I’ve only recently found Evernote. Before this, I had a series of programs I used for this kind of thing, such as Notebrowser, then OneNote. Then I attended a Michael Hyatt on-line seminar, and he recommended Evernote.
So the next day, I downloaded it, gave it a try. I looked up how to use it. By Day three, I had deleted Notebrowser and OneNote off of my computer, and imported all of my data into Evernote.
So, how can you maximize your use of Evernote?
- Clipper browser plug in. This is an obvious “duh” moment. Get this for whatever browser you’re using. This way, you can download articles (I use Simplified Article for almost everything), and bookmarks when you get to the end of your free limit. Like Dropbox, I probably should get a premium account, because for two months running, I’ve managed to get within 5 megabytes of my limit on the free account. When I’m looking at houses on Zillow, I sometimes do a screen-shot. But that’s it. Screen-shot, bookmark, simplified article.
- Categories. You only have so many categories you can make. Me, I use categories and tags interchangeably. Evernote calls their categories “notebooks”, and you can make a stack of notebooks. So, under the writing stack, Ill have notebooks for articles (I’m writing), writer’s college notebook (for any on-line courses I take), and Writing. Think of it this way… notebooks are the rough category, tags are the identifiers for specifics. I’ve actually found the key to finding whatever I want is to have LESS Notebooks, and MORE tags. Michael Hyatt recently came to the same conclusion. I have a total of 8 stacks, and 9 Notebooks not associated with stacks. The Key is tags.
- Tags. Here’s where you get specific. You almost can’t have too many tags. I have right now about 140. You need to schedule one day a month to review your clippings and make sure everything is correctly tagged according to mentally how you want your tags to work. Like stacks, you can nest your tags. For instance, under Godzilla, you could put Mothra. Do your searches for things under Tags, and you’ll find what you’re looking for a lot faster!
Templates. You need to have a notebook for Templates, and drag it to your task bar. See my article on Evernote Templates for why. - Timers… you can schedule something in Evernote. Why? You can clip more simplified articles in one afternoon than you can read in a month. So tag them “to be read” and important ones… set a timer! It will remind you to read it.
- Journaling. If I could remember to do this daily, this could be a powerful tool for later work! I just keep forgetting to do this. Create a notebook and call it 2017 and just title each note with the current date.
Checklists. I can make checklists of to-do’s, things to buy, story ideas, conference calls, etc - Note taking. I often use my Evernote to take notes on things I discuss with my producer during the skype calls.
- Article Writing. I can plan out articles, and even write them in Evernote.
As you can see, there’s a LOT you can do with Evernote! But be aware… Proper planning prevents poor performance. Organize your Evernote, and you’ll be surprised how much more productive you can be!
How do you use Evernote? Discuss it here!
