to reread my highlights.

• Core arguments, frameworks, quotes, takeaways, and application to my projects are filled in by AI, using my highlights.

How I Use AI to Speed Up the Process

Before you ask AI to help you with this, first create a database with the list of books/journals/articles you want to have in your list. If you are just starting to get this organised and have tons of things you want to save in the database, then you can speed up the whole process with AI, too. Simply follow these steps:

1. Create an Excel sheet with the same columns as in the Notion Reading List.

2. Collect the books/journals/articles from all your random places and add them to the Excel sheet you created. You will need to add titles and authors in the first two columns.

3. Save the sheet as .xls and upload it to your chosen AI (I recommend Claude) with the following prompt (just update the projects section with your projects first):

   Act as my reading list organiser who helps me fill in the data I'm missing.

   I have uploaded a sheet with my reading list, and I need you to fill in the columns below accurately, based on the information I share about me and my projects:

   1. My name: [enter your name]

   2. Description of the key projects I’m working on right now:

   - Project 1: [explain what it is, what you're working on, what areas you are exploring]

   - Project 2: [explain what it is, what you're working on, what areas you are exploring]

   - Project 3: [explain what it is, what you're working on, what areas you are exploring]

   3. Core questions I’m trying to answer across my work: [write something only if applicable]

   4. Theoretical or intellectual threads that run through everything I do: [write something only if applicable]

   Columns to fill out in the attached sheet:

   - Status: 'To do'.

   - Feeds: What project(s) it relates to the most?

   - Notes status: 'Not started'.

   - Area: Genre or topics being explored, so I can easily filter content based on a specific area I want to read about (e.g., Life Design, Business, Psychology, etc). If there are multiple, please pick one.

   - Format: Fill this in, but only if I left it empty

   - Priority: Note if this is an 'Essential', 'Urgent', 'Recommended', 'Optional', or 'Just for fun' read based on the content available and application to my projects. Reading just for fun would be material that doesn't directly apply to any of my projects or areas of interest (e.g., fiction books)

   - Effort: I know that some books do not need to be read in full to extract the important info. Please provide your recommendation on whether I should do a 'Full read', 'Partial' read, or just a 'Skim'. Make sure you only select one option.

   - Pages: If you can find it - include it.

   - Why read: Tell me why reading these certain materials is useful for me and how it supports my project(s). If you think it's a waste of time, note this on the sheet in an empty column next to it. If only certain chapters matter, advise which ones.

   What success looks like:

   You return me a fully filled-in sheet with the missing data that I can download and import to Notion. Do NOT add any new rows or titles that are not present in the original file.

4. After a few seconds, you will receive a filled-out sheet. Download it, open it, and export it as a CSV.

5. Then, go to the Reading List template database on Notion.

6. Below the database, somewhere in an empty area, start typing /import and select the “CSV import” option from the page menu.

7. Click Choose File and select your organised reading list CSV file (e.g., Reading List Organised.csv).

8. Select Import into existing database if you are using my reading list template (alternatively, you can create a new database simply by uploading this CSV).

9. Search for and select the database where you want the CSV to be imported (e.g., [TEMPLATE] My Reading List).

10. Click Map CSV Headers to ensure the data in your file aligns with your Notion columns. Review the mapping for each column. The import preview shows how fields like Feeds, Area, Priority, and Why Read will appear in the reading list template.

11. Click Import CSV to finalise the process. Once imported, the entries will appear at the bottom of your database.

Isn’t this absolutely awesome?

Now, you won’t always need to create a full list for the database, so once we have a working database, we can start using Make.com to automate the process each time we add a new book/journal/article to the database, so that AI fills all that extra info out for us. I won't go into that here as I'm still figuring it out myself. :) I may update this article later once I do.

We can still speed up the process with AI, though. Create Project 1: Reading List Helper (or Gem 1 if you’re using Gemini) and then update the below prompt, copy, and paste it in the instructions field:

You are my Personal Reading Researcher. I will provide you with a Book/journal/article Title and Author. Your job is to research the item and provide data formatted for my Notion Reading List.

My Projects & Context:

• Project 1: [explain what it is, what you're working on, what areas you are exploring]

• Project 2: [explain what it is, what you're working on, what areas you are exploring]

• Project 3: [explain what it is, what you're working on, what areas you are exploring]

Your Output Requirements:
For every book/journal/article, provide a structured list with these exact headers:
Feeds: Which of the projects above does this support?
Area: The specific genre or academic field (e.g., Neuroscience, Systems Theory).
Priority: Categorise as 'Urgent', 'Essential', 'Recommended', 'Optional' or 'Just for fun' (Just for fun is when the book is not directly useful for any project).
Effort: Suggest if I should do a 'Full read', 'Partial', or 'Skim'.
Pages: The approximate page count, if applicable.
Why Read: A 2-3 sentence explanation of exactly how this book helps the project(s) it feeds. If I should focus only on specific chapters, let me know this here.

Once you have this set up, every time you have a new book/journal/article you want to add to the Reading List database, simply send it to AI in the chat first (Title by Author) to get the extra info so it’s easier and quicker to fill in the details. Eventually, if you use this a lot, you can get an automation set up as mentioned earlier. Then, all of this can be done automatically, and the only thing you will need to do is just add an item to the database (Title and Author), and the rest will be done for you.

Now, for Project 2, we will ask AI to fill in the page templates for each item we add to our database. Call it your Research Assistant and update, copy and paste the below prompt in the instructions:

Act as an intelligent reading companion who helps me extract maximum value from the books/journals/articles I read and apply them meaningfully to my work and life.

Information you need:

1. My name: [enter your name]
2. Description of key projects I’m working on right now:

• Project 1: [explain what it is, what you're working on, what areas you are exploring]

• Project 2: [explain what it is, what you're working on, what areas you are exploring]

• Project 3: [explain what it is, what you're working on, what areas you are exploring]
  

3. Core questions I’m trying to answer across my work: [write something only if applicable]
4. Theoretical or intellectual threads that run through everything I do: [write something only if applicable]

HOW THIS WORKS

PHASE 1 — BEFORE I READ
When I give you a Title and an Author, write me a short orientation:

• Why I'm likely reading this, based on what you know about my projects

• What questions I should hold while reading

• Any important context about the author, framework, or field

PHASE 2 — AFTER I READ
When I send you: '[Title] by [Author] — completed. My highlights: [pasted highlights]'

Produce a five-section synthesis:
1. Core arguments — What is the author fundamentally claiming?
2. Core frameworks — What models, structures, or tools do my highlights introduce?
3. Meaningful quotes — Specific lines worth reusing or referencing (verbatim from my highlights)
4. Key takeaways — What should change in how I think or act after reading this?
5. Application to my projects — Concrete ways to apply this to each of my specific contexts

IMPORTANT RULES

• Do not hallucinate. If my highlights are too thin to draw conclusions, say so.

• Flag contradictions. If you know of stronger or conflicting sources, point me to them.

• Note gaps. If something important seems missing from my highlights, name it.

• Be critical. Present frameworks with their limitations, not just their strengths.

• Never skip a section. All five must appear in every post-reading output.

That’s about it.

The key here is to be very detailed with the projects and topics you’re interested in. If you’re vague, then the output might not be as useful as it could be, so do spend a minute or two to update these prompts with your details.

Thanks for reading!

Lina