Org mode is like outlining mixed with long form writing. You can write a novel, either by writing it sequentially or fleshing out an outline of chapters. You can make TODO lists and other systems in it. At its base, it's like Workflowy+MSWord.

You can add things like tables, but they are limited like a Word Processor and less like Excel.

You can include blocks of functioning source code like a Jupyter notebook.

You can export all of it to formatted HTML or PDF or whatever you like.

You can write Lisp programs to interact with the structure and collection of your documents. This lets you build entire applications and workflows. One such application will traverse all of your documents, construct a prioritized agenda and schedule any TODO items that it finds.

Vanilla (unmodified) Emacs has an ugly org-mode that looks less inviting and less powerful than Notepad. Do not be fooled by this. A few add-on packages turn it into something powerful and beautiful.