10 Great Ways to Use Evernote

Posted on 02. Sep, 2009 by Ellie Harrison in Software

Advertisements

evernoteEvernote is a free tool for your computer, cell phone, iPhone and online that allows you to collect and store information from just about anywhere and access it from just about everywhere. Your information is synced across platforms, too.

It is easy to look at Evernote and wonder, “What am I going to do with all of this white space!” But, I believe if you think of Evernote like a regular notebook, you can make great use of it and begin to improve your life.

Let’s find out the best ways to use Evernote to get the most out of it.

  1. Use Evernote as a Getting Things Done tool by creating notebooks and sorting incoming information into different notebooks within Evernote. The GTD method works for a lot of people to keep them organized and on track to accomplish their goals.GTDRead more about how to set up an Evernote-GTD system at Productivity 101.
  2. Keep track of your billable hours with a work log. Record tasks completed in Evernote, along with beginning and end times (or # of hours). Keep these logs in their own notebook, so you can quickly find the information you need when it’s time to submit time sheets or invoices.
  3. Blog post drafts can be written and formatted in Evernote, then copied into your online post editor when you get back to your computer or finish the post.
    Blog Post Evernote
  4. Write “to-do” and other lists in Evernote inserting the checkmark-able T0-Do box by going to Format > Insert To-do or pressing the button shortcut in the compose note screen.To-do List
  5. Take photos of receipts and upload to Evernote. Forget trying to keep paper receipts in a box on your desk. Instead, take photos of them and upload them to Evernote. They’ll be searchable and get rid of excess paper around your home and office.
  6. PDF Documents can be backed up in Evernote. Email the file to your Evernote account or drag and drop the file into the desktop software. Now you have a searchable and permanent copy of PDF files! On the Mac, you can Print PDF files to Evernote, too.
    pdf evernote
  7. Save serial numbers and PDF versions of user manuals for easy access later. Occasionally, you’ll need serial numbers for insurance purposes, so keep all of your serial numbers in your Evernote account. You can also save PDF versions of user manuals for those times when you need them. No need to keep slips of paper or manuals around, when you can put them in your Evernote account.
  8. Back up IM conversations, Twitter messages and email exchanges in Evernote. If you are offline, you’ll still be able to access important email messages and attachments as well as have permanent back ups of instant messenger and Twitter conversations where ever you are.
    Evernote and Twitter
  9. Take a photo of driving or transit directions for reference later. Did your Uncle draw a map with directions to his home? Snap a photo of the directions with your cell phone and upload to your Evernote account. Save your train schedule PDF to your Evernote account. Now you can access from online, phone or desktop client, instead of trying to navigate the transit operator’s website.
  10. Research is a popular internet activity, but you also need somewhere to keep the code, quotes and information you find. Evernote’s set up makes it logical to use it as an information storage system.

Notebooks

How do you use Evernote?  Let us know in the comments.

(By) Ellie loves anything that makes life easier and gives her more time to explore New York City and read. She writes her own blog at ultimate geek girl.

Share|

Related Posts

Tags: , , ,

18 Responses to “10 Great Ways to Use Evernote”

  1. James Bedell

    03. Sep, 2009

    I use Evernote as a personal journal, an email backup and power research tool. With my iphone I record a 5-6 min audio note to myself and clear my head for the day on the walk to the train.

    At work, important correspondence and information gets forwarded and bcc’d to Evernote as a backup and easy reference.

    And when I’m searching for new lighting fixtures and light bulbs (i’m a lighting designer) I can catalog the search easily and quickly withe web clipper.

    Reply to this comment

  2. Ahmet futuristique Soyata

    03. Sep, 2009

    Great text kyle.. i stumbled and tweeted this..

    Reply to this comment

  3. Brenda

    03. Sep, 2009

    I have taken pictures of things like vacuum bags and belts and printer ink cartridges so I know I am getting one the next time I am at the store. Or better yet, if I see a sale on items like that, I can buy with confidence!

