How I Automated My Daily To-Do List Using Notion API and Python

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😩 Tired of Rewriting Your To-Do List Every Day?

“Typing out the same to-do list every morning was driving me crazy.”
So I decided to try Notion API and build my first little automation.
I wasn’t sure if I could do it at first—but step by step, I figured it out.

📌 Blog Summary

This post is a beginner-friendly guide to automating your daily tasks in Notion using Python.
You'll learn how to create a bot that automatically generates a new to-do page each day—complete with the current date and your favorite tags or format.

If you've never worked with APIs before, don't worry—I’ll walk you through every step.

💬 Why I Chose Notion API

When I started learning how to code, Notion was already a big part of my daily life.
I used it to organize study notes, blog ideas, and all my to-dos.

But here's the catch:
I had to recreate the same layout every morning. Manually. Every. Time.

Then I thought…
"What if I could make a script that does this for me?"

After some Googling, I found Notion API. And that’s when my automation journey began.

🛠️ What I Wanted to Build

  • Automatically create a new Notion page every morning
  • Title includes today’s date
  • Tags and format are pre-filled based on a template

✨ A small script that saves real time every day.

✅ Step 0: What You’ll Need

  • A Notion account
  • A Table-style database created in Notion
  • Python installed
  • A code editor (VS Code recommended)
  • Internet connection 😆

✅ Step 1: Set Up Notion API Access

  1. Create a Notion database using /table
    → Add columns like Task, Status, Date
  2. Click Share → Invite → + Connect integrations
  3. Visit the Notion Developer Portal
    → Create an integration
    → Copy your Internal Integration Token
  4. Share your database with the integration you just made

🔐 Important: Without sharing the database, your integration won’t work!

✅ Step 2: Set Up Python Environment

In your terminal, run:

pip install requests python-dotenv
  • requests → to send HTTP requests
  • python-dotenv → to safely store API keys

✅ Step 3: Create a .env File

NOTION_TOKEN=secret_your_token_here
NOTION_DATABASE_ID=your_database_id_here

Also add .env to your .gitignore file to protect secrets from GitHub uploads.

✅ Step 4: Write Your Python Script

import os
import requests
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from datetime import datetime

load_dotenv()

NOTION_TOKEN = os.getenv("NOTION_TOKEN")
DATABASE_ID = os.getenv("NOTION_DATABASE_ID")

def create_notion_page():
    today = datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d")
    url = "https://api.notion.com/v1/pages"
    headers = {
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {NOTION_TOKEN}",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        "Notion-Version": "2022-06-28"
    }

    data = {
        "parent": { "database_id": DATABASE_ID },
        "properties": {
            "Task": {
                "title": [
                    {
                        "text": {
                            "content": f"Todo - {today}"
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    }

    res = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json=data)
    print("Status Code:", res.status_code)
    print("Response:", res.text)

create_notion_page()

💡 Note: Change Task to match your Notion column name.

✅ Step 5: Run Your Script

python yourscript.py

Check your Notion workspace—you should see a new task page titled with today’s date 🎉

✅ Step 6 (Optional): Run It Daily

Use Python's schedule library:

import schedule
import time

schedule.every().day.at("08:00").do(create_notion_page)

while True:
    schedule.run_pending()
    time.sleep(60)

Or use:

  • Windows: Task Scheduler
  • macOS/Linux: crontab

✨ Final Thoughts

  • You don’t need a big project to start automating—start small
  • Notion API is surprisingly easy to use
  • Python is a great way to bring your ideas to life
  • Automating something you use daily? Super satisfying 😎

💬 What Will You Automate Next?

Have any automation ideas in mind?
Drop them in the comments—I’d love to hear your thoughts!

🔖 Hashtags for SEO

#NotionAPI #PythonAutomation #BeginnerDev #CodingJourney #NotionTips

Location: Toronto, ON, Canada

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