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An Elephant Never Forgets
And neither does Evernote. Sorry for the hiatus everyone, but it’s been a busy month. I’ve been meaning to write a post about Evernote for some time and well, the time has finally come to do so. For those of you who don’t know, Evernote is a web based note taking application. This means you can access Evernote with anything that gets you onto the web. Evernote also has an applications for Windows, Mac, iPhone/iPod/iPad, Android, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile among others. I use the Windows and Windows Mobile applications on a daily basis and both work relatively flawlessly (as much as it pains me to say this, nothing ever works flawlessly on Windows Mobile). There are several reasons why I love Evernote and I wanted to share these with you because I have no doubt that Evernote could bring some sort of value into your daily life.
In short, Evernote just keeps me more organized. How many times a day does something run through your head and you think you’ll remember or want to remember, but after the fact….never do. Well, this happens to me ALL the time. Whether it’s a blog post idea, an errand I need to run, or music I want to buy – if I don’t write it down, I will forget. This just seems to be a fact of life. Evernote has solved this problem for me….and solved it for me in a way that is fast, easy, and useful. I used to keep spreadsheets or little notebooks, but it never really worked. I couldn’t carry a notebook around with me and accessing my spreadsheet wherever I was, was not always easy (e.g., opening and updating it up on my WinMo phone was kind of a chore). With the Windows application and the Windows Mobile application I am never more than a few clicks away from jotting something down with ease. Here are a few lists that I use all the time:
- Music, Movies, and Books: I’m always keeping my eye out for new music, movies, and books. I used to try and keep spreadsheets, but remembering band names or book titles to write them down at the end of the day is impossible. Updating these lists is a snap with Evernote and now I never miss out on a good read or a good album.
- Gifts: The best gift ideas are the ones that pop into your head on mundane Thursday afternoon or when your significant other quickly mentions something he or she likes. Trying to remember gift ideas for all of the people you buy gifts for (including yourself!) can be quite difficult. I now have a gift list that solves this issue. Need a gift? Go to this list and something will be there. It reduces my stress level around gift giving A LOT.
- Online Usernames: How many websites do you belong to that you need a username? For me, it’s about 4,819. And of course, my preferred username is not available on half of them. I use Evernote to keep track of all my usernames and if the website requires some oddities in the password (it needs to have symbol! But why? Why does it need to have a symbol), I keep these there too.
- Due Dates: I am a student so due dates are important. I never liked putting them in a calendar because they are not really in the same place, especially if the calendar is electronic. You have to click from day to day…blah blah blah…to see everything. With this list I have everything I need to do in once quick snapshot. It’s great.
Those are just a few of the many lists I keep with Evernote. There are also a few things I really like about the Windows Mobile application:
- You can take audio notes. So if your in a pinch and can’t write something, just record it. Super easy, super quick.
- You can take a picture and add notes about it. See something fun? Take a snapshot, then write down the details about it so you won’t forget.
- Uploading files is easy too. I don’t use this as much because I use Live Mesh, but it’s an easy way to access a file that you use all the time.
- Also, as a long time user on Windows Mobile I can say without doubt that the Evernote app is one of the most stable I’ve used….which is nice.
And last, but certainly not least, your updates occur automatically and are universal. So when I update something from my phone, I can hop on my computer 10 minutes later and it’s updated there too. No syncing, no wires, no bluetooth….it just works. So all in all, I love Evernote. I use it on almost a daily basis and it keeps me so much more organized and reduces my general stress levels. If you’re looking for something to organize your life a little don’t look much further than Evernote.
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