How to Use Evernote to Organize Your Life

HOW TO USE EVERNOTE TO ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE

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It's no secret that I love Evernote (see this post for more love…)  If you have tried Evernote and didn't understand what all the hype was about, this post is for you.  If you have never tried Evernote?  This post is for you too.  I will explain to you all the ways that I use Evernote – and show you how you too can use Evernote to organize your life.  Evernote is a place to organize and store all your thoughts, ideas, documents – a filing system of sorts that can be used on your desktop, laptop, phone, and/or tablet.  Evernote is our way of creating a system of lists and reminders which will inevitably create an increase in your productivity, creativity, and peace of mind. (really!)

Evernote is made up of notebooks, notes, and tags (words attached to notes to categorize them.)  Different points of view discuss whether your files should be kept in notebooks, or if there should be very few notebooks and only tags used to create searchable information.  I personally use notebooks – it mimics a real filing cabinet for me – with EVERYTHING in one place – Your notes and notebooks can be private or shared, and can be used online or offline.  This is the digital filing cabinet we all need to stay organized and to stop having to remember every little thing – (this is where the peace of mind comes in…)

Evernote accounts have their own private email addresses. I send myself emails all the time!  If I’m in the middle of something and realize I have forgotten a detail of something else – I quickly send my Evernote email address a note and it’s waiting for me in my default folder.  In other words, I am able to fully empty my email folder inbox every single day.  If it's not something that needs to be tended to immediately but should be saved where it can be filed in a convenient place?  I forward that bad boy to my Evernote email and put it in the appropriate notebook.  Can everyone say, INBOX ZERO?

The ability for “to-do” lists in Evernote is as simple as can be.  Each note has the ability to be a checklist, with boxes next to the item on the list that you can check off when completed.  I have created a grocery list template that I use in Evernote.  Please click here to download your free copy of the grocery list to add to your own notes in Evernote.

The search capabilities of Evernote is outstanding.  Evernote has its own OCR (Optical Character Recognition) service which means that it can read the text in a PDF document, in the written word,  or even text in a photograph.

You can download a free version of Evernote or you can choose the Plus, Premium, or Business package. (I use the Premium package)  I started with the free version of Evernote but quickly upgraded.

You can find the pricing and more information here.

Here is a list of some of the ways I use Evernote to organize my own life:

• notes to self
• documents (scanned using my Fujitsu scanner)
• screenshots
• audio files/notes
• reference – articles, blog posts
• receipts
• paycheck stubs
• ideas, inspirations, quotes
• daily, weekly, and life goals
• weekly reviews
• journal entries
• kid's artwork (photos or scanned)
• letter and cards
• lists (errands, book wish list, movie wish list, etc.)
• Grocery list (download your FREE Grocery List Template for Evernote here!)
• restaurants to go to
• organize and plan vacations
• shirt and shoe sizes of family members
• medical information
• pet information
• photos
• warranty information
• holiday gift ideas
• web pages to reference later
• tax management
• kindle highlights
• packing lists
• digitize business cards
• car records and maintenance
• recipes!
• home inventory

There is a free Google Chrome browser extension called “Web Clipper.”  It is super easy to install and to use.  If you are on a web page and want to clip the entire article or even just a bit of an article or post, you just click on the little elephant icon and voila! Your page is saved to your Evernote default notebook.  (I call mine “inbox”)  These clippings can be text, images, and/or links.  It's AMAZING!

I am practically paperless in my home and that fact is credited 100% to Evernote and it's compatibility with my Fujitsu scanner.  I have provided a link below if you would like to learn more about what I use every day.  I scan EVERYTHING, and then shred and/or recycle the paper.  My mind and home are uncluttered with files and papers. It.  Is.  GLORIOUS!  And it was SUPER easy to do.  Evernote is so simple – I think that may be why people have a hard time in the beginning – something so powerful and useful should be more confusing – but it's basic.  Very basic. Very easy to use.  (really!)

My favorite Evernote “saves the day” story:

My daughter and her father were going to the Bahamas about a year ago (she was 15 years old.)  When they got to the airport, they realized that her passport was expired (Stop it.  Don't ask why that wasn't checked beforehand – please.  That's for a different post, at a different time, in a different blog niche! :-)) So.  A panicked call  – they were in a taxi going from JFK Airport somewhere downtown to a “quick-passport” place.  They were not going to make their flight or any other flight that day – but if they could get her a passport quickly, they could fly out the next morning.  Ok.  So here goes … I'm at my desk at work – what do you need to receive a passport?  Birth certificate?  Social security card? Oh.  You mean I had all of the information they needed on the phone I was talking to them on?  YES.  By the time they arrived downtown, they had copies of her birth certificate and social security card as well as a copy of a signed and notarized (luckily I work with a notary public, I can't credit Evernote for that one, even though I would like to!) form allowing one parent to take a child outside of the country without another parent present. Done.  NO PANIC needed.  Evernote saved the day.

Evernote's capabilities are endless when it comes to digitally organizing your life. How to use Evernote to organize your life?  Get all that “stuff” out of your head!  With all the gunk and lists and to-do's and things to save out of your head and home?  You can breathe easier.  You are more productive.  I find I am much more creative when I don't have papers all around me, and when my head is clear of things I must “remember.”  It's empowering – (one more time… really!)  Getting everything down on paper (in Evernote) gives you freedom to think about what IS at that moment – you aren't thinking of “stuff” – you are just able to BE.

Have you ever used Evernote before?

Do you use Evernote now and have amazing tips for us?

Please reach out – I would love to hear from you!

Click below to see the scanner that I use!