{"id":166243,"date":"2025-06-07T23:56:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T23:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/166243\/"},"modified":"2025-06-07T23:56:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T23:56:13","slug":"these-two-apps-finally-fixed-my-creative-workflow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/166243\/","title":{"rendered":"These two apps finally fixed my creative workflow"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"capacities<\/p>\n

Dhruv Bhutani \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

For years, Notion<\/a> has been my go-to for organizing everything from invoices to movie watchlists. Its flexibility as a database is unmatched, but when it came to creative workflows like jotting down spontaneous ideas, threading together thoughts, and collecting visual inspiration, that\u2019s where Notion starts to feel a bit rigid. I needed something that didn\u2019t ask me to file every passing idea into a system the moment it showed up. That\u2019s just not how a creative flow works. At least not for me.<\/p>\n

I needed a tool that didn\u2019t ask every idea to fit into a system the moment it showed up.<\/p>\n

I know, I know. Obsidian<\/a> is the usual answer here with its unending customisation and the famed graph view. But I wanted something cloud-first. So I began looking for a tool that could complement, if not replace, what Notion already does so well. That\u2019s how I found myself bouncing between Notion and Capacities<\/a> for the better part of a year. Like most people trying to organize their digital life, I started with one, flirted with the other, then went back and forth until I realized something simple: these two tools aren\u2019t competing. They\u2019re completing each other. Here\u2019s why building a system that uses both apps works so well for me.<\/p>\n

Capacities is where I think, Notion is where I act<\/p>\n

\"capacities<\/p>\n

Dhruv Bhutani \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

The trick, as always, wasn\u2019t picking a side at the get-go. It was figuring out what each tool is actually good at \u2014 and then staying out of their way. That realization changed how I approached both tools. For example, I stopped using Notion as a space for unstructured notes. Not because it can\u2019t do that, but because it never felt natural. You can create endless pages and subpages, sure. You can embed anything you want. But that multi-page hierarchy quickly spirals out of control. I was using Notion to catalog interesting places in cities I want to visit, and over time, that structure became a maze \u2014 multiple layers deep, hard to navigate, and harder to maintain.<\/p>\n

Notion thrives when there\u2019s structure and purpose. It\u2019s where I build systems that are borderline automatic in execution. Capacities works best when there\u2019s none. It\u2019s where I think. The moment I stopped trying to force one app to do it all, things clicked, and I could move between them without friction, letting each tool handle what it\u2019s built for instead of bending it into something it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

Capacities doesn\u2019t ask you to polish your thoughts before capturing them.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just a user interface issue. It\u2019s a mindset issue. Notion forces you establish tables, databases and more the moment you decide to enter in some data. This makes me feel like every idea needs a home before it even exists. That pressure to organize too early kills my creative flow and inhibits how much I use Notion. I might have the ideas, but the environment doesn\u2019t feel right. You wouldn\u2019t want to work in Google Sheets<\/a> for capturing ideas. Notion\u2019s rigidity has the same effect.<\/p>\n

Capacities flips that dynamic. You don\u2019t start with a table or a template \u2014 you start with an object. Notes, images, bookmarks, and files are all loosely organized by type and stitched together with backlinks. It\u2019s closer to how Obsidian works and feels more like a living network than a rigid notebook. That one shift changes everything. I don\u2019t worry about where a thought belongs. I just capture it, drop in a few tags, and move on. I\u2019ll clean it up later. Or not.<\/p>\n

A place to gather ideas without having to polish them first<\/p>\n

\"capacities<\/p>\n

Dhruv Bhutani \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

When I\u2019m in creative mode doing anything from writing to outlining something vague, my go-to app is Capacities. If I\u2019m collecting screenshots, reference visuals, creating to-do notes or compiling quotes across multiple articles, it all goes there, easily cross-referenced by Capacities\u2019 take on a graph view. I can write half a thought, leave it for a week, and come back to find it already connected to three other ideas I forgot I had. That\u2019s not just good design. That\u2019s momentum. And it is critical in allowing me to jump back into work and be in a creative space almost immediately.<\/p>\n

