For years, I was a dedicated Notion user, fully bought into its “all-in-one” workspace appeal. It seemed like the perfect solution to organize my projects, notes, and goals—a true second brain holding everything together. But over time, my workspace devolved into a mess, a slow, cluttered, and overwhelming collection of half-finished projects and random thoughts.
The tool that was supposed to bring clarity was slowing me down, with personal journal entries crammed awkwardly next to my work tasks. This pushed me to abandon the “one app” myth in favor of a more intentional approach. I’ve now split my workflow into two specialized tools that are far more effective: one for building knowledge and another for focused self-reflection.
Here’s why the all-in-one dream of Notion fell apart
My personal journal didn’t belong next to my projects
Notion’s greatest strength is its limitless flexibility, and that became its biggest flaw for me. The platform’s lack of an opinionated structure encourages you to dump everything into it. Fleeting thoughts, web clippings, and major projects all live together. But what starts as a clean slate inevitably becomes a junk drawer that creates more anxiety than clarity, burying your best ideas under a pile of noise.
Trying to manage this chaos often requires some workarounds. At one point, I even tried to see if I could let Claude take over my Notion tasks, but automating a messy system doesn’t fix the core issue. It organizes the clutter faster, which doesn’t help you find focus or think more clearly. The problem wasn’t the organization; it was the tool itself.
The performance degradation is a well-known issue. With every new database and nested page, the app gets noticeably slower in some environments. It’s the result of heavy client-side rendering and network latency every time you load a workspace.
This system also creates context collapse. Trying to do deep, personal journaling on the same app that holds your quarterly work goals is jarring. Productivity and genuine mindfulness require different environments to flourish and cannot coexist in the same space.
Another problem was that all my notes were stored on Notion’s servers, so they were inaccessible without an internet connection. This dependency is an important point of failure in any workflow. I realized I was merely renting access to my own thoughts and work—a fundamental risk I was no longer willing to take with my most important information. True ownership requires offline access and open formats.
Obsidian is where I build my second brain
Because linking ideas feels more natural than rigid databases
My move to Obsidian was a direct response to Notion’s chaos. It’s not my new all-in-one workspace; it’s a dedicated environment for my knowledge work. This is where I connect ideas, take notes on literature, and build a permanent library of what I learn, utterly separate from the noise of daily tasks. It is a purpose-built tool for thinking, not just for storing.
Unlike Notion, Obsidian is built on a local-first philosophy. All my notes are plain text Markdown (.md) files stored in a local folder on my hard drive. This means the app is fast, works perfectly offline, and is completely future-proof. I have total ownership of my data with no cloud servers or subscriptions required. I find it a profoundly different and more secure approach, and I regularly back up my computer.
Setting this system up correctly is key to getting the most out of it. There are a few things to know before creating the Obsidian vault, but once you grasp that a local folder is your database, the freedom from cloud-based constraints is liberating.
Instead of rigid databases, Obsidian’s power comes from bidirectional linking. Every note can become a node in a larger network, creating a visual graph of how your ideas connect. I find this bottom-up approach more organic for discovering new insights than Notion’s top-down, hierarchical structure. It rewards curiosity and helps you build a web of thought.
It’s possible to hook Obsidian up to a local large language model (LLM) on my own terms, allowing me to run AI-powered workflows with complete privacy. This level of control and extensibility is something a closed, cloud-based platform like Notion could never offer its users.
Reflection.app is for focused, personal growth
It gives me a quiet space just for my thoughts
While Obsidian handles my external knowledge, I use Reflection.app for my internal thoughts. This deliberate separation is important—it provides a serene, focused environment free from the project management tools and database clutter that made journaling in Notion feel so disjointed. It’s a space designed for one thing: honest, mindful introspection without the constant pull of my to-do list.
It has a structured approach to self-reflection. The app offers guided prompts for daily, weekly, and monthly reviews, rather than just leaving you with a blank canvas. This framework prevents the “what should I write?” paralysis that often accompanies unstructured journaling.
This guided process has been transformative for me. As I’ve detailed before, this journaling app helps me be my best self by actively prompting me to celebrate wins and analyze setbacks. Technically, it just works. While Obsidian is local-first, Reflection.app provides reliable cloud sync across desktop, web, and mobile clients. I can capture a quick thought on my phone, and it’s available on my laptop without any lag or sync errors.
By dedicating a separate app just for journaling, I’ve made the habit more consistent and far more meaningful. It is a specialized tool that excels at its one job and proves that some tasks deserve their own dedicated space.
A digital monoculture is a risky bet
The all-in-one approach creates a monoculture where a single app’s failure—a service outage, a bad update, or a policy change—can halt your entire workflow. Splitting my system builds a more resilient setup. Each app excels at its specific function—knowledge synthesis versus personal insight—and creates a workflow that is antifragile by design and far less prone to systemic collapse.
This shift invites a better question for your own setup. Instead of asking which single app is best, consider what distinct jobs you need done. Does your note-taker also need to manage team projects? Does your journal need database functions? De-bundling these roles and choosing best-in-class tools for each job often leads to a more focused and effective process.
