I’ve been using NotebookLM daily for most of this year, and it’s helped me develop a few simple habits that significantly enhance its functionality. These routines go beyond prompt engineering and have made a huge difference in my workflow.
Firstly, I sync my folders to Google Drive, which has become my primary tool for syncing and backing up plain text files, PDFs, and other text-based documents. This integration is smooth, and I can access my documents from any device using the Drive app.
Another habit of mine is renaming my sources to make them more manageable. Since NotebookLM automatically assigns titles, I need to manually prefix numbers to prioritize my most-used documents. This helps me quickly spot which files to select.
I also feed NotebookLM with my own writing, which has improved its analysis and made it a better tool for personal analysis and creative writers. Consistently updating the notebook yields better results.
For visual thinkers like myself, I immediately create a mind map before diving into work. This gives me a foundational reference that I can revisit at any point.
Lastly, I keep “scratchpad” notebooks to test new features, store links, or dump random notes that aren’t particularly useful for anything yet. These tiny habits make a big impact over time and have helped me refine my workflow with NotebookLM.
Source: https://www.xda-developers.com/notebooklm-habits-should-have-started-sooner