Trying to think in Notion can feel like brainstorming in a spreadsheet.<\/p>\n

At the risk of sounding loquacious, Capacities offers an environment that invites exploration. This includes the way Capacities treats images which can be inline, full-bleed, or tied to objects allowing you to effectively turn it into a gallery, not just a document. That might seem like a small thing, but when you\u2019re spending hours sketching outlines or piecing together visual references, it adds up. You\u2019re not just writing. You\u2019re effectively building an interconnected web of ideas \u2014 something I\u2019ve struggled with in Notion. Apple\u2019s wildly different FreeForm tool offers the closest, but not quite the same, experience. On the other hand, Notion doesn\u2019t work like that. It\u2019s structured. Precise. Sometimes a little too precise. But that\u2019s exactly why it works so well for everything else.<\/p>\n

Notion is still where my life lives<\/p>\n

\"capacities<\/p>\n

Dhruv Bhutani \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

Capacities may be better for thinking, but Notion still runs the day-to-day. This is where I track invoices, update my reading list, monitor freelance projects, and check off recurring tasks. When I know what I\u2019m tracking \u2014 things like client deliverables, brand campaigns, editorial calendars \u2014 Notion is unbeatable. I can build databases with views and filters, connect them with automation, and set up reminders that actually help. It\u2019s purpose-built for that kind of work.<\/p>\n

Tools like Notion Forms make it a killer home for long-term data, and on-the-fly additions. <\/p>\n

Unlike Capacities, Notion offers a kind of safety in knowing that everything has a place. If I log something today, I\u2019ll know exactly where to find it three weeks later. It also makes it incredibly easy to add data on the go. When I want to add something quickly like, say, a new restaurant I\u2019ve spotted on Instagram, I use a Notion Form<\/a> I set up to log key details straight into my food database. Name, location, cuisine, tags, and that\u2019s it. The form is saved as a bookmark on my phone\u2019s homepage and lets me accomplish the task in seconds. That\u2019s the kind of frictionless utility Notion excels at.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve tried doing that inside Capacities, and while there is a table view, it still feels like an afterthought. It\u2019s not really built for structured data entry, nor is it very good at making sense of large volumes of data.<\/p>\n

They solve different problems \u2014 so stop comparing them<\/p>\n

\"capacities<\/p>\n

Dhruv Bhutani \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

The biggest mistake is thinking these two tools are solving the same problem. They\u2019re not. They both let you write, collect, embed, and organize. But what they do with those abilities is totally different. Capacities is designed for creativity and knowledge exploration. Similar to Obsidian, everything in its interface is nudging you to connect ideas through backlinks, nested objects, graph views. It\u2019s less of a productivity tool and more of a creative studio. When I\u2019m not quite sure what I\u2019m working on, but I know I want to chase an idea, Capacities gives me the room to do that.<\/p>\n

Notion, on the other hand, is more like a traditional work tool. It doesn\u2019t ask you to explore. It asks you to decide, define, and commit. And that matters because how we feel when using these tools often dictates whether we use them at all. While it is certainly possible to use either of these tools exclusively, Notion\u2019s structured approach to data types makes it feel like a chore. In fact, I\u2019ve tried to commit to Notion several times, but every single time it felt I was underusing it because my notes were messy or incomplete. But that wasn\u2019t a Notion problem. That was a mismatch. Once I gave that role to Capacities instead, Notion stopped feeling like a burden and started being useful again.<\/p>\n

The takeaway<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no straight-up winner here. Capacities helped me get comfortable with a messy workflow again. It gave me back the ability to think in fragments and collect ideas without committing. It\u2019s a tool for planning and for users still getting used to the idea of knowledge management. In fact, I\u2019d say it\u2019s the perfect PKM tool for the first-time user.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Notion helps me make order out of chaos. It\u2019s the tool I trust to hold the pieces together once I know what they are. Be it large databases of pitches, invoices, things to do, restaurants to check out, Notion is great for that kind of workflow. That said, at the end of the day, both tools taught me to stop looking for the perfect app and start building a better workflow instead. For me, it was a combination of Capacities and Notion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dhruv Bhutani \/ Android Authority For years, Notion has been my go-to for organizing everything from invoices to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166244,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3159],"tags":[547,14340,69574,53,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-166243","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-mobile","9":"tag-notion","10":"tag-productivity-apps","11":"tag-technology","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114644791119665908","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}