Why I left Notion for Obsidian
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- Опубликовано: 12 июл 2024
- For the longest time, I was obsessed with Notion, until I realized that it wasn't the best app for me. In this video, I talk about why I left Notion and why Obsidian was a better option.
✨ Timeline ✨
0:00 Intro
0:51 Why I needed a note-taking app
1:37 Why Notion
2:32 Why NOT Notion
3:33 Rethinking why I needed a note-taking app
4:12 Why Obsidian
I thought I wanted a "second brain" with Notion. It turns out that my first brain never used the second brain. When the tool is more complex than the problem, there's a problem. I may check out Obsidian. Thanks for the quality information.
"When the tool is more complex than the problem, there's a problem." Truth.
Ha thx Rachel! I used to used other apps too.
This is exactly what I was struggling with Notion
This is so well articulated. I'm in this boat right now.
As if Obsidian wasn’t obnoxiously complex
i do agree. Notion is so complicated that i spend more time trying to figure out than actually taking notes and keeping track of my work. my work is complicated enough...i dont have time to figure out a note app.
People need to decide what they actually need in a note taking app. Notion is utterly simple or mind numbingly complex for some folks. Some want simplicity and for them, I suggest perhaps Google Keep. That said, Notion can be used as a simple note taking app. The complexity is there when you need it.
Obsidian, ditto. I recommend most overwhelmed new Obsidian users turn off most plugins and enable them only when you learn how Obsidian "thinks."
Ones needs should dictate the app.
Yess ! I'm actually using both at the moment and I like it ! Notion for everything that needs to be tracked/managed, basically a productivity management system, and then you have obsidian where I put all my note-taking and extensive writing, so it would be my knowledge management system. Both are amazing to the point where you can probably do everything in them but still, it does feel more natural to "write & link" in obsidian and to "organize & manage" in notion so I'm keeping it this way for now.
P.S : When it comes to stuff that is really important for example your own written stuff, I think it's much better to do it in an offline, private, secure and "backupable" tool.
Glad you found something that works for you! I tried doing both for a while but just found myself using Obsidian for most of it, so I ended up switching.
This is exactly what I do too.
I going to try it that way. I currently use notion for both things, tracking/ management and as knowledge base.
Same conclusion. I would even set Notion up as a funnel, or a staging area for my thoughts e.g. random ideas and todos during weekdays, and then come weekends, refine them while transferring to Obsidian.
Notion's better for that quick note-taking, the writing experience is good.
Interesting idea. Which tool fits your “offline, private, secure and backupable” criteria.
For me the customization is super important because it makes me more motivated seeing the aesthetics, helps me romanticize my work, like extra dopamine
making you dopamine addict. you will crave dopamine and visit their app time and again.
I completely agree with you, therefore I'm sticking with notion xD
cope
yea I tried obsidian and I really love the notion aesthetics and databases
that's how most people procrastinate rather than actually doing the work lol. I never got the hype of notion, it's more like a toy for people to fiddle with when having too much time at hand.
Notion is certainly feature-rich. It is easy to go down the rabbit hole and try everything. I did that for a while. Ultimately rejecting an app for the reason it is so customisable is like rejecting MS Word because it can do too much. I tried Obsidian but it was not long before I headed back to Notion because I missed the flexibility of all the features I complained of.
I'm amazed I had to scroll so far down in the comments to find someone pointing this out too: Notion is as simple or complex as you want to make it. Literally open it and there are pages and that's all you may ever need. People don't have to use databases and all the advanced stuff if they don't need them. Perhaps it's just a matter of Notion providing a simpler skin or mode for pure note taking.
For myself personally, I used Notion for working, Obisidian for thinking. No clue why the debate is about one or the other when Obsidian is free regardless. 😅
@@VaughanVanDyk this does make sense. Of course, Obsidian has its own advantages. Collaboration is perhaps better in Notion. Overall, can't go too wrong with either of them.