    Reply to this comment

    • Ellie

      03. Sep, 2009

      That’s a great idea! I take photos of items and store them in my phone, but I should take it a step further and store in Evernote. Then, I have the information no matter where I am!

      Reply to this comment

  4. Horse and Tennis

    03. Sep, 2009

    Great place to find more tech info TY

    Reply to this comment

  5. DD

    04. Sep, 2009

    Retweet is in order. !!

    Reply to this comment

  6. Dan

    06. Sep, 2009

    For implementing GTD you can use this web-based application:

    http://www.Gtdagenda.com

    You can use it to manage your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, schedules and a calendar.
    A mobile version is available too.

    Reply to this comment

  7. Productivity, Motivation, and Personal Development Links – 6th September 2009 - DIGTD - Making You More Productive

    06. Sep, 2009

    [...] fourth link provides information about 10 great ways to use Evernote. I love Evernote and use it every day. I am using it more and more after purchasing my ScanSnap [...]

    Reply to this comment

  8. Mark Thomas

    07. Sep, 2009

    I was excited about possibly winning a ScanSnap but it didn’t happen. I have a “Neat Receipts” scanner that I have to use so I came up with a way to batch scan items and drag them into Evernote. You go in through Microsoft Office tools into document scanning and make a “pre-set”. In my case I wanted to scan multiple pages and to have the computer give each page a name based on the date and time of the scan and to save those pages as a .tiff file. That way the optical scanning works and you can still see what you’ve scanned when looking at it via Web Evernote. After you have scanned about 50 – 60 pages you can highlight those files to be dragged and dropped into Evernote. Minimize your active window show those files to about a third of a page and do the same with an open window to Evernote. If you drag them into the window showing the file description in Evernote it will create however many files you have. It you use tags, each file will have to be edited and tagged. There are a lot of other options for use here but it works reasonably well. You can get rid of a lot of paper in a hurry.

    Reply to this comment

  9. Weekly Link Post 111 « Rhonda Tipton’s WebLog

    20. Sep, 2009

    [...] 10 Great Ways to Use Evernote – Great list of ways to utilize Evernote. [...]

    Reply to this comment

  10. ToolBlog » Evernote mit und ohne GTD: Eine Artikelsammlung

    23. Sep, 2009

    [...] Ellie Harrison zeigt Ihnen nochmal 10 Great Ways to Use Evernote [...]

    Reply to this comment

  11. Ben Anderson

    26. Sep, 2009

    I wanted to jump on the GTD bandwagon. As a contrast to your implementation that uses separate notebooks for each list in GTD. My system uses a single notebook and uses tags for each list. Two different ways to accomplish the same thing, but in case your readers wanted to check out another way of accomplishing this:

    http://examinehealth.com/personal-productivity/69-gtd-and-evernote.html

    Reply to this comment

  12. Chirag Patel

    28. Oct, 2009

    I love Evernote, but wish it had the following Microsoft OneNote features

    1. XY positioning of notes (not just Y — ie. top to bottom)
    2. More layers of organizations beyond notebook (Pages, sections, section groups)

    Reply to this comment

  13. kuswanto

    13. Dec, 2009

    Most of the time Evernote as my scrapbooking for everything.

    Reply to this comment

  14. 2009’s Hundred Best Tweets and Links for Marketing Copywriters

    31. Dec, 2009

    [...] 10 Great Ways to Use Evernote, my hands-down favorite organizational app–and it’s free. [...]

    Reply to this comment

  15. Barry

    19. Jul, 2010

    When I need to get some parts from the store – like home depot – to fix something, I take a picture of the item I am getting parts for directly in Evernote with my iphone, so I can show the shop assistant exactly what I need it for – this makes it much easier than trying to describe things.

    Reply to this comment

  16. Ahmet

    20. Jul, 2010

    evernote has problems at the moment

    Reply to this comment

Leave a Reply