Notion is a program we use to get more of the right things done. Just like Todoist, Obsidian, TickTick, Google Docs, Omnifocus, Numbers, Excel and many others. We use these programs to extract information, organize it, learn from it so we can make better decisions about what the next best action is for us to take to eventually feel the way we want to feel.

Now, I would say that Notion is a pioneering program in a new category of programs that multiple giant companies are following into. This category of program’s main purpose is integrating information from other programs in one place. For these programs to integrate information they have to be extremely flexible.

For us to be able to more clearly distinguish between this category mentioned above from the traditional specific purpose applications, I will start by explaining what a specific purpose application is.

A specific purpose application is an application you use for one or a few specific purposes. I will give 3 examples of sub categories for this category and one new

1. Todo programs have the purpose to manage all your tasks and projects.
2. Note programs have the purpose of keeping notes about something that happened at a specific thing or event.
3. Document programs you work on documents until they reach a state of done, Quarterly finance sheet, Wedding Invitation, project proposal and many others.
4. Then I also want to introduce a 4 type which people would normally use type 2 and 3 for. Process programmer which I will get back to later

Then I have a really good metaphor for explaining how much more flexible integrating applications is. You could imagine these different categories of applications and different categories of toys.

We could have some farmer toys where a tractor could make a sound when you press it, dolls that can say hi when moving the arm and a teddy bear that has soft fur. These would be specific purpose applications, they come out of the box ready to be played with. Then imagine you got a huge box of lego blocks. You cannot play with it right out of the box, you need to build the things you want to play with. The lego does not have soft fur or a button you can press and it will say things, but it has the flexibility to create way more things then toys that have a fixed shape and functionality.

The metaphor is closer than you would think. Notion literally calls the fundamental things you build with blocks.

With integrating applications you can use it for a huge variety of things. You can use it as a todo program, a note program, a document program, as a CRM and as many others like the process program I mentioned above. But, with a big but… you have to build what you want first.

Now you have a clear understanding of the differences between single purpose applications and integrating applications I would pause for a second and reflect on the difference before you have a look at some of the examples of these applications.

Some examples of integrating applications are