For the last few years I've been in love with Notion (to the point of being annoyingly evangelistic about it to everybody) and somehow simultaneously surprised at how uninterested I've become in using it despite my plans to use it for everything. There's something about a plain paper notepad that is excellent for allowing the unfolding of human agency, ownership, and imagination, but it can be limited. There's something about Notion that enables powerful organization and connection, but somehow evokes the feeling of working with an over-engineered super computer when all you wanted was a quick piece of paper and pen. Maybe Obsidian hits a sweet spot between the two.
I love the time bar, please keep using them on suitable videos. I am in software overload at the moment. I have Obsidian as a fledgling second brain, ClickUp as a task and project manager and Notion for random jobs like tracking TV series I’d like to see. After creating a whole life operating system following August Bradley’s then not getting on with it. Shiny object syndrome.
Lol. I can definitely relate with the shiny object syndrome.
There is a Kanban plugin for Obsidian, if you wanted to use it for your tasks.
@@red-switch I’ve had a look at that I’ve decided to swap to a really basic tick and done system for tasks and I’m moving projects to Obsidian so I may use the Kanban for my blog writing.
The feature that broke Notion for me is how they treat tables. They assume every table has a leading row or column, which is usually true, but not always. I just wanted a simple grid of cells where I can input text, and organize it however I want, but Notion tables always broke spectacularly on me. Which is ironic taking into account how flexible it aims to be with everything else.
They introduced simple tables a while ago, and they are exactly what you want: a simple grid of cells with nothing fancy if you need something simple :)
You should try using simple tables instead then; they’re exactly everything you’ve described. A simple format, you can input text into cells and easily organise them however you want.
@@callo_m That's great!
Agreed, it's frustrating
Hahaha you should probably explore more of notion.
I completely vibe with this, especially with how distracting Notion is. Notion is a bit too flexible and chaotic for my workflow; I had way too many unlinked databases that were all over the place.
I laughed way too hard when you said " i don't need to build databases guys" hahahaha, I'm same as you. We just need minimal note taking app which is private, secure and offers some basic and cool stuff in a minimal way. Obsidian is the way to go. Great Video!!
LOL right? Thanks! Glad you liked it!
You're just getting better and better! This video echoed so many of my own thoughts. I can really relate! Keep it up!
Ahh! Thank you! Glad I'm not the only one thinking these!
Nice video. You have a great personality and presentation. My only advice is to turn the music down to around -30db in your editor. It felt like it was competing with your voice at times. Keep up the great work.
I agree. I find background music to be a useless distraction.
The music is too loud, but also it is not even necessary, especially when you have a good, well-paced script, which you have! Also, the sound effects are too loud, and as a result are disconcerting. Your delivery and content are very good!
Both the OG comment and the comments by Daly about sound effects.... Too loud. Good content otherwise.
Totally agree, for me playing 2x it is annoying as hell
Yes, please cut out the music entirely. It is so distracting!!!!!!
Yes, amazing! I tried Notion for a very brief time before learning about Obsidian. Now I'm obsessed and it really can be whatever YOU need it to be! These little tips about folding and stuff are really useful, too, I'll check out your other Obsidian content!
Woot! Thanks! Hope you like 'em!
Super insightful. I was looking for a note taking app and knowing that Notion you'll spend way more time making it look all nice vs taking actual notes is what made me choose Obsidian
Really helpful and mirrors a lot of my own thoughts as I contemplate switching from Notion to Obsidian. One thing I wasn't anticipating: the importance of Obsidian relying on plain text files. I'm resigned to there fact I will invariably explore other systems, so the sheer portability of a universal standard *that will likely be machine readable for my entire life* is a critical feature for me.
The time line at the top left is such a genius idea!! Great job
Really good video thank you. 🤝 I was considering switching from obsidian to Notion and this came up on my feed today!
The layout of the video is so informative! Like the chapters + the time elapsed of that chapter :O
2:40 Exactly... I've not tried Notion or Obsidian yet but video reviews I've seen give me the idea that people spend a lot more time customizing these kind of apps than doing the actual real work they are supposed to do. Not sure any of this is for me yet but thanks for the video.
In the dim, dark past, I designed and sold Microsoft Word Templates. Then I had to provide support to fix problems when my customers changed something and broke my carefully designed template.
