Evernote keeps me sane
Posted on 04. Jan, 2010 by kchristieh in productivity tools
I hate chaos. I’m like a deer in the headlights if there’s too much chaos, and as a result my productivity plummets. Thank goodness for Evernote. It allows me to put the random information that formerly resided on Post-its and extra Firefox tabs into one program, thereby letting me juggle more balls without letting them all crash to the floor. I can type, paste, or scan notes, images, documents and screenshots into Evernote, and then categorize and tag them for future reference. Even though I don’t have a “smart” phone, I can send messages and images from my phone to Evernote. I can choose which of my “notebooks” are synchronized to the Evernote website, thereby allowing me to have backup and access when I’m not at my home computer. It’s free, but I choose to pay $45 per year for the premium service to have extra storage capacity.
Here’s a screenshot of what the Evernote software looks like on my computer. The note that’s showing in the screen on the right is a reminder to learn more about Google Wave when I get a chance. It includes a screenshot and a link to Google Wave.
Here are some things I’ve chosen to put on Evernote:
- Instructions to clients on how to use certain computer programs
- Meeting notes
- News for my next PTSA email and my next class notes column
- Recipes, tagged by ingredient
- A list of thank you notes my kids need to write
- Screenshots of websites I need to check out when I have a chance
- A list of programs to Tivo or add to my Netflix queue
- Topics I might blog about in the future
- Scans of cool business card designs in case I get around to creating a new business card
- The confirmation email from when I ordered a new vacuum filter, to remind me of which part number it was
Every week I think of more things I can use Evernote for. I’m so grateful that this program helps me manage my complicated life and stay sane.
This looks like such a helpful program and just the thing that might help my huge pile of scribbles and notes. Thanks for the review. I’m going to download it today!
Evernote is a great program. At my company, pixily.com, we liked it so much we integrated our service with their software! We enable people to get their paper into Evernote, and we do the scanning and make it totally text searchable. If you want to try our free trial let me know.
Thanks,
Healy
Marketing, pixily.com
Thanks, KCher, for this. I’m gonna ck it out. So, the only difference with the free copy is the storage capacity?
Everyone should have as a resolution to ck out your blog more often!
Hi,
I’m Lauren from Springpad. Since I saw that you were posting about your experience using Evernote, I thought I’d let you know about Springpad (http://springpadit.com) which is similar to Evernote in that you can upload any notes or clip websites and access all your stuff online or on your phone. But, we take it a step further by putting all the info you store to work for you in our free apps. For example, you can save recipes from any website and then have them all neatly organized in your recipe box (http://springpadit.com/appdirectory/aboutapp/recipebox) and then use our free meal planner app to create a dinner plan and a complete list of ingredients. You can also keep track of all your wine notes (http://springpadit.com/appdirectory/aboutapp/winenotebook), keep a list of restaurants you want to try (http://springpadit.com/appdirectory/aboutapp/restauranttracker) or easily store all your travel plans like confirmation numbers, maps, places to go, etc (http://springpadit.com/appdirectory/aboutapp/tripplanner). You can also set alarms to send emails or text reminders. Other great apps include a budget tracker, a meeting notebook, a gift planner, a date night planner, and other useful tools to help people get organized. Would love to get your feedback or do a demo for you!
Thanks for yet another great resource, Kathy. Since Monday I have been clipping websites like crazy and posting them into my Evernote site. I love it!