These two apps finally fixed my creative workflow

For years, Notion has been my go-to for organizing every thing from invoices to film watchlists. Its flexibility as a database is unmatched, however when it got here to artistic workflows like jotting down spontaneous concepts, threading collectively ideas, and gathering 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 artistic movement works. Not less than not for me.

I do know, I do know. Obsidian is the same old reply right here with its endless customisation and the famed graph view. However I needed one thing cloud-first. So I started in search of a instrument that would complement, if not substitute, what Notion already does so properly. 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 arrange their digital life, I began with one, flirted with the opposite, then went backwards and forwards till I noticed 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 properly for me.

The trick, as all the time, wasn’t selecting a aspect on the get-go. It was determining what every instrument is definitely good at — after which staying out of their approach. 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 will possibly’t try this, however as a result of it by no means felt pure. You possibly can create infinite pages and subpages, positive. You possibly can embed something you need. However that multi-page hierarchy rapidly spirals uncontrolled. I used to be utilizing Notion to catalog fascinating locations in cities I wish to go to, and over time, that construction turned a maze — a number of layers deep, onerous to navigate, and tougher to keep up.

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

It’s not only a consumer interface concern. It’s a mindset concern. Notion forces you identify tables, databases and extra the second you determine to enter in some knowledge. This makes me really feel like each thought wants a house earlier than it even exists. That stress to arrange too early kills my artistic movement and inhibits how a lot I take advantage of Notion. I may need the concepts, however the setting 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 residing community than a inflexible pocket book. That one shift modifications every thing. I don’t fear about the place a thought belongs. I simply seize it, drop in a couple of tags, and transfer on. I’ll clear it up later. Or not.

After I’m in artistic mode doing something from writing to outlining one thing imprecise, my go-to app is Capacities. If I’m gathering 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 search out it already related to a few different concepts I forgot I had. That’s not simply good design. That’s momentum. And it’s important in permitting me to leap again into work and be in a artistic house nearly instantly.

On the threat of sounding loquacious, Capacities gives an setting that invitations exploration. This consists of the best way Capacities treats photographs which could 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 once 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 instrument gives the closest, however not fairly the identical, expertise. Then again, Notion doesn’t work like that. It’s structured. Exact. Generally just a little too exact. However that’s precisely why it really works so properly for every thing else.

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

Not like Capacities, Notion gives a type of security in realizing that every thing has a spot. If I log one thing in the present day, I’ll know precisely the place to search out it three weeks later. It additionally makes it extremely straightforward so as to add knowledge on the go. After I wish to add one thing rapidly like, say, a brand new restaurant I’ve noticed on Instagram, I take advantage of a Notion Form 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 type of frictionless utility Notion excels at.

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

The most important mistake is considering these two instruments are fixing the identical downside. They’re not. They each allow you to write, acquire, embed, and manage. However what they do with these talents is completely totally different. Capacities is designed for creativity and data exploration. Much like Obsidian, every thing in its interface is nudging you to attach concepts by way of backlinks, nested objects, graph views. It’s much less of a productiveness instrument and extra of a artistic studio. After I’m not fairly positive what I’m engaged on, however I do know I wish to chase an thought, Capacities provides me the room to try this.

Notion, then again, is extra like a conventional work instrument. 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 typically dictates whether or not we use them in any respect. Whereas it’s definitely doable to make use of both of those instruments completely, Notion’s structured strategy to knowledge sorts makes it really feel like a chore. In truth, 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 have been messy or incomplete. However that wasn’t a Notion downside. That was a mismatch. As soon as I gave that position to Capacities as an alternative, 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 comfy with a messy workflow once more. It gave me again the power to suppose in fragments and acquire concepts with out committing. It’s a instrument for planning and for customers nonetheless getting used to the thought of data administration. In truth, I’d say it’s the proper PKM instrument for the first-time consumer.

Then again, Notion helps me make order out of chaos. It’s the instrument 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 type of workflow. That stated, on the finish of the day, each instruments taught me to cease in search of the proper app and begin constructing a greater workflow as an alternative. For me, it was a mix of Capacities and Notion.