People tend to break things when given a choice.
People love to change things and I think too many choices can be quite counterproductive. Perhaps limiting certain choices a good idea afterall.
Who uses templates? Thoughts
@@OASH2023 I use Minimal and adjust it using the settings plugin to make it easier for me to read. That said, are you referring to Notion Templates or Obsidian Themes?
I love your review style. I think as a digital note taking beginner, I might stay with Notion for some more time until it also frustrates me. It might be that the effort the Obsidian developers invested into creating the best power user tool, the Notion developers invested into stacking activities in a way that I can learn quicker. E.g., without me noticing Notion created a sub-page for the first database I added, and now also happily shows me the sub-page as a normal thing, lik if that was what I intended in the first place. Thereby it automatically introduces me to the concept that I can integrate one page into another page without having to explain the concept. I just learn it by playing around. I love it.
What a great comparison! Section previews look super useful for connecting my notes.
Yay! Glad it was useful!
Great video and I absolutely love your timer in the upper left hand corner!
Thanks!
Nice review! That's the first time I've ever seen an animated progress bar to indicate the length of a section. What a great idea!
Thanks! Admittedly, the progress bar is not an entirely original idea, a lot of RUclipsrs have done it too, but I am pretty proud of it. Took me a hot minute to figure it out.
Thanks, I been seeing a lot of people using Notion for med school, and as I am about to start my first year, this video completely changed my mind. Thank you!
Thank you. I'm 30 years old and will be moving to a new industry and will be studying again for it. This video is really helpful because I know about Notion but I don't like how to maneuver around it.
I’m 32 and recently moved into a brand new industry this year too! What are you transitioning into?
@@Hamyhamster24 Data Governance Professional ~ SLR 😊
You blew my mind with the preview option for Obsidian. That is now a total gamechanger for me
Great review of the features provided by the two apps and your workflow. Very helpful!
I’m subscribing and liking, why? This was a very high quality, well structured video. I’m looking forward to viewing all your work.
Aww thank you! 💙
I loved the video. I have been looking at other note taking apps and got suggested this video. The little graphics and the loading bar for each topic was soo cute and unique. My only critique about the video is that the music was too distracting and it was louder than your voice most of the time to really absorb everything that you were saying.
I relate to everything you said, I'm making the switch myself. This video was very useful, I'll binge the playlist you have on obsidian, thank you! :)
Wow, I really appreciated this video. I used to be a guy who just drops everything in my notes & and Google Keep
Great video, and I agree if you need only a note taker. If you're looking for an advanced note-taking app over Evernote, you are probably good to go with Obsidian Notion is not for simple tasks/note management if your needs are simple as just taking notes. I have used all and Notion is probably the best tool out there for having an all-in-one place tool. Once you know how to use it, your workflow becomes intuitive. The notion is a merging of Trello, Evernote, Basecamp, and Asana all in one place and is my only choice. Not advertising, but you must know how to use a tool to take advantage of it.
Agree. I also switched from Notion to Obsidian for mainly the same reasons. It’s simple, clean and powerful and it perfectly meets my needs. I love that it’s future-proof. All of my data is local (or hosted). I do have some issues periodically with syncing between devices but not a big deal. Thanks for sharing this!
Thanks for the video, Rachel. Similar journey to you, but backwards.. started off with Obsidian then got attracted by the bright lights of Notion. Realised it was an unnecessary time sink and Obsidian had everything I needed. Went running back and fortunately Obsidian welcomed me with open arms. 🙂
Notion is really fun to build that dream „second brain“. It is great for multiple people working together and maintaining it. But as an actual productivity tool, it is just not viable, you are constantly being slowed down by it‘s complexity with multiple places you can put the same note in, or vise versa. But even if you know where the place is, the mobile app is just too slow for me to use Notion spontaneously.
omg you make such great content♥ thanks youtube for recommening me this
great parts indicator!!!
Loved it! Congratulations, your video editing is amazing
Thank you!!! It's my favorite part of the process!
Thank you for your opinion and information on Obsidian. I'm very interested.
