Free template
The Notion personal CRM template that actually gets used.
Our founder ran his network out of a Notion database for years before building PersonalCRM. This is that system, cleaned up: one database, three views, two formulas, and an honest note about where it stops working.
The system, step by step
Whether you duplicate the template or build it yourself, this is everything in it. It deliberately has few properties. Every field you add is friction, and friction is what kills these systems.
1. One database: “People”
| Property | Type | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Title | The person. |
| Circle | Multi-select | Work, University, Running Club. How you know them. |
| Cadence | Select | Weekly / Biweekly / Monthly / Quarterly / Yearly. |
| Last contacted | Date | Update this every time you reach out. (This is the field that decides everything.) |
| Next due | Formula | dateAdd(Last contacted, N, "days") based on Cadence (see step 3). |
| Overdue? | Formula | now() > Next due → shows a 🔴 so overdue people surface. |
| Birthday | Date | Annual reminder via a linked view. |
| Notes | Text | Partner’s name, what they’re working on, what you last talked about. |
| Location · Socials · Phone · Email | Text/URL | The contact-book part. |
2. Three views, not ten
Filter: Overdue? is true. Sort by Next due. This is your home view, the list you work through.
Calendar view on the Birthday property. Glance every Monday.
The full table, grouped by Circle, for editing and adding people.
3. The two formulas
4. The weekly ritual
Every time you text, call, or meet someone: open the database, find them, set Last contactedto today. Once a week, open the 🔴 Overdue view and reach out to whoever is on it. That's the whole system.
Where this breaks (honestly)
Our founder ran exactly this system. It worked beautifully, for about three months. Then the one flaw surfaced: Notion never taps you on the shoulder.The 🔴 view only helps if you open it, and the day you stop opening it, the system is dead. Updating “Last contacted” after every text is a 15-second chore you'll skip on busy days, and skipped days compound.
PersonalCRM is this template as an app: the “Last contacted” update is one tap (a Ping), the 🔴 view becomes a push notification that comes to you, and birthdays remind you by themselves, on the web and as a native iOS app. Free while in beta.
Fair questions
Yes. Duplicate it into your workspace and it’s yours. No email required, no locked pro version. We make PersonalCRM, and we’d rather you start with a good system today than a bad one.
Prefer a spreadsheet? There's a Google Sheets version of this template too. Weighing Notion against a dedicated app? Read the full PersonalCRM vs Notion comparison.