How to Create Custom Notion Widgets in Minutes (Step-by-Step + Pro Tips)
Create custom Notion widgets in minutes with Blocky. Connect your workspace, generate charts, timers, habit trackers, flashcards, and more — then embed them into any Notion page.
I build dashboards, study hubs, and living documents in Notion. When I want them to feel alive, I add widgets. In this guide, I’ll show exactly how to create custom Notion widgets in minutes — then embed them anywhere in your workspace.
I’ll use Blocky (blocky.so), because it connects directly to your Notion workspace and ships ready-made widget types: charts (Bar, Line, Pie, Area, Radar), timers (Pomodoro, countdowns, world clocks, stopwatches), study tools (habit trackers, flashcards, progress), plus creative boosters (mood trackers, quotes, streaks). No code. No fluff. Just results.
You’ll leave with a polished embed you can drop into any page — plus best practices for design, performance, and long-term maintenance. Let’s build.
Why custom Notion widgets matter
I rely on Notion for clarity, but raw text and tables only go so far. Widgets add focus and feedback. A Pomodoro timer nudges deep work. A chart surfaces trends I’d miss in a database. A habit tracker nudges consistency.
Widgets also reduce context-switching. Instead of bouncing to yet another app, I bring the right interaction into Notion — a timer, a progress ring, a live chart. Less friction. More momentum.
If you’ve ever thought, “I wish my Notion page could do X,” that’s your cue. The promise here is simple: How to create custom notion widgets in minutes — and then reuse them across pages, teams, and projects without reinventing the wheel.
Quick start: connect Blocky to your Notion workspace
I start at Blocky (blocky.so). The flow is intentionally short:
- Sign in and click Connect Notion.
- Approve the integration and choose which pages or databases Blocky can access.
- You’ll land in the widget gallery. Pick a type — chart, timer, study, or creative — and click Create.
Behind the scenes, Blocky uses Notion’s official API to securely fetch the data you authorize. That means your widgets stay in sync with your workspace. As your database updates, so does your chart or progress bar. No manual exports. No CSV gymnastics.
Pro tip: grant access at the page level you’ll actually use for data. If your “Tasks” database lives inside a workspace page called “Operations,” share “Operations” with the Blocky integration so its children inherit permissions. Cleaner. Safer. Easier to reason about later.
Build your first widget in under 5 minutes
I like to start with a quick win: a Countdown to a real deadline. It’s visual. It’s motivating. And it embeds beautifully.
- In Blocky, choose Countdown → Create.
- Enter a title like “Beta Launch” and set your target date/time.
- Choose a variant (Minimal, Circular, or Bold). Flip on Show days if the date’s far out.
- Customize colors to match your Notion theme (dark or light). Save.
Want something even more actionable? Try a Pomodoro timer. Set 25:00 focus, 5:00 break, choose a sound, and enable Auto-start next to flow faster. I dock this beside my task list so I can sprint, then log a checkmark after each session.
Either way, you’ll have a shareable URL right away. That URL is your embed link. Copy it — you’ll paste it into Notion in a moment.
Embed widgets into any Notion page (copy, paste, done)
Embedding in Notion is intentionally simple:
- Open the page where you want the widget.
- Type
/embedand paste the widget’s URL, or press + on a new line → Embed. - Confirm, then drag the block to resize or position it in columns.
That’s it. If you’re embedding multiple widgets — a chart + a timer + a habit ring — stack them in a two-column layout for balance. On narrow pages, create a “Dashboard” section at the top with a three-block row: Timer | Chart | Progress. Clean. Scannable. High signal.
Visualize your Notion databases with charts (Bar, Line, Pie, Area, Radar)
When I want insight, I reach for charts. Blocky reads your Notion database and maps properties to series, categories, and values. Here’s my fast path:
- Pick Bar (great for counts by status, owner, or tag). Select your database.
- Choose the Group by property (e.g., Status) and pick the Measure (e.g., Count of rows or Sum of numeric).
- Add filters (only “This Week,” only “Completed,” etc.) and sort by value.
- Style the chart: axis labels, legend, and color palette.
Line charts work well for trends across time — daily tasks completed, weekly study hours, monthly revenue. Set your X-axis to a date property and aggregate by day/week/month. Area gives the same insight with visual fill. Pie simplifies share of total, while Radar is perfect for “skill balance” or scorecards.
I keep charts lean: one clear headline, minimal gridlines, and accessible colors with enough contrast in dark mode. And I always label values or add a hover tooltip. My rule of thumb — the chart should explain itself in 3 seconds or less.
Timers for flow and focus: Pomodoro, countdowns, world clocks, stopwatches
For deep work, a Pomodoro timer is hard to beat. Set 25 minutes, pick a task, go. After each session, take a short break. Four rounds? Take a longer break. This pattern works because it pairs a time boundary with a single intention — just one thing to do next.