And... I subscribed.
I am very interested in learning Obsidian. I am not able to swap completely, as my workflow depends on my manager being able to see my call notes (and I hate google docs for it), but I want to see if I can use obsidian for some other processes! Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
omg that section preview is so useful! I wish notion has that huhu
I am looking at Notion again and am glad for this video to remind me of why I didn't want to further use it. Main issues for me were crappy export options, slowness of the db combined with cloud storage and no real ability to have alternatives for the available fonts and colors.
Still, I think Notion is a really good option for more visual folks. Obsidian and LogSeq (which is what I am using now) are waaaay harder to get into without a prior idea of linking and markdown, so Notion caters to that.
There are also some benefits of readymade systems like PPV by August Bradley who offers the hard stuff of building the interlinked system as a service. I like to use the best task manager second brain and Project coordination in separate apps, still. Instead of making compromises for all implementations in Notion, I'd rather reproduce a basic structure in all apps.YMMV
This is a well-articulated informative video about two of the best note taking productivity apps out now
I have the same issue with notion - too many options, it distracts me when I am at work where I just need to get things done
but I am picking some fancy options instead in notion XD
Great one, Rachel! Thanks!
Super helpful video! Please keep making videos :)
this is such a high quality video!!!!!! 🥰🥰
What a really well produced video!!! This was more professional than channels with 1000x your subscriber count ...
I currently use Notion I think is easy to use and Obsidian looks good as well !! Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks for nice, simply articulated insights ^^
Amazing video, hope you will do one for Taskade in the future! :)
I'm not even done with your video and I want to say how much I LOVE the onscreen timers in your video. So incredibly helpful for my ADHD brain.
Yay! Glad you like it!
@@RachelVMadrigal If you don't mind me asking, how did you make those?
thanks for making this video! It gave a great perspective on obsidian vs notion. I'm currently torn between Notion, Obsidian, and OneNote because they all have really valuable features, but lack specific functionalities would be amazing in a single application. Notion's database and calendar view are really powerful for workflow and timelines, but is somewhat lacking in text handling. Obsidian is amazing for interlinking ideas and notes in a mindmap fashion, but lacks the table and database functionality. OneNote is fantastic for outlining, simple tables, and recording info quickly, but lacks features like databases, quickly inserting page/paragraph references, calendar views, or mind-map style interconnectivity. The niche each program fills is just different enough that each is useful on their own, but leaves you wanting to use multiple for different areas. Also very tempting to track things that don't need tracking because its a digital "endless" workspace with so many options.
Wow. I love how you costumize notes in Notion, I used to do it in other apps or software but I might love the Obsidian more because of the worth informations I got from you.
I have the same issue, I hate spending so much time in devices, I think Obsidian will be the best for me too.
Thx rachel for your insight, I use confluence for my works documentation, and used notions for my personal notes.
Confluence have many integration with atlasian product. But it too expensive and slow. Will try obsidian for my new startup team !
Hey Rachel, just wanted to say you're doing an incredible job with your format and editing! It's insane to me that you've only got 2000 views at this point. With your professionalism and quality content, I know that if you keep at it, the world will recognise you! Love from London :)
Wow! Thank you! That's so inspiring to hear. Perfect timing for filming day.
Great video. I’m curious though, what keyboard shortcuts did you want that Notion doesn’t have? I’ve found that I use Notion shortcuts more, than most other apps.
Hi Matt! I'd like to hijack this thread. For me, I always had issues with some common keyboard shortcuts when using Notion. Most especially with copy and pasting. Often, I had to hit cmd+c several times and still, there are times when I paste, it pastes the wrong thing. Sometimes it pastes the whole block even if I just selected some of the texts.
@@babie.desk- definitely a gripe, but something they fixed recently!
Notion has 100+ keyboard shortcuts. Which ones were missing for you?
Notion is a great app for procrastinating.
It helps me procrastinate?
@@landonjackson284 for me, it make more procrastinate & More anxious cus it's beautifully distracting.
