These two apps lastly mounted my inventive workflow

For years, Notion has been my go-to for organizing all the things from invoices to film watchlists. Its flexibility as a database is unmatched, however when it got here to inventive workflows like jotting down spontaneous concepts, threading collectively ideas, and accumulating visible inspiration, that’s the place Notion begins to really feel a bit inflexible. I wanted one thing that didn’t ask me to file each passing thought right into a system the second it confirmed up. That’s simply not how a inventive movement works. A minimum of not for me.

I do know, I do know. Obsidian is the standard reply right here with its never-ending customisation and the famed graph view. However I needed one thing cloud-first. So I started searching for a software that might complement, if not substitute, what Notion already does so nicely. That’s how I discovered myself bouncing between Notion and Capacities for the higher a part of a 12 months. Like most individuals attempting to prepare their digital life, I began with one, flirted with the opposite, then went forwards and backwards till I spotted one thing easy: these two instruments aren’t competing. They’re finishing one another. Right here’s why constructing a system that makes use of each apps works so nicely for me.

The trick, as at all times, wasn’t choosing a facet on the get-go. It was determining what every software is definitely good at — after which staying out of their method. That realization modified how I approached each instruments. For instance, I finished utilizing Notion as an area for unstructured notes. Not as a result of it might probably’t do this, however as a result of it by no means felt pure. You may create infinite pages and subpages, certain. You may embed something you need. However that multi-page hierarchy rapidly spirals uncontrolled. I used to be utilizing Notion to catalog attention-grabbing locations in cities I wish to go to, and over time, that construction grew to become a maze — a number of layers deep, exhausting to navigate, and tougher to keep up.

Notion thrives when there’s construction and function. It’s the place I construct methods which are borderline automated in execution. Capacities works finest when there’s none. It’s the place I feel. The second I finished attempting to power one app to do all of it, issues clicked, and I might transfer between them with out friction, letting every software deal with what it’s constructed for as a substitute of bending it into one thing it’s not.

It’s not only a person interface concern. It’s a mindset concern. Notion forces you determine tables, databases and extra the second you determine to enter in some information. This makes me really feel like each thought wants a house earlier than it even exists. That stress to prepare too early kills my inventive movement and inhibits how a lot I exploit Notion. I may need the concepts, however the atmosphere doesn’t really feel proper. You wouldn’t wish to work in Google Sheets for capturing concepts. Notion’s rigidity has the identical impact.

Capacities flips that dynamic. You don’t begin with a desk or a template — you begin with an object. Notes, photographs, bookmarks, and information are all loosely organized by sort and stitched along with backlinks. It’s nearer to how Obsidian works and feels extra like a dwelling community than a inflexible pocket book. That one shift modifications all the things. I don’t fear about the place a thought belongs. I simply seize it, drop in a number of tags, and transfer on. I’ll clear it up later. Or not.

Once I’m in inventive mode doing something from writing to outlining one thing obscure, my go-to app is Capacities. If I’m accumulating screenshots, reference visuals, creating to-do notes or compiling quotes throughout a number of articles, all of it goes there, simply cross-referenced by Capacities’ tackle a graph view. I can write half a thought, go away it for per week, and are available again to seek out it already linked to 3 different concepts I forgot I had. That’s not simply good design. That’s momentum. And it’s vital in permitting me to leap again into work and be in a inventive area nearly instantly.

On the threat of sounding loquacious, Capacities provides an atmosphere that invitations exploration. This contains the way in which Capacities treats photographs which may be inline, full-bleed, or tied to things permitting you to successfully flip it right into a gallery, not only a doc. That may look like a small factor, however whenever you’re spending hours sketching outlines or piecing collectively visible references, it provides up. You’re not simply writing. You’re successfully constructing an interconnected net of concepts — one thing I’ve struggled with in Notion. Apple’s wildly totally different FreeForm software provides the closest, however not fairly the identical, expertise. However, Notion doesn’t work like that. It’s structured. Exact. Typically a bit of too exact. However that’s precisely why it really works so nicely for all the things else.

Capacities could also be higher for considering, however Notion nonetheless runs the day-to-day. That is the place I monitor invoices, replace my studying listing, monitor freelance tasks, and examine off recurring duties. Once I know what I’m monitoring — issues like consumer deliverables, model campaigns, editorial calendars — Notion is unbeatable. I can construct databases with views and filters, join them with automation, and arrange reminders that really assist. It’s purpose-built for that form of work.

In contrast to Capacities, Notion provides a form of security in realizing that all the things has a spot. If I log one thing as we speak, I’ll know precisely the place to seek out it three weeks later. It additionally makes it extremely straightforward so as to add information on the go. Once I wish to add one thing rapidly like, say, a brand new restaurant I’ve noticed on Instagram, I exploit a Notion Kind I set as much as log key particulars straight into my meals database. Title, location, delicacies, tags, and that’s it. The shape is saved as a bookmark on my telephone’s homepage and lets me accomplish the duty in seconds. That’s the form of frictionless utility Notion excels at.

I’ve tried doing that inside Capacities, and whereas there’s a desk view, it nonetheless seems like an afterthought. It’s not likely constructed for structured information entry, neither is it excellent at making sense of huge volumes of information.

The largest mistake is considering these two instruments are fixing the identical drawback. They’re not. They each allow you to write, accumulate, embed, and arrange. However what they do with these skills is completely totally different. Capacities is designed for creativity and information exploration. Much like Obsidian, all the things in its interface is nudging you to attach concepts by means of backlinks, nested objects, graph views. It’s much less of a productiveness software and extra of a inventive studio. Once I’m not fairly certain what I’m engaged on, however I do know I wish to chase an thought, Capacities provides me the room to do this.

Notion, however, is extra like a conventional work software. It doesn’t ask you to discover. It asks you to determine, outline, and commit. And that issues as a result of how we really feel when utilizing these instruments usually dictates whether or not we use them in any respect. Whereas it’s definitely potential to make use of both of those instruments completely, Notion’s structured method to information sorts makes it really feel like a chore. In actual fact, I’ve tried to decide to Notion a number of occasions, however each single time it felt I used to be underusing it as a result of my notes had been messy or incomplete. However that wasn’t a Notion drawback. That was a mismatch. As soon as I gave that function to Capacities as a substitute, Notion stopped feeling like a burden and began being helpful once more.

The takeaway

There’s no straight-up winner right here. Capacities helped me get snug with a messy workflow once more. It gave me again the power to suppose in fragments and accumulate concepts with out committing. It’s a software for planning and for customers nonetheless getting used to the thought of information administration. In actual fact, I’d say it’s the proper PKM software for the first-time person.

However, Notion helps me make order out of chaos. It’s the software I belief to carry the items collectively as soon as I do know what they’re. Be it giant databases of pitches, invoices, issues to do, eating places to take a look at, Notion is nice for that form of workflow. That stated, on the finish of the day, each instruments taught me to cease searching for the proper app and begin constructing a greater workflow as a substitute. For me, it was a mix of Capacities and Notion.