Notion vs Spreadsheets: The Major Difference Between Databases & Sheets!

Summary

The video script contrasts Notion and Excel, highlighting their distinct functionalities. Notion is ideal for organizing tasks and notes through its database structure of columns and rows, each row being a page. It offers versatile views like Kanban, calendar, and gallery. Excel, on the other hand, excels in financial data management with its cell-based approach, allowing complex formulas across cells and sheets. The script advises viewers to choose based on their needs: Notion for organization, Excel for number-crunching.

Takeaways

• 🧩 Notion and Excel have different paradigms: Notion is organized around pages and databases, while Excel is a cell-based spreadsheet.
• 📊 Notion databases consist of columns for properties and rows for pages, with each row requiring a page.
• 🔗 In Notion, you can't delete the mandatory 'Name' column, which serves as the identifier for each row/page.
• 🌐 Notion allows for versatile data viewing with layouts like table, kanban, timeline, calendar, list, and gallery.
• 📑 Excel treats data as an open canvas where you can freely input information into any cell and use formulas across cells or sheets.
• 💡 Notion's formulas are limited to the properties within the same row, unlike Excel's broader formula capabilities.
• 💼 Excel is more suitable for complex financial tasks that require pulling and calculating numbers from various sources.
• 📈 Notion calculations are restricted to the same column, making it less flexible for cross-column calculations.
• 🔢 Notion allows for basic calculations within a column or row, but it's not as robust as Excel for complex number handling.
• 📱 The presenter prefers using Google Sheets over Microsoft Excel due to personal preference and the availability of a free alternative.
• 🌙 Google Sheets lacks a built-in dark mode, which is a minor inconvenience for some users.

Q & A

What is the main difference between Notion and Excel according to the script?

The main difference is that Notion is better for organizing and simplifying tasks and notes, while Excel is better at handling complex calculations and financial transactions involving numbers from various places.

How are Notion databases structured?

Notion databases are made up of columns representing different properties and rows where each row is a page related to these properties. It's mandatory for each row to have a page.

What is the significance of the 'Name' column in Notion databases?

The 'Name' column in Notion databases is mandatory and cannot be deleted. It represents the title or identifier for the page associated with each row in the database.

How many different views can you switch between in Notion?

You can switch between six different views in Notion: table, kanban board, timeline, calendar, list, and gallery view.

What is the limitation of formulas in Notion compared to Excel?

In Notion, formulas can only reference other properties within the same row, whereas in Excel, formulas can reference cells from anywhere in the spreadsheet or even on different sheets.

Can you perform calculations across different columns in Notion?

No, in Notion, calculations can only be performed within the same column, not across different columns.

What is the recommended way to get in touch with the speaker for questions about Notion?

The recommended way to get in touch with the speaker for questions about Notion is to tweet at them using the handle 'productive_underscore_dude' on Twitter.

Why does the speaker prefer Google Sheets over Microsoft Excel?

The speaker prefers Google Sheets because it is a free alternative that has almost all the features they personally need.

What is the speaker's opinion on using Notion for financial tracking?

The speaker finds it feels forced to use Notion for financial tracking, suggesting that Excel or Google Sheets are more suitable for such tasks.

How does the script describe the flexibility of Excel compared to Notion?

The script describes Excel as being more flexible and free-form, allowing for complex calculations and referencing cells across different sheets, whereas Notion is more confined to the structure of its columns and rows.

What is the script's suggestion on when to use Notion versus Excel?

The script suggests using Notion for general organization and tasks, and using Excel for handling lots of numbers and financial transactions.

Outlines

00:00

📊 Notion vs. Excel: A Paradigm Shift

The speaker begins by sharing their initial misconception of Notion, comparing it to Excel due to their shared use of tables and formulas. However, they quickly realized the significant differences between the two platforms. Notion databases are structured with mandatory pages per row and columns representing properties. In contrast, Excel spreadsheets are more flexible, treating data as an open canvas where cells can be freely manipulated with formulas referencing any part of the sheet. Notion offers various viewing options like tables, Kanban boards, timelines, calendars, lists, and galleries, which are not as easily replicated in Excel. The speaker also mentions their preference for Google Sheets over Microsoft Excel, noting the lack of a built-in dark mode in Google Sheets.

05:02

🔢 Calculations in Notion vs. Excel

The speaker illustrates the limitations of calculations in Notion compared to Excel. In Notion, calculations are restricted to the same column or within the properties of a specific row, demonstrated by adding and calculating numbers in a Notion database. Formulas in Notion are confined to the row they are in, whereas Excel allows for more complex and free-form calculations across different cells and sheets. The speaker suggests that Notion is better suited for organizing tasks and notes, while Excel excels at handling financial transactions and large sets of numerical data due to its flexibility and powerful calculation capabilities.

