As a web and graphic designer, brand expert, and web journalist, I have many, many bookmarks and massive amounts of information I need to collect and remember. Until the amazing and innovative Evernote showed up, I was an ADD mess and my office was a battlefield of papers Post-It Notes and notebooks. Evernote is an application and your own personal database that…well… I’ll let them tell you: Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and make this information accessible and searchable at anytime, from anywhere.
How it Works
Evernote lets you “capture” information: text, photos, entire web pages, parts of web pages, scribbled notes, text on a coffee can, photos, old Post-It notes, your water bill, text on a t-shirt, and yes – even Voice Memos! The only thing it doesn’t do is slice and dice your vegetables for you. The best feature is your ability to access Evernote anytime, anywhere. How so? Evernote automatically syncs your information, clips, photos, everything you have captured, to a server. There’s no need to remind it to do so or set a timer, and it syncs to all your devices – desktop, cellphone, and your online account. All versions are intuitive and easy to use and because it is so across the board accessible, you rarely run into a situation where you cannot make, retrieve, or edit a note. Evernote is available for iPhone and Windows mobile capable cell phones.
Have an object with text on it that you want to remember? How about some scribbled notes on a napkin, or a white-board that you want to erase, but want to keep the info that’s there first? This is where the Evernote’s camera capture comes in. Hold the object, t-shirt, coffee can up to your web cam, and boom. It takes a photo. Here’s the revolutionary part: it can scan and read what is on that photo. The white-board? Just take a photo of it with a regular camera and import it in. You also have the options of creating voice memos or text memos. Tags are a great asset to collecting and organizing your information. You can group items together by any name. Each new note has a field for Title, Tags and Source. Search for “Design,” it will pull up all items with Design involved.
What’s the Cost?
Evernote is free up to 40MB of space. After that it is an annual fee of $45.00. That is pretty cheap compared to most storage systems, and not all of them have the superior capabilities that are included.
What can I do with it?
A few things you can do with the application (although the list is endless):
Collect Research for Writing and Blogging
I’m a journalist in many ways, and Evernote helps me retain a lot of information, photo reference, and research material. Sure, I could bookmark, and I do have a huge collection of bookmarks. However, with Evernote I’m able to collect small snippets of information, quotes or any other information I would need, all in one place. No need to click on a bookmark and scour a web page to look for that item I wanted to use. I rarely need to remember an entire web page, just the information that is relevant to my story or blog entry. Need to remember what web site the photo or quote came from? When you copy and paste into Evernote from the web, the link to the source web site is put with the content.
Save Paper and Say Bye-Bye to Post-It Notes
If you’re employed or in school, inevitably you will have lists, notes, and Post-Its to remind you of little items that come up throughout your day. I have been known to be the Post-It King. My mind is constantly on overdrive and there are light-bulbs popping in my head all day. When I remember something I forgot to add to my list 
in “Things” (a Getting Things Done application) I immediately grab a Post-It Note, write it down and slap it on my computer, desktop, In-Box or somewhere I’ll be sure to be reminded. Evernote tosses that habit and wasted paper aside. Not only is it more efficient, it saves paper and you can share these items if you need to with colleagues, friends, or the PTA. Your office will be cleaner, and you won’t have that nagging feeling like you’re bombarded with, “Look at Me!” neon Post-Its everywhere.
Create an Inspiration or Idea File
Entrepreneurs like you and me always have ideas that hit us at any time of the day, even on weekends. Capture your ideas in a notebook file. Write it down, log it into Evernote if you have your cell phone, or take a picture that will be a visual reminder. I have 2 online side businesses that I am preparing to launch. I have a notebook file for each of them, and I throw everything that is about them in those files. One of my favorites is the Inspiration notebook file. I am constantly seeing illustrations, artwork and graphics that I am drawn to and inspired by.
GTD – Assisting in David Allen’s Time Management System
For those who don’t know, there is a system that I use for time management called “Getting Things Done.” This system, (aka GTD) relies on what is called a “Brain Dump” – meaning you sit for an hour or more and write down all the things you need to do. Getting all the tasks going on in your head, out and into a trusted system, allows you to focus and be more efficient. Using a notebook file for everything you need to do; you can then move these items into whatever software you use to schedule and process these tasks. Like a collection bucket for your brain!
The Uses of Evernote Endless:
Create Library of Knowledge -
Web coders can archive code snippets they use on a repeated basis, prepare for a trip to Europe and collect a library of history or sites to see.
Archive Receipts - have them available in one place come tax time
Digitize Collection of Recipes - cooking recipes or technical recipes
Genealogy Archive - Collect all of your family’s history, all in one place
Window Shopping - Weird but – think about it.
Student Studies Archive notes, Flash Cards, and research
Do you have uses for Evernote I haven’t listed? Let me know in your comments and I’ll add them to the list!
Things - David Allen’s Getting Things Done time management system is one of the best around to keep me organized and sane. Things is modeled after the GTD system and does a beautiful job. It hits all the right notes for me – simple, clean, and follows 95% of what the GTD system offers. I’m still waiting for the version they were to release ($39.00) but this one does the trick for me. Things syncs to my desktop, making my GTD ecosystem cohesive and as one.
Wordpress - The crew at Wordpress got this one right with their first try. I use Wordpress for this blog and others, I even tutor clients on how to use it. Without Marsedit, Wordpress can be kinda clunky and slow. Sure we now have Google’s Turbo, but not for the iPhone.
Instapaper - I constantly find great articles and research resources on the web I’d like to read, but when I find them I just don’t have the time to read them on the spot. Instapaper fits the bill, saving web pages for you to read on the go and you don’t need an internet connection. You have the option to view the pages as they actually look on the web or as plain text. It is free, but for an inexpensive $10.00 you can upgrade to Pro which has Tilt Scrolling, among other good morsels to make it even more helpful. I did not find on the free version this surprising jewel – syncing with your desktop!
1password - I never imagined that my once small stack of Post-Its with my web usernames and passwords would grow to the size they are today. As each day passes in our Internet 24/7 lives, the more log-in information we collect. 1Password makes logging into any web site a breeze. Starting with the desktop version, they simplified this process, and anytime you log in, 1Password asks you whether you’d like that information saved. After that, you’ll never forget another log-in again.
Evernote - This app began as a desktop app, just as 1Password did. The thing that makes Evernote rock is that you can put anything in it so you NEVER forget. Here’s some examples of what this sharp program allows you to do: gives you the capability to copy entire web pages by manually copy and pasting, taking a screen shot of a web site and storing it, throw photos, text, color swatches, wine labels, anything you like – and the best part is the “take a photo note.” You can choose “iSight Note” and find anything that has some text on it, hold it up to your desktop camera (I use my iMac’s iSight.) Save it and do a search for what text was on that item – This sucker READS text on anything, truly cool and helpful. I’ve used some magazine pages, just because I didn’t want to tear them out. One particular use for me is my Whiteboard in my office – Just in case I forget to transfer anything that’s there, I take a pic of it before I erase it and start brainstorming again.