Seriously 😂 I’ve never accomplished anything with notion
When I started. I was frustrated that I couldn't connect notes, now interesting things are starting to appear, it's a long road, not suitable for people with a short-term vision. Thank you, your presentation is very interesting.
nice video po :) always looking for a second brain that I can actually gel with. my first brain can be so picky and dramatic so thanks for sharing obsidian!
this was an excellently done video
I discovered Notion yesterday and today, the moment I discovered that the desktop app MUST be online and connected to the cloud at all times, I immediately closed down the app and started looking for alternatives. Other than that, Notion does everything I want. Not being able to have it function offline and keeping all data local is a deal breaker for me...and no end-to-end encryption on the sync is immediate blacklist
I personally will still stick with Notion, I have tried Obsidian but I keep going back to Notion for whatever reason. It was however very insightful to get all your thoughts on either side (:
Great video. Thank you.
Notion has overwhelmed me. I had to strip it down to get a workflow going.
I went back to Bear and markdown.
Great video! I use Notion and Obsidian for two different things. I prefer Notion for managing my life and plans and keeping notes and records of everything related to my life. I find the databases in Notion easy to keep track of records. On the other hand, I use Obsidian for my research. Obsidian makes Organizing and connecting ideas more manageable, especially when keeping track of the pieces of literature I used in my research. I am, however, considering transferring Obsidian for my other notes in my courses. Thanks for the help by the way.
Those are exactly the reason why I tried to use notion but gave up pretty soon. I thought "I don't have time for this", and also I dislike having my notes online. It's nice to have them sync between devices, but ultimately I want them on my computer.
hi great video and it gives me a lot of useful information. One suggestion from a video editor though: better try to reduce the volume of background music next time, and while your talking speed is above average and also you have a higher tone frequencies, it's better to use a quieter music to just define the mood and ambient a bit. Otherwise it would somehow distract the audiences from focusing the content. And because you provide such accurate information that this video would appear in a massive playlist, some of the audiences (including me) would tend to accelerate the play speed and this kind of fast-speed music would contradict a lot against your voice when we do that :)
Loved the "progress bar" on the video
Great video!
love the graphics 👌
I'm in the midst of my Notion obsession phase. I can't see how I could leave. Anyway, I love your topic progress bar pop up in your vid. How did you do that?
I definitely went through that! Hope it works for you! I used keyframes for the progress bar.
@@RachelVMadrigal Thx!
do you still use notion? cause im in my early notion obsession phase here, lol
@@dizzie9544 yup! I don't see a way out! Lol!
I still like notion better. It's not complicated if you learn how to use it for your life. And i love it's so customizable i can make it look good, and that may take a little time but it gives me motivation lol
Very true. Notion is definitely more for people who understand systems thinking (which in itself is a separate perspective to learn) but once you know that, it's super easy.
@@ksmith1964 exactly!
i coudnt get into notion, i was spending more time trying to make it pretty and adding and fixing the templates for my needs than putting them to use. when i did try to use them i found that the process of maintaining them was more "labor intensive" for me compare to just keeping a regular paper planner. Plus i dont actually do that much in my daily task so keeing track was kainda pointless. i do love seeing videos about notion tho, idk how ppl can do so much per day but its fun seeing how they organize and make theirs pretty.
Thank you!!
youre so well spoken!
Finally I understand how to use templates. It would be nice if you do a series of tutorials about Obsidian, and dont forget YAML. I simply don't get how to use it.
this is a really great video.
Started with Notion like you and then switched to Obsidian for about a year. Now using Notion again. Main difference worth discussing is collaboration. I love Obsidian but it is not designed for shared note taking like Notion. If you need a tool that allows you to collaborate on notes and work with others, Notion is your best bet at present. Just wish Notion let you split windows like Obsidian…
One thing I already liked about Obsidian, has a lot of languages!
I like to type things in English to improve the language but sometimes I save time doing things in my native language.
We are allways tend to keep things complex. I’m working in the worlds biggest automotive company and I realized that the project managament team has been keeping most important notes (million dollars of budgets about project) in the basic excel spreadsheets. In my opinion we just need focus on the system not tools.
