I must admit, I didn’t like Evernote when I first downloaded it. But so many people were raving about it, I thought I would need to learn how to use it properly. After much reading and searching the internet, I use it in my daily life.
I realized early on that I had not setup Evernote for success, in turn not setting myself up for success. Here are five things I learned about setting up my Evernote that helped it thrust into my daily routine.
1. Create an “Actions Pending” Notebook
One of the first things that you should do when setting up Evernote is to create an “Actions Pending” notebook. After creating your Actions Pending notebook, you should set it as your “default notebook.”
This means ever time you start a new note, send a note via email, or use an web extension, it will be created in the Actions Pending notebook.
Then, whenever you kick on your Evernote you have one notebook that you can attack instead of digging through tons of different notebooks to find your material. When in your Actions Pending notebook you can move notes to another folder, complete the task, create tags, etc.
This one little step has saved me tons of time trying to find a note in all my notebooks. Further, it helps me not miss anything important.
2. Create a “Meeting Notes” Notebook
The next thing you need to setup is any notebook(s) you will use on a daily or weekly basis. For example, I use my iPad mini to take notes during meetings at work, so I created a Meeting Notes Notebook.
To keep my files clean, I have created a notebook, within a notebook stack. This keeps my notes in one place where I can return to make sure they get put on my task list.
3. Use Evernote extensions on browsers
One of the coolest features of Evernote is extensions for web browsers. This extension allows you to clip articles to save instantly to Evernote. For example, on the Safari browser below, you can see that I can clip the website, add it to a notebook and add any tags or remarks I may have about the website.
I use this weekly to collect relevant articles and websites that I may use for personal reading, promoting on the site or just plain website designs I think are cool.
4. Decide how you are going to use tags
When beginning to use Evernote, I could never find a good way to use tags. Then I found The Secret Weapon which does a specific lesson on How to Tag and Organize your Evernote. They suggest that you use the “Who, What, Where, When” Method of tagging.
As you can see in the left picture, you can see my what, when and where. When you tag your notes with these tags, it makes it easy to find the things you are looking for regularly.
For example, whenever I am looking for something that I need to do right away, I can lookup the tag “1-Now.” If I know that I saved an article that I wanted to share with my marketing coordinator, I can search the “Marketing” tag. If I know that I saved an article I wanted to give to my small group, I should check my @church tag. You get the point.
5. Decide how you are going to use Evernote
The final and biggest step is deciding how you are going to use Evernote in your life. Are you going to use it as a task manager? Are you going to use it as an archiving platform? Are you using it for speaking, note-taking, etc? If you are able to answer “why am I using Evernote?” it will help you set yourself up for success.
Evernote can be used for so many different purposes. It has quickly become a tool for leaders. It is versatile for note keeping, archiving, creating task lists, and even keeping note for presenting. Each different purpose may shift the way to setup your Evernote account at the beginning.
If you have any questions about setting up your Evernote, please leave a comment below or contact me via Twitter.
Some Other Evernote Resources:
- Master Evernote: The Unofficial Guide to Organizing Your Life with Evernote (Plus 75 Ideas for Getting Started) by SJ Scott.
- How I Organize Evernote via @michaelhyatt
- The Secret Weapon is a free organizational methodology for both professional and personal aspects of life that re-organizes emails, ideas, and every to-do big and small into one system that stays synchronized across a person’s computers as well as their smart phones.
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Nevertheless, I would not recommend something if I did not think that it was a good product or service. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
0 comments