Keywords

💡Notion

Notion is an all-in-one productivity tool that combines note-taking, project management, and database functionalities. In the video, it is compared to Excel to highlight its unique approach to organizing information. The script mentions that Notion databases are made up of columns and rows, where each row is a page that can have various properties attached to it, illustrating Notion's flexibility in data organization.

💡Excel

Excel is a widely used spreadsheet program for organizing, analyzing, and storing data in tables. The video script contrasts Excel with Notion, emphasizing the differences in how they handle data. Excel is described as an open canvas where users can freely input data and create complex formulas that can reference cells across different sheets, showcasing its strength in handling numerical data and financial tasks.

💡Databases

In the context of the video, databases refer to the organizational structure within Notion where data is stored and managed. The script explains that Notion databases consist of columns representing properties and rows representing individual pages, each with its own set of properties. This structure is fundamental to understanding how Notion organizes information differently from Excel.

💡Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets are electronic documents that allow users to organize, analyze, and manipulate data in a grid of rows and columns. The video script uses Excel spreadsheets as a point of comparison to Notion databases, highlighting that while both use rows and columns, the way data is manipulated and accessed is quite different.

💡Formulas

Formulas in the video refer to the mathematical or logical expressions used to calculate and display values in spreadsheets or databases. The script contrasts how formulas work in Excel, where they can reference cells across the entire spreadsheet, with how they function in Notion, where they are limited to the properties within the same row, emphasizing the constraints and capabilities of each tool.

💡Views

Views in Notion refer to the different ways users can display their databases, such as in a table, kanban board, timeline, calendar, list, or gallery. The video script highlights the ease with which Notion allows users to switch between these views, showcasing its flexibility in presenting data compared to Excel.

💡Properties

Properties in Notion are the individual attributes or characteristics that can be assigned to a page within a database. The script mentions properties like 'name' and 'tags' as examples, and how they are essential components of a Notion page, differentiating the structured approach of Notion from the more freeform nature of Excel.

💡Calculations

Calculations in the video refer to the operations performed to derive new values from existing data. The script explains that while Notion allows for calculations, they are limited to the same column, unlike Excel where calculations can be more complex and span multiple cells or sheets, highlighting a key functional difference between the two tools.

💡Google Sheets

Google Sheets is a free, web-based spreadsheet program similar to Excel. The video script uses Google Sheets as an example to explain Excel's functionalities, noting that while it lacks some features like a built-in dark mode, it is sufficient for the purposes of the explanation, emphasizing the similarities and differences between these tools.

💡Kanban Board

A Kanban Board is a project management tool that visually represents tasks or workflows in stages of completion. The video script mentions that Notion allows users to view their databases as a Kanban Board, which is one of the many view options, illustrating Notion's adaptability for different organizational needs.

💡Financial Tracker

A financial tracker is a tool used to manage and monitor financial transactions. The video script suggests that Excel is better suited for creating financial trackers due to its ability to handle complex calculations and data referencing, whereas Notion might feel forced for such tasks, indicating the different strengths of each tool in specific use cases.

Highlights

Comparison between Notion and Excel is discussed

Notion databases and Excel spreadsheets have fundamental differences

Notion uses columns for properties and rows for pages

Each row in Notion must be a page

The 'Name' column in Notion is mandatory and cannot be deleted

Notion allows multiple views: table, kanban, timeline, calendar, list, and gallery

Excel is more cell-based and allows for complex referencing across cells and sheets

Google Sheets is used as an example of Excel functionality

Excel is better for finance and complex calculations involving numbers from different places

Notion is better for organizing and simplifying tasks and notes

Calculations in Notion are limited to the same column

Formulas in Notion only work within the specific row they're in

Excel allows for more complex and free-form calculations across cells

The video aims to help viewers decide between Notion and Excel based on their needs

The presenter suggests tweeting questions to @productive_underscore_dude

The presenter emphasizes the importance of leaving the Excel paradigm when using Notion