Tried to learn both of these at the same time HAHA, Notion was too complicated and heavy on my phone that it sort of lags. With obsidian, it's plain text, like how I use my phone's default note app, except I can use wikilink to easily relate my separate notes and even create a homepage out of that. Plugins are godsent in obsidian. My faves are dataview, bulk rename, emoji shortcodes(for when I use a separate keyboard for my phone/iPad), and thumbnails. It's more convenient with a physical keyboard, but its mobile toolbar compensates. and the Hotkeys! I love it. I still become envious when I see notion users show off their system and aesthetic, but again, it got me thinking too much about the "look" instead of the "work" I can do from it. This vid validated my thoughts and happier that I didn't force myself to adapt to notion (I mean, it just looks so neat and website-like, deceptively "easy to navigate")
I used Devonthink to manage thousands of text notes and sources for my doctoral dissertation. Mostly stick to OneNote for business and apple notes for personal, now. NValt is great if you don’t need complex markup, all those notes are still readable text files. Online tools are not responsive enough for me. I bounced off Notion hard.
As a programmer I use notion, because I can customize it perfect to my needs.
Notion does have keyboard shortcuts for virtually all the things I use. You just type / and the command so /h2 for h2 header or /bu for bullet list and so on. You have the highliting shortcut as well which personally I hate because it's a 2 handed operation but I rarely find myself using the mouse with notion.
Another thing is that if you're simple and don't use templates and all the fancy features, notion is just as good as obsedian if not better considering it has more features, FREE syncing across devices, etc... Sure I may not be in full control of my data but I get to sync my notes for free and save $100 a year + it's not like i'm taking notes on my WW3 invasion on the app lmao
Yeah .
All the linkages that graph view of obsidian shows drove me crazy and i am switching to Notion now .
Saw that notion also adopted markdown shortcuts so its even better now
You need encryption not only for grandious things like planning WW3. If you use Notion for work, to store info about clients and their problems, then the lack of offline mode and proper encryption may put you in breach of NDA and other agreements.
And in case you use it for your college studies. Imagine you will need your notes 15 years later but Notion isn't there anymore and your notes are all gone.
You tell me this the day I finally manage to set up my notion
Hi Love the idea of mind mapping personal Wilki data page. But all my stuff is in MP3 recordings. Not tech savvy so this Obsidian thing sounds pretty intimidating to me, but I'm willing to take the time tp learn. Question is do you know if this program could do the same with recordings or do you have any suggestions please?
We have the same last name! Although, I’m from Cuba. Great video BTW.😊
i love how i got a notion add after this
3:30 which keyboard shortcuts that you expected to work didn’t? Super curious about that one. Thanks!!
Great video, Where do you get the bar that represents the time for each section of video ? The one that fills up purple.
I made it :)
Even the structure of this video highlights how organized you are. Wish I could see ur notes
Thanks for the recommendation, I found out about Obsidian thanks to you and I'm liking it quite a lot! I used to think Notion was the coolest thing, but then I realized I wasted 90% of my time on it just customizing visuals and not actually taking notes. Obsidian is much more straight-forward, clean and faster to use, and I've actually started taking notes again with it, lol.
the life hack is not styling while taking notes but just put everything in quick notes and style them later.
@@MrRSlavchev true. And I think notion is as powerful as obsidian
Love subject video link numbers AND the subject timer in the upper left hand corner, next level organized wow. Do you drink coffee?
I'm loving it
i still like my notion because i value the aesthetic as well lol but i do hope i can synch my google calendar and other stuff
How do you sync your obsidian notes across devices? Since you have to pay in order to get them synced, so that's a bonus point for notion imo.
i use notion for personal things, and remnote for school. i might check out obsidian
Thanks, Rachel. I use notion throughout the day (august Bradley’s PPV) and have had “check out obsidian” on the to-do list for a while. Do you think there’s a way to connect them through their APIs?
The last time I checked, the Notion API wasn't developed enough to pull data from individual blocks. But I just looked and saw that it's doable now. It might be worth a shot!
@@RachelVMadrigal Ahhh... hmm, ok. Thx for looking and the video. I appreciate ya.