Every ADHD productivity video mentions Notion or Obsidian. “Life-changing!” “Finally organized!” “My second brain!”

I’ve used both extensively. Notion for 6 months in 2023. Obsidian for 6 months in 2024. Here’s what actually happened.

TL;DR

Factor	Notion	Obsidian
Setup rabbit hole risk	EXTREME	High
Learning curve	Medium	High
Maintenance burden	High	Low
Mobile app	Good	Okay
Offline access	Limited	Full
Price	Free tier works	Free

Winner for ADHD: Obsidian, but only if you resist the urge to build elaborate systems.

My Notion Era (January - June 2023)

I built everything in Notion. Task database with 47 properties. Project tracker with linked databases. Reading list connected to book notes connected to idea capture. A “life dashboard” with embedded views of everything.

Month 1-2: Obsessed. Spent 20+ hours building templates and systems. Felt incredibly productive (spoiler: I wasn’t—I was procrastinating by organizing).

Month 3-4: The system was beautiful but maintenance became a job. Every task required filling out 6 fields. I started avoiding the app because adding things felt like work.

Month 5-6: Abandoned it. Too much friction. Too many databases. I went back to Apple Notes and felt immediate relief.

What Notion Gets Right for ADHD

Visual organization. Seeing everything laid out in columns and boards helps my brain understand what exists. The spatial element matters.

Templates reduce decisions. Once you build a template, creating new notes is fast. Less decision fatigue.

Database views. Filtering by “due this week” or “tagged urgent” helps focus when my brain is scattered.

What Notion Gets Wrong for ADHD

The template trap. Notion’s template gallery is ADHD kryptonite. I spent entire weekends browsing and installing templates I’d never use. The “perfect system” doesn’t exist, but Notion makes you feel like it’s one more template away.

Properties creep. Databases let you add unlimited properties. I ended up with task databases that asked for priority, energy level, time estimate, project, area of life, due date, recurrence… Most fields stayed empty. The friction of incomplete data stressed me out.

Sync issues. Notion needs internet. When I was on a plane or my wifi was spotty, I couldn’t access my notes. That’s when I often need them most.

Performance. My over-engineered workspace got slow. Pages took seconds to load. For ADHD brains, even small friction is deadly.

My Obsidian Era (January - June 2024)

After Notion burnout, I switched to Obsidian—a markdown-based note-taking app that stores files locally.

Month 1-2: Steep learning curve. Obsidian is less intuitive than Notion. I spent time watching tutorials (rabbit hole #1) and installing plugins (rabbit hole #2).

Month 3-4: Finally settled into a simple system. Daily notes + a few folders + links between notes. Nothing fancy.

Month 5-6: Still using it. That’s the longest any note app has lasted.

What Obsidian Gets Right for ADHD

Plain text files. Notes are just markdown files on my computer. No proprietary format. No sync issues. No loading times. If Obsidian disappeared tomorrow, my notes would still exist.

Offline by default. I can access everything without internet. Game changer for inconsistent ADHD working habits.

Low maintenance. Links between notes happen naturally. I don’t need to categorize everything into databases. The graph view shows connections automatically.

Speed. Opening a note takes milliseconds. That tiny friction reduction matters more than I expected.

What Obsidian Gets Wrong for ADHD

Plugin rabbit hole. There are thousands of community plugins. I installed 30 in my first week. Most I never used. Some broke each other. Now I use 5.

Less visual than Notion. If you need kanban boards and colorful databases, Obsidian won’t satisfy you out of the box. Plugins can add these features, but it’s more work.

Mobile app is mid. Obsidian’s mobile app exists but isn’t as smooth as Notion’s. I mostly use it on desktop.

Learning curve. You need to understand markdown, linking syntax, and basic file organization. Not hard, but not instant either.

The ADHD-Specific Comparison

Capture Speed

Notion: Open app → navigate to correct database → fill out properties → save. Takes 20-30 seconds for a simple task.

Obsidian: Open daily note (one hotkey) → type thought → done. Takes 5 seconds.

Winner: Obsidian. Those seconds matter when your brain is already moving to the next thing.

System Maintenance

Notion: Databases need maintenance. Properties get messy. Templates need updating. I spent an hour weekly “organizing” instead of doing actual work.

Obsidian: My system maintains itself. Links are just text. If a note is messy, it’s fine—it’s just a markdown file. I spend maybe 10 minutes weekly on organization.

Winner: Obsidian. Less maintenance = less friction = more likely I’ll actually use it.

Visual Appeal

Notion: Beautiful. Customizable. Looks great in screenshots. Makes me feel productive even when I’m just reorganizing.

Obsidian: Plain text editor. Can be pretty with themes, but default is functional, not beautiful. Less screenshot-worthy.

Winner: Notion, but this might be bad for ADHD. Pretty systems invite tinkering.

Collaboration

Notion: Built for teams. Sharing is easy. Comments work well.

Obsidian: Solo tool by design. Sharing requires workarounds.

Winner: Notion, if you need collaboration. Most ADHD personal productivity is solo though.

My Current Setup (Hybrid)

I use Obsidian for personal notes and knowledge management. Daily notes, article drafts, random ideas, meeting notes.

I use Todoist (not Notion) for tasks. Obsidian isn’t great for task management.

I use Apple Notes for quick capture when I’m mobile and don’t want to wait for Obsidian to sync.

I don’t use Notion at all anymore. Nothing against it—it just invites me to over-engineer.

The Real Answer

Neither app matters as much as your willingness to keep it simple.

A simple Notion workspace beats an elaborate Obsidian setup. A simple Obsidian vault beats an elaborate Notion database.

The tool that works is the one you actually use after the honeymoon period ends. For me, that’s Obsidian because it doesn’t invite complexity the way Notion does.

Your mileage may vary. Some ADHD brains thrive with Notion’s visual structure. Some need Obsidian’s speed and simplicity. The only way to know is to try both and observe your own behavior after month 3.

If You’re Starting Fresh

Start with Obsidian if: You tend to over-engineer systems, want offline access, prefer typing to clicking, can handle a learning curve.

Start with Notion if: You need collaboration, want visual databases, prefer guided structure over blank pages, will actually resist the template gallery.

Start with Apple Notes if: You’ve abandoned both multiple times and need the lowest friction option possible. Seriously, basic apps work fine. Your note-taking tool doesn’t determine your productivity.

---

My Obsidian vault has 847 notes. I’ve probably re-read 12 of them. The other 835 exist for psychological comfort.