I also keep a World Clock row for cross-team collaboration. If I’m shipping with teammates in multiple time zones, this saves calendar clicks and guesswork. Add a Stopwatch when you want to measure time on task and add that metric to a weekly review.
I mount the timer beside my “Today” list and the countdown above my “Launch” page. It’s the ultimate trifecta: what to do, when to focus, and why it matters.
Study widgets that actually work: habit trackers, flashcards, progress bars
I track habits inside Notion (daily writing, reading, gym). A widget turns that grid into a feedback loop I can feel — rings fill, streak counts climb, and the “don’t break the chain” effect kicks in. I set realistic minimums (write 100 words, read 10 pages). Consistency beats intensity.
For memory work, flashcards with spaced repetition are gold. I create a Notion database with “Front,” “Back,” “Next Review,” and “Ease” fields. Blocky renders a focused flashcard session that respects my due dates. Over time, the system schedules reviews at the right moment — just before I’m likely to forget — so recall skyrockets.
A progress bar ties all of this together. Want to finish a course in 30 days? Track modules completed / total modules. Want to ship a feature this month? Track closed subtasks / total tasks. Visual progress fuels motivation; motivation fuels the next action.
Creative widgets that lift mood and momentum: mood trackers, quotes, streaks
Work isn’t just output. It’s energy. I add a Mood Tracker to my daily journal with simple tags (Calm, Focused, Stressed, Energized). The measure isn’t perfect — none of them are — but the trend helps me adjust sleep, caffeine, and workload. When “Stressed” spikes, I tighten scope and protect my morning blocks.
I sprinkle Quotes at the top of my “Build Log” page. Short, bold, and relevant. I swap them out weekly — sometimes on a theme, sometimes seasonal. And I keep Streaks for keystone habits: “shipped code,” “published,” “learned.” The streak isn’t the point. Showing up is. But the streak helps me show up.
Design polish that looks native in Notion (and feels fast)
I want embeds to look like they belong. Here’s what I do:
- Match tone. Use a restrained palette that complements Notion’s dark and light modes. Pick one accent color. Reserve it for emphasis.
- Size with intent. Timers sit at ~380–480px width; charts get the wide column. Flashcards sit center. Avoid cramming three dense charts in one row — your eyes will revolt.
- Label clearly. Use concise titles (“Bugs by Severity — Last 7 Days”). If a chart needs a legend and axis labels to make sense, include them. Otherwise, ship minimal.
- Favor performance. Fewer widgets beat many heavy embeds. If you’re building a mega-dashboard, collapse sections you don’t need right now.
I also document each widget’s purpose in small print below it. “This countdown tracks Beta Launch. Source: Tasks → Milestones.” A little context saves future-you from spelunking through databases to remember why a gadget is there.
Advanced power: automation, integrations, and clean data
Because Blocky leans on the Notion API, I can scale beyond manual charts. A few ideas:
- Automation. Auto-tag tasks with “This Week” using Notion formulas and filters. Your weekly chart updates itself.
- Pipelines. Mirror external data into Notion, then visualize it. Example: export customer feedback, tag by theme, render a Radar chart for “What to fix next.”
- Study logic. Drive flashcard scheduling with a “Next Review” date formula. Your session fills itself each morning.
This only works well with clean data. Keep properties consistent (single select vs multi-select), set default values, and write short naming conventions. Small hygiene decisions today become compounding benefits when you scale to more widgets tomorrow.
Troubleshooting & FAQs (so you don’t get stuck)
My embed won’t load. Double-check that the widget URL is correct and publicly accessible, then paste it into Notion using /embed. If you’re behind a corporate network or VPN, test on a different connection. Resize the block if it renders off-canvas.
My chart isn’t reading data. Ensure the Blocky integration has access to the page that contains your database. If you moved the database recently, re-share the parent page with the integration. Confirm property types (numbers must be numbers; dates must be dates).
The timer doesn’t start automatically. Open the widget settings and enable Auto-start next for the Pomodoro variant. Keep the tab open somewhere visible (or pin it) to avoid pausing when the browser suspends background tabs.
Dark mode looks off. Set widget colors explicitly for dark and light. Avoid low-contrast pastels on dark backgrounds. Check your Notion page width; sometimes a slightly wider column resolves cramped layouts.
Can I reuse a widget across pages? Yes. Reuse the same embed URL anywhere in Notion. For different audiences, duplicate the widget in Blocky and customize the title/colors for that page’s context.
Closing thoughts: ship your first widget today
You now know how to create custom notion widgets in minutes — and how to make them look great. Start tiny: one Countdown, one Pomodoro, one Progress bar. Put them where you work, not where they’ll be forgotten. Then layer in charts and study flows as your needs grow.
Make your Notion pages actionable. Turn dashboards into springboards. And keep the loop tight: intention → action → feedback. When you bring the right widget to the right page at the right time, momentum becomes your default.
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