I admit I am a huge proponent of Evernote.  It is a powerful tool that can boost your productivity.  The uses are about as endless as your imagination.  I use it to make check lists, store Excel files, clip information from the web, save scanned documents, keep track of ideas, store pictures, and archive emails.

Think of Evernote as a virtual file cabinet having hundreds of drawers with files in the drawers and sticky notes or tabs in the files to help you find information in the file. Evernote is your digital filling cabinet.

To take advantage of all Evernote features, I recommend the Premium upgrade (Cost is $45 annually). When you begin using Evernote, become comfortable with how it is arranged, how to create notebooks and how to use tags.  The best resource that I have found to use Evernote to its full potential is Brent Kelly’s Evernote Essentials (Cost is about $13).

Let’s get started with some Evernote basics.

1)      How Evernote is arranged (Notes, Notebooks, Stacks, and Tag

 a.     Notes

Everything stored in Evernote is stored as a note.  Notes can be anything: web clippings, pictures, text, audio files, video clips or emails. Just about anything digital can be stored in a note. In the note window, you can name the note, add tags, move to a notebook, and share notes.

 b.     Notebooks 

Notebooks are where all of your notes live.  They are your files in your digital filing cabinet.  The first notebook is auto created by Evernote using your log in name and all notes will be stored here initially. The default notebook name can be changed and additional notebooks can be created to organize your notes.

c.     Stacks

Creating a stack is a way to group notebooks together.  Stacks are virtual file drawers that have two or more notebooks stored in them.  As an example, I like roasting green coffee beans.  So in Evernote, I have a notebook for coffee info that has notes for different coffee companies and coffees that I order. Also, I have a notebook on coffee equipment.  I have these two notebooks in a stack named Coffee.

d.     Tags

Tags give us greater flexibility to group our notes in ways other than notebooks.  It is a powerful way to add identifiers to your notes or notebooks. Multiple tags can be used in each note to further describe the content.  To stay with my example of coffee, in my notebook named “coffee”, I have information on coffee companies, coffee varieties, and description of each variety.   I could have tags for “Bold “or “Complex” to describe a note. This will also aid in searching the notes.  More on searches later.

2)      How to save emails to Evernote

Most back up services don’t save email files.  Yes, I know this from experience.   A great way to archive emails is to forward a copy to a specific file in Evernote.  When you open an Evernote account, an email address will be assigned.  Then, set up a contact in Outlook. (Example:  Evernote email (yourname.1234@m.evernote)  When forwarding an email to Evernote, adding identifiers will further simplify the process. The identifiers will send the email directly to a notebook. A tag can also be added to the note. This is done by adding the notebooks identifier in the email subject line.  To forward an email the subject line would look like the following example.

Subject:    Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee @Coffee info  #complex   

The @ sign will send it to the specified notebook and the # adds the tag description.

3)      Scanning into Evernote

Scanbot is the app I use to scan documents with my iPad.  The app is available for both Apple and Android devises. The app auto sharpens for color, has edge detection, blur reduction, and straightens the document before saving.  Also, most scanning devises like Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 Scanner for PC and Mac (PA03656-B005) can be set up to scan directly to Evernote.

4)      How to clip web pages to Evernote

 To simplify saving articles from the web I recommend using Web Clipper extension for Chrome.  After downloading Web Clipper, there will be an Evernote icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen.  When you find an article you would like to save, simply open the icon, select what to save (full article, bookmark, screen shot), select the notebook destination, and add any tags you want to use as identifiers.

5)      Searching Evernote to find your stuff.

 The search feature can use either word searches or searches using operators.  Operators are key words that indicate the text that follows should be the parameters of the search or handled in a specified way.  (Example:   tag:coffee) This would find all the notes tagged with coffee. There are many operators used by Evernote search.  Some common operators are:  tags, any, -tag, notebook, stack, created, -created, inTitle.

Bonus Tip:   When saving pictures to Evernote

1. Dates are auto stamped on the picture
2. This can provide a chronological record of your kid’s photos

Evernote limitations

1)      If you don’t have the Premium version users are limited to 25 Mb per file.

2)      Premium users have a limit of 100 Mb per file.

3)      Evernote has a limit of 250 notebooks.

4)      Tags have a limit of 100,000.  This will meet the needs of 99% of all users.

Using Evernote can be confusing at first. Start slow, learn the basics, and let your use grow to boost your productivity.

Question:  How do you use Evernote?

Quote of the Week:  “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” ~ Stephen Covey

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