Notion Simple Tables

Weekly Reflection #70

Notion has recently released a highly requested feature that can change the way we structure some of our systems in the platform: simple tables. This may sound like a very basic option to have in software. In fact, so far the all-in-one workspace only gave the possibility to create databases. What is the difference between a simple table and a database in Notion? How can we decide which feature is most suitable for a certain use case? Those are questions I asked myself upon becoming aware of this new Notion feature. And I will address them in this week's Weekly Reflection.

Databases vs. Spreadsheets vs. Notion Simple Table#

There is a substantial difference between a *database *and a *spreadsheet: *the former has the ability to (1) handle a much larger amount of data than the latter, (2) contain *relations *among entries from different databases, and (3) visualize data in multiple views (rather than only in tabular format—which is the case for spreadsheets). The ability of spreadsheets to easily perform calculations from number fields is one of their main power, together with the quick data visualization one can do when scrolling a spreadsheet. When working with a large dataset, spreadsheets are not the right tool, as they are limited in the quantity of data, and do not have a strong shield against duplicates.

Spreadsheets are static data sources (data is contained in single cells). Databases are *relational *and dynamic (when editing data in one database, it also varies in all the other places referencing that piece of data).

To understand the critical difference underlined in the quote above, we can think of a Project Management system in Notion. Let's assume we have a "*projects" *and a "*tasks" *database, related to each other (each task is related to a project). If we change the status of a task from "Doing" to "Done", such an update will be reflected throughout our Notion system, also in linked database views and dashboards. Due to the relational nature of databases, the task status change will also lead the project progress to be updated automatically.

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The new *Simple Table *feature in Notion does not correspond to a Spreadsheet-like functionality, since it does not allow to perform calculations within it (as of the date of release). Rather, Notion's simple tables appear to be an effective and convenient way of organizing simple information that does not need a database. For example, simple tables could be the right tool for daily time tracking/blocking in Notion (if you do not care about storing a history of activities/performing calculations to track which activities you spend the most time on). Text in *simple tables *can also be formatted, hence providing a personalized, aesthetically-pleasing experience and interaction.

To decide whether to use a *database *or a simple table in Notion, there are some key questions we can ask ourselves:

1. What kind of data do you have? Simple tables only allow text content at the moment. If you need to work with files, images, numbers, formulas, relations, then the answer is a database.
2. Do you need search capabilities? If so, a database is the way to go, since simple tables are not meant to store data for easy retrieval
3. Do you want to keep an archive of your data? If so, a database is the way to go, although also simple tables could be archived in a drag-and-drop manner, by having an "Archive" page where, say, we can drag and drop our time tracker at the end of each day.

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With this post, I took the opportunity to dive into the differences and use cases of databases and spreadsheets. Understanding such differences is a great tool in the toolkit that can help us make effective, scalable decisions in the data management process (whether for personal or professional data).

https://blog.airtable.com/database-vs-spreadsheet/

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