Notion
Flexible workspace used as a second brain, wiki and task system
Documents and databases, modular enough to bend into note systems, project trackers, content calendars and personal wikis. Its strength and its weakness are the same thing: it will let you build anything, including an elaborate system you spend more time maintaining than using. Best treated as a place to keep things, not a productivity method.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Ali AbdaalDoes it
Doctor turned YouTuber · author of Feel-Good Productivity
Notes, content pipeline and team documentation all live in Notion, and he has published many of his own templates.
Source: aliabdaal.com: useful apps to improve productivity and study effectively“Notion really changed the note-taking and organisational game for me. It really is a multi-functional and incredibly useful app allowing you to categorise topics, break down subjects into series of toggles … I really cannot speak highly enough of Notion”
aliabdaal.com: Useful Apps To Improve Productivity and Study Effectively (opens in a new tab) · 18 Mar 2020 - Federico ViticciDoes it
Apple writer · founder of MacStories
Notion does two jobs in his current app list, once under note-taking and again as his text editor. That slot keeps moving: Obsidian held it in early 2025, Apple Notes before that.
Source: MacStories: Our Setups - Tiago ForteDoes it
Productivity writer · Building a Second Brain
Runs the Forte Labs editorial calendar in Notion, and keeps the YouTube studio operating document there as well, a shared page anyone on the team can update as gear changes. He draws a line between that and note taking: building a dashboard costs far more time and energy than writing a note.
Source: fortelabs.com: How to Build Your Personal Productivity Stack
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under productivity.
- App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.On record from 5 of 62 tracked people: 5 do it
- App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Readwise
Syncs your highlights and resurfaces them a few at a time
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 3 do it, 1 recommends it - App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Website and app blocker
Software that makes distracting sites genuinely unavailable on a schedule
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it, 2 recommend it - App$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe's video editor, the default in most professional edit bays
On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it - AppFREE, no cost
Apple Notes
The note app that ships on every Mac, iPhone and iPad, synced through iCloud
On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it - App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it
App entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.