Transcripts

when I was first getting started with

notion I compared it to Excel and I

figured oh this probably works how Excel

Works they both have tables they both

have formulas but boy was I wrong notion

in Excel are totally different and if

you are just getting started with notion

you might be stuck in that old Excel

Paradigm that you might be used to

because it's been around for so long and

so many people use it but today I'm just

going to explain the difference between

notion and Excel more specifically

notion databases and Excel spreadsheets

if you have questions about notion or if

you have questions about this video the

best way to get in touch with me is to

tweet at me so definitely tweet at

productive underscore dude on Twitter if

you have any questions and don't forget

to follow me for bite-sized notion and

productivity related content we'll see

you on Twitter in notion our databases

are made up of columns which represent

the different properties that are

available to you and rows where you can

create a page that's related to these

different properties in notion it's

mandatory that each row gets a page and

that's this name column here by default

it's called name you can change the name

of this but what you'll notice is you

cannot delete this name column it's

mandatory right so this is actually a

page that gets added to your notion

database you can open it you can see all

of the different properties that are

related to it like this tags property

here you also see it in the table view

now the other thing to mention about

notion is you can view this in many

different ways if I go to layout here

it's very simple to switch between a

table a kanban board

a timeline a calendar

a list and a gallery view

now while this is possible to view data

in a similar way in Excel it's very

difficult and it's going to require lots

of formulas and lots of referencing to

these different items that you're trying

to pull from but in notion it's very

simple you just change your layout here

and you can view your data in different

ways now I'm going to be explaining

Excel here in Google Sheets and I'm

sorry for those of you who are Microsoft

fans but I've never been able to jump on

board with Microsoft I just prefer this

free alternative that has almost all the

features that I personally need so this

is Google Sheets but it's similar enough

to excel that I think I can use this for

my explanation today and I'm sorry for

those of you who are being blinded right

now Google Sheets does not have a

built-in dark mode unfortunately at

least that I could find now in Excel or

Google Sheets we still have columns and

we still have rows but the way that

they're treated is different you can

think of excel as an open canvas or

where you can add information in any of

these individual cells it's a lot more

cell based we aren't stuck with just a

simple name column tags column and a

formula column for instance if I wanted

to create a formula in this cell I could

create a formula that has to do with

anything within this spreadsheet or even

on another sheet if I wanted to add

another sheet I can reference any cells

with a formula whereas in notion we can

only reference the other properties

within its specific row that we're

referring to so imagine being stuck just

confined to this row right here with

your formula in Excel it certainly

wouldn't be very flexible however notion

will be more useful to people who want

to simplify and organize things whereas

Excel is going to excel no pun intended

at things like Finance right where you

have lots of numbers pulling from all

different places and you need to create

a financial tracker Finance is something

that I've tried to do in notion and I've

even watched some tutorials but it just

feels like you're forcing it when you're

trying to do finance and notion whereas

in Excel or Google Sheets it's so much

easier to get exactly what you're

looking for and to be able to sum the

numbers from different places bring them

where you need to see them and so on now

calculations are possible in notion you

can calculate different things but you

can only calculate within the same

column that you're focusing on so if I

want to calculate something in this

column I could hit calculate here and I

could do one of these calculations I'm

going to delete this date property and

I'm going to show you also how formulas

work because formulas only work within

the row that you're in so this formula

only works in this row this formula only

works for this row and so on whereas

this calculation only works for this

column this calculation only works for

this column and we have this mandatory

page here that's related to all of these

different properties that you can add

here as columns so let's go ahead and

create a number I'm just going to show

you actually let's create two number

properties here I'm just going to show

you how we can do calculations in notion

this will help you visualize it a bit so

here we're just going to add 4 5 and 7

and here I can calculate and if I wanted

to I could sum these numbers

I could average them I could do anything

that I want but only with this

calculation in this column can I do that

now if I wanted to affect a row I could

put some numbers here

but I can only calculate with this

formula within this row so I can't go

prop and I can select number plus number

one which is referring to these

different properties here and hit done

it's going to add these two numbers

together but there's not a way for me to

use this formula in this row to

calculate all of these numbers for

instance whereas in Excel I could have a

number property here a number property

here and these actually aren't even

properties I'm just saying property to

relate it back to notion but I could

have a 10 and a 10 and we could put our

formula all the way over here you know I

could equal this Plus

this and it would work or I could even

go ahead and add a number over on a

separate sheet and I could add that as

well Plus

I go grab my 40 hit enter

and that formula is going to be able to

handle something more complex and free

form like that whereas in notion we're

stuck to the columns and the rows that

we're referring to at that specific time

so this is my best explanation of the

differences between notion and Excel

there are probably a lot more but I

think this video distills down

everything that you need to know when

you're making your decision about which

one you should go with again notion is

better for organizing things in general

things like tasks notes much much better

for things like that whereas Excel is

better at handling lots of numbers maybe

your financial transactions things like

that so I hope this video helped you and

I hope that it enlightened you on the

Paradigm that you need to have going

into notion in the old school Paradigm

of excel alright we'll see you in the

next one