It was a Saturday afternoon. I had decided that I was going to spend an hour or so planning a new budget for my upcoming career shift. I opened up my trusty spreadsheet in *checks notes* Apple Numbers, of all things. I’m typically an Obsidian guy myself, but when it comes to numbers I’m all about formulas and functions. Then, go-time. I throw on some cafe-style jazz music and I’m now in the zone — doing calculations for my taxes, planning out how much to contribute to my 401k and IRA, and remembering just how expensive it’s going to be to live in San Francisco.
I CMD+Tab back to my spreadsheet and then it hits me — I’m in *checks notes* Apple Numbers? What? All of a sudden, this spreadsheet is now my mortal enemy. I’ve got to destroy it, and fast. My mind flashes back to some messages I had the other day with a buddy who works at Notion. He was talking about some webhooks they had just shipped. Maybe Notion is worth a shot.
The thought of setting up a Notion database from scratch was unappealing, but luckily, Notion has an extensive library of templates. I search for a budget planning template and settle on a 50/30/20 template that seems to have most of what I’m looking for. I duplicate the template and start adding my information.
As I fill it out, I realize this is actually a great experience. The formulas match exactly what I had set up in my spreadsheet — the one I was so desperate to destroy — but it doesn’t feel like I’m using a spreadsheet. It’s an immediate lightbulb moment. Over the past four years, I’ve tried Notion on and off, always attempting to use it for note-taking — whether for classes, work, or life. But I greatly value the convenience of writing my notes in Markdown and being able to easily transport them anywhere. From the start, Notion was never meant to work for me as a note-taking tool. However, I had never considered using Notion for more spreadsheet-oriented projects.
Notion is like spreadsheets, but fun — like if spreadsheets had the design sensibilities of Willem Dafoe at Paris Fashion Week.
So, Notion, while it’s a bit reductive to say you’re a spreadsheet, a spreadsheet is exactly what I was looking for.