As soxmeone who forgets where he put his keys five minutes ago, I’ve always struggled with staying organized. Not just with tasks, but with ideas, meeting notes, grocery lists, random song lyrics, and everything in between. In 2022 I tried using sticky notes. My wall looked like a conspiracy board. Then I switched to physical notebooks. They were great until I spilled chai all over my notes the night before an exam. Finally, I decided to go digital. After testing dozens of productivity apps, two of them really stuck with me in 2025: Microsoft OneNote and Notion. Each has its quirks, advantages, and infuriating little annoyances. Here’s my honest take, complete with messy human experiences and a couple of typos thrown in for realism.
Microsoft OneNote – Your Digital Ringbinder
OneNote has been around forever, and for good reason. It’s free on almost every platform—Windows, Mac, iOS, Android—and syncs across them. The interface feels like a classic ringbinder: you have notebooks, each with sections, and each section with pages. On those pages you can click anywhere and type, draw, paste images, or insert audio recordings. It’s like a blank canvas. This freeform canvas is a blessing when you’re brainstorming because you aren’t forced into rigid tables or bullet lists. You can literally drag a picture of a circuit diagram next to your handwritten equations (yes, it supports stylus input) and type a to-do list underneath.
What I like most about OneNote is its familiarity. If you’ve ever used Word or Excel, the ribbon and menus will make sense. You can take long lecture notes and add quick grocery lists in the same app. And because everything is saved to OneDrive, it syncs automatically. I can start a note on my laptop and finish it on my phone while waiting for my bus. There’s even an AI assistant called Copilot that can help summarise notes or generate a draft for you. I asked Copilot to summarise my 20 pages of thermodynamics notes and it actually produced a decent cheat sheet. It’s not perfect (sometimes it misses important details), but it definitely saves time.
There are downsides. OneNote can feel… corporate. It’s clearly designed by Microsoft. The search is sometimes slow, and if your internet connection is shaky, syncing can fail and you get scary-looking conflict errors. Also, although OneNote is free, it uses your OneDrive storage. You get 5GB for free, but if you’re a digital hoarder like me you’ll quickly hit that limit. I eventually subscribed to a Microsoft 365 plan (because of other reasons), which gives you 1TB, but that’s an extra cost. Still, for a free app that works almost anywhere, OneNote is hard to beat.
Notion – The All-in-One Workspace That Tries to Do Everything
If OneNote is a digital ringbinder, Notion is like a Lego set. It starts with pages, but each page is built from blocks: text, tables, checklists, toggle lists, images, databases, Kanban boards, calendars—you name it. At first, this flexibility is overwhelming. I remember opening Notion for the first time and staring at a blank page wondering what to do. But once you understand that everything is a block, it becomes addictive. I use Notion to track my assignment deadlines, manage my reading list, plan my workouts, and even maintain a personal wiki of random facts I find interesting.
Notion’s killer feature is collaboration. You can invite friends or teammates to your workspace, assign tasks, leave comments, and build databases together. We used it for a group project, creating a database of tasks with statuses and deadlines. It felt like we had our own mini-Trello inside Notion. There’s also an AI add-on (about ₹800/month or $10 if you pay monthly) that can summarise meeting notes, brainstorm ideas, or rewrite text. I tried it to generate some blog ideas and it gave me a bunch of cheesy clickbait headlines, but it’s useful when you have writer’s block.
The downside? Notion can be slow on older devices, especially when you load large databases. Offline access is limited; you’ll need to be online to load pages properly. And while there is a generous free plan, you only get limited block storage before you need to upgrade. Also, because it’s so flexible, you might spend more time designing your workspace than actually doing the work. I once spent 2 hours creating an aesthetic habit tracker instead of actually exercising. Oops.
Which One Should You Use?
It really depends on how your brain works. If you like freeform note-taking, scribbling with a stylus, and a straightforward interface, OneNote is your friend. It’s free (mostly), integrates with other Microsoft products like Teams and Outlook, and doesn’t take much time to set up. Just create a notebook and start typing.
If you’re a planner who loves databases, task boards, and building your own system, Notion might be better. It shines when you collaborate with others and need everything—from project plans to random movie watchlists—in one place. Just be prepared to fall down the rabbit hole of customization. And remember that some advanced features, like unlimited AI usage or bigger file uploads, require a paid plan.
As for me, I use both. OneNote is my messy digital notebook, full of handwritten formulas, doodles, and voice recordings. Notion is my organized side: to-do lists, habit trackers, project boards. Between the two, I’ve managed to reduce my reliance on sticky notes (my wall thanks me), and I’ve only missed a deadline once this year. That’s a huge improvement. Just be aware that no app will magically make you productive—you still have to actually do the work. These tools simply make organizing your chaos a little easier.
At the end of the day, no app will magically cure procrastination. There are still mornings when I open Notion to plan my week, add “finish assignment” at the top of my page, then spend two hours watching cat videos on YouTube (they’re therapeutic, don’t judge). Apps are just tools – they can’t force you to get things done.
I’ve also discovered the joy of using pen and paper alongside digital tools. Sometimes, when I’m overwhelmed, I grab an actual notebook and scribble mind maps or doodle while brainstorming. Later, I take a photo and store it in OneNote so I don’t lose it. This hybrid system works for me and might work for you too.
My final advice? Try both OneNote and Notion for a week each and see which one feels like an extension of your brain. Don’t be afraid to mix and match, and don’t worry about setting everything up perfectly from day one. Productivity isn’t about the fanciest app – it’s about finding a workflow that feels natural. And if you end up back with sticky notes on your wall, that’s okay too. Life’s messy, and sometimes your planning system will be too.
