Be aware, Notion is here!

[Jon]

After reviewing some of the tools I use for productivity, I came across a new and rather ingenious one: Notion.

It is a little hard to describe, yet it is wonderfully flexible. This app has an unbounded future ahead of it. So, what exactly is it? Well, it is a workspace where you can add things like calendars, task lists, goals, databases, reference material and so on. In a way, it is a bit like an intranet. Now that is a term I haven't heard of in quite some time! You can create your own dashboards, which is what I intend to do. I am in the very early stages with this app, but I see it as a good tool to add to the arsenal. But ultimately, only time will tell.

It can be found here: https://www.notion.so/

This guy has some great productivity videos:

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

I do like the look of that Jon, but here's the thing, I have had so many sites move the Goalposts on me, that I prefer to be more in control of my destiny, if you know what I mean! Currently I'm moving sites I've built on the Old Google sites onto the new Google sites, but now I'm discovering that the new Google sites don't offer a very good search facility. And much of the new Google sites utilise Google Docs and sheets. I note the means of migrating your old Google site to a new Google site means that it fires a lot of your old Google site straight into Google Sheets. That's when I had my realisation, Google Sheets, Docs and Google Drive, itself actually compose a website! When I saw "Notion" I realised that I could do a lot of what that offers within Google Drive, I could create Google documents for web pages Google spreadsheets for lists, utilise a spreadsheet or possibly a Google document as a menu interface. Anyway, that's what I've been slowly moving towards for my next iteration of personal web spaces, so now I have the notion to "Notion" my Google Drive!

 

[Bee]

I just think this is over-engineering - or another way to procrastinate. By all means, keep spreadsheets/tick lists/whatever checking system you need, but ultimately, JFDI.

 

[Jon]

Bee, does where you work not have an internal system? Do you not use spreadsheets? Do you not use checklists? I am not sure why having something in the cloud, accessible from anywhere, that can act as a dashboard and your own system is not a good thing. Maybe you haven't used apps like Onenote and Evernote, but hundreds of millions of people love them. This can do that and much more. I see this app going places.

Uncle, everything changes I'm afraid. Look at Access. They even changed how lots of things are done in the VBA.

This app is relatively new, but already its functionality is great. I love the idea of a dashboard for my business, where it can collate information from multiple sources. It can bring together various separate entities into an organised system.

Here is another video:

Your needs may differ, but for many people this app looks groundbreaking.

Rees Vincen's review on this page is insightful: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/notion-2-0

I've pasted the first part of the review below.

Rees Vinsen Founder, CEO - Adduco

Pros:
- Clean, unobtrusive and customisable UX
- Lightweight and unrestrictive
- Perfect balance of tools
- Best productivity app I have ever used
Cons:
- A document/page 'lock' so you aren't prompted to edit would be nice
- No usability, UX, functionality or other cons

HANDS DOWN 🙌🏼 THE BEST PRODUCTIVITY, ORGANISATION AND RESOURCE WORKSPACE myself or my team have ever touched 💯

 

[Bee]

Look, I'm not saying these tools aren't useful. In fact, I used OneNote in work to manage all of my capital projects so that the project team could chip in, share, and add to the information stored there.

Task lists are just that. Task lists. Finding the 'perfect' task list seems like a waste of time when you can just be getting on with the tasks.

 

[Jon]

Maybe you haven't looked at what the product actually does. We are all busy I know. But it isn't just a task list.

Did you over-engineer using Onenote? If not, why suggest this app is over-engineering?

 

[Bee]

I used OneNote to keep track of actions, meeting notes, key pieces of information relating to the project, risk register, programme etc. It was useful.

OneNote worked in that instance because multiple people could access the information quickly and easily - adding and updating (and seeing their outstanding actions).

I'm not against new software, but I wonder how much time is spent in the pursuit of software to help us be more productive (Excel, Trello, OneNote, ad infinitum) when we could (assuming we aren't managing complex multi-input projects) just be getting on with being productive.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

With the military, we had a dozen different methods to manage projects. None of them worked well and none of them stayed in place for very long. The problem is that "one size fits all" software ends up being "no size fits anyone."