Finding the right writing tool makes it all click
For years I struggled with writing. Most people I knew online wrote and it was a cool thing to do. Putting down your thoughts and sharpening your thinking. This was back in 2018, Notion was just gaining popularity.
I jumped on the wagon of all the hype - but it was good hype. Notion is a great tool. But the more I tried to use it the more forced it felt. I never wrote as much as I'd like to.
People change, so maybe I changed too. But then I decided to drop Notion halfway through 2024 and try Obsidian. And then it all clicked.
Notion for writing
I used it for years, I used it for everything from managing lists, tracking the progress of finances, journaling, and other writing. It was my go-to tool. But even with all that, something felt missing. It felt like a chore to write in Notion, it felt like I was forcing myself to write. Always switching between multiple contexts.
The problem with being an all-in-one app
Notion markets itself as being an all-in-one app, while that may work for some people. It doesn't work for everyone. You see the problem with being all in one leads to a lot of subconsience decision-making, friction, and decision paralysis.
I faced all of these. Constantly switching between pages for lists, tables, and then notes made me feel exhausted like it wasn't worth it.
It's easy to be distracted with many options. A restaurant with a large menu may look attractive at first glance, but when you spend 20 minutes trying to figure out what you want to eat, you get frustrated. That restaurant is Notion. Too many options and flexibility, and too many conflicts.
Obsidian for writing
The thing I like about Obsidian is that it's designed to do only one specific thing - Taking notes. Since I started using obsidian, I've made a lot of notes and written more than I've ever done. I try to write almost every day mostly for work but I also write a lot of personal things like short stories and poetry.
Compared to Notion, Obsidian doesn't require you to juggle between many different contexts - which is nice if you want to be mindful while writing. It helped me build a better writing habit and helped me overcome the decision paralysis that I faced often with Notion.
What I like about Obsidian is its flat structure, whereas Notion is designed around being nested. It was a massive productivity killer as I lost what I was doing.
The file over the app Philosophy
The file-over-app philosophy really resonates with me because, with the constant evolution of cloud-based tools, we're moving away from owning all the things we do. We rely on the cloud to store everything. While this has a lot of upsides, it also has a few downsides like being dependent on these platforms to safeguard your data.
With Obsidian, you own your files and it is up to you what you do with them.
Collaboration
Another selling point for Notion is collaboration. When working in teams, there's a need to share your work with others, get feedback, and iterate. Companies use it as a knowledge base for their teams. Notion works well for this as it removes a lot of friction in the process.
But would I use Notion specifically for this while writing? No, I prefer working alone, so working with someone on a document or sharing it doesn't make sense to me. Even if I were collaborating with someone, I'd first write it in Obsidian and move it to Notion for editing. It adds a little friction but not much that would start feeling frustrated.
Collaboration with Notion only makes sharing easier, not working.
Markdown, Data Ownership
What I like about Obsidian is that everything is a markdown file. Notion supports markdown and works well if you only copy a single file. But say you want to move or export multiple files - that's where Notion doesn't work well.
With Obsidian it doesn't restrict you from moving your data. You can just copy all the files and put them wherever you want. But with Notion that's a chore.
How do I use Notion vs Obsidian now?
I have a pretty streamlined process now.
Notion: I use Notion only for tracking and project management Obsidian: I use it only for personal notes and writing.
What do I miss from Notion?
- I miss the Grammarly Chrome extension from Notion, but it's a tradeoff
- Auto-save to cloud
Will I use Notion again for Writing?
No, I don't think so. I prefer Obsidian for writing as it helps me with decision paralysis and context switching. I also don't like the nested page nature of Notion as it adds a lot of friction to move between whiles. Notion can also be a bit clunky at times due to all the data it's loading in the background.
So which should you use - Notion or Obsidian?
It depends on what you want to do. Notion is perfect for tracking and managing projects but feels a bit clunky on the writing side.
If you value collaboration and want to reduce friction while sharing your writing work, you may find the notion useful.
If you don't care for that, and just want to write - then go for Obsidian. Obsidian also works offline and is pretty lightweight, so it's always a good distraction-free tool.
FAQ
Does Notion or Obsidian have a learning curve? Notion has some learning curve, especially if you use features like Calendars, Views and other components. Obsidian is quite straightforward, it uses markdown for marketing but it's pretty simple.
Can I collaborate in Obsidian? Obsidian by itself does not allow collaboration as it's mostly for personal writing. But Obsidian offers a plan called Obsidian Sync that lets you collaborate with your team.
How does Obsidian handle cloud sync? The obsidian app itself doesn't offer syncing to the cloud. You'd have to get Obsidian Sync to sync it across devices.
Tip: I use Github to store all my obsidian notes for backup.
Can I use Obsidian for project management? There are no restrictions but it would not be the right tool for the job.
Can I use Obsidian as a knowledge base? Yes, Obsidian Publish lets you turn your vault into a web page
Is Obsidian better than Notion for writing? Yes, it's simple, fast and lightweight. Works offline too. You don't need complicated tools for writing.
Is Notion clunky, or is it just me? Not just you, Notion is clunky because it handles and loads a lot of data.
