Running a company is one kind of chaos. Writing books is another.
Mix the two, and you get a brain that feels like a crowded Mumbai local—everyone is shouting for attention, and I’m the lone commuter trying not to miss my stop.
I learned early that if I didn’t have a system for capturing, organizing, and connecting ideas, I would lose the gold in my head to the noise in my life. The problem? Every tool promises clarity. Every app claims it will “organize your life.” And then there’s the humble pen and paper, smirking from the sidelines like, “I’ve been here for centuries, beta.”
So, I experimented. Notion. Obsidian. Paper notebooks. What I ended up with isn’t a single “winner” but a hybrid system—one that respects my need for speed, depth, and physicality.
The Myth of One Perfect Tool
When I first heard of Notion, it was pitched as the “all-in-one workspace” that could replace everything. Tempting. The founder in me liked the idea of one command center. The author in me wanted one library for drafts, research, and random midnight revelations.
But here’s the truth: no single app matches the human brain’s messy, nonlinear way of working. My mind doesn’t think in neat databases. It thinks in loops, tangents, and half-baked ideas that turn into something valuable months later.
That’s why, after spending weeks building the “perfect” Notion dashboard, I found myself scribbling on the back of a chai receipt at the airport. My brain didn’t care about my beautifully nested tags—it cared about speed of capture.
Lesson: The tool is secondary. The habit of capturing ideas is the real asset.
Notion: My External COO
I still use Notion—but I treat it like a COO for my brain, not a diary. It’s where my business and book projects live in their most structured form.
I have a dashboard called “The Control Room.” It’s not sexy—just a set of linked databases:
- Projects — Every client project, book, or initiative, with timelines.
- Content Hub — Drafts, blog ideas, quotes, and my social media calendar.
- Decision Log — Big business and creative choices, so I can review them later.
Notion works because it gives me a bird’s-eye view without forcing me to work in it daily. I can trust that if I store something here, it will still be here next month in exactly the same place.
For a founder-author, that kind of certainty is priceless. It means my brain doesn’t have to carry the weight of remembering “where that file is.”
Obsidian: My Secret Cave
If Notion is my COO, Obsidian is my secret creative cave. It’s a markdown-based, offline-first note-taking app that lets me connect ideas like a spider weaving a web.
Here’s how I use it:
When I’m researching a chapter for a book or a trend for a keynote, I dump every thought, link, and excerpt into Obsidian. Then I link related notes together. Over time, clusters form—one on “AI ethics,” another on “startup mental models,” and another on “narrative hooks for founders.”
The magic? Obsidian doesn’t judge. It doesn’t demand I “finish” anything. It just lets me explore, link, and discover patterns. This satisfies my need for autonomy—I can think in raw form, without anyone (or any app interface) telling me what “done” looks like.
And the best part? Months later, I’ll open the graph view and see connections I didn’t consciously make. That’s when I know an idea is ready to turn into a chapter, an article, or a pitch.
Paper: My Analog Soul
I still keep two paper notebooks. One is a small pocket one, the kind that fits next to my wallet. The other is an A5 hardbound journal that never leaves my desk.
Paper is where I connect to myself. There’s something about the drag of a pen across a page that slows my thoughts just enough for me to see them clearly. I use paper for:
- Morning brain dumps
- Sketching frameworks before digitizing them
- Planning my week on Sundays
And here’s the kicker—my most profitable business idea in the last two years came from a messy, barely legible page in my pocket notebook. No cloud backup. No tags. Just ink and instinct.
Paper also triggers relatedness. When I flip back to a page from months ago, I remember where I was, what I felt, even the background noise. No app has ever given me that.
The Hybrid System That Works
So here’s my actual setup:
1. Capture Stage — If I’m at my desk, paper. If I’m mobile, Obsidian’s quick capture. If it’s a structured business note, straight into Notion.
2. Processing Stage — Once a week, I review my paper and Obsidian notes. Anything that’s a project or asset moves into Notion for tracking.
3. Creation Stage — Draft in Obsidian, refine in Notion if it’s client-facing, keep in Obsidian if it’s a book or essay.
Each tool has a job. None tries to be everything. This fairness—clear boundaries—keeps me from drowning in redundant notes.
Organizing Your Brain Is a Competitive Edge
People often think productivity is about working faster. It’s not. For a founder-author, it’s about thinking clearer.
Notion gives me structure. Obsidian gives me depth. Paper gives me presence. Together, they make sure my ideas survive long enough to become something useful—whether that’s a business plan, a book chapter, or a conversation that changes the direction of my company.
If you’re reading this and struggling to “pick the right app,” remember:
Your brain is not a machine. It’s a garden. Tools are just the watering cans. The real work is in showing up, every day, to plant, prune, and harvest.