Notion for Course Notes

This semester I switched from Google Docs to Notion for all my course notes. The difference in how I organize information has been significant. Docs is fine for writing a single document. Once you have 5 courses with readings, lecture notes, assignments, and project plans, the flat file structure becomes a mess of folders within folders. Notion lets me build a database for each course where every lecture is an entry with tags for topic, date, and whether I've reviewed it for the exam. Linked views show me only the readings I haven't finished, or pull up every note tagged with a specific concept across all my courses at once. Templates mean I set up my lecture note format once. Every new entry starts with the same structure, saving about 3 minutes per class. Mobile app is good enough to review notes on the subway without needing my laptop. However, there's a real learning curve in the first 2 weeks. I watched probably 4 hours of YouTube tutorials before I felt comfortable building my own system. Free plan covers everything I need as a student, which is important because paying for a note-taking app feels wrong when Google Docs exists. Where Notion falls short is offline access. Two or 3 times this semester I couldn't pull up notes because the wifi in the lecture hall was down. For a tool that's supposed to simplify studying, that kind of failure is frustrating. But organizational power is real. When it works, it makes me feel like I actually have control over the material I'm supposed to absorb. My GPA isn't going to go up just because my notes look better. But I do spend less time searching for things and more time reading them. I've recommended it to a few people in my cohort. Most say it looks like too much work to set up, which I understand. Investment pays off over a full semester, not in the first week. If you already color-code your handwritten notes, Notion is probably going to appeal to you. If you just want to type and forget, Docs is still fine.