The Problem
You have a stack of papers that’s been sitting on your desk for weeks, you know you need to keep it all but you aren’t sure what to do with it. If you file it away you feel like you will never see it again and you aren’t even sure what file it would go in anyway! Does this sound familiar?
Or how about this one… Your e-mail inbox is filled with e-mails you might need to refer to in the future. You’ve deleted what you can but the rest could be useful at some point, however it’s nearly impossible to weed through it all to find what you need.
We have all dealt with situations similar to these and oftentimes feel that ideas and information becomes lost simply because we don’t have a reliable system to capture it. Well, the good news is there is a solution and it’s an app called Evernote.
The Solution
You may have heard about Evernote, and some of you may have downloaded the app on your phone in the past. As an Evernote Certified Consultant I train individuals on how to use this incredibly useful app to capture, access and share just about any piece of information you may ever want or need on your computer or mobile device. Evernote is available for Mac, PC, iOS and Android devices and the crazy thing is you can access most of Evernote’s amazing features for free!
The information stored in Evernote is synced across all devices so it’s available anywhere and it’s completely searchable so you can find exactly what you need when you need it. When I say searchable I really mean it. Evernote searches for words within documents, PDFs, images and even handwritten notes!
You can drag and drop documents, images, PDFs, screen shots and scanned papers into Evernote. You can also save voicemails and photos, forward e-mails as well as clip information from websites into Evernote, and much more.
How You Can Use Evernote
So, here are just a few things I capture and access using Evernote…
- Credit Card Statements
All of my credit card, bank and utility statements are e-mailed, others I scan in. These are also shared with my husband so he can access them anytime anywhere. - Product manuals and instructions
I also store photographs of product boxes for many higher ticket items. - Gift Ideas
If I find something online that I know would make a great gift, I clip the webpage or image directly into Evernote. Oftentimes when I’m out with my kids and they want something I just take a picture of it and put it into their gift notebook within Evernote. Perfect for my kids, spouse and family members. - School Papers
This includes my children’s school related papers like report cards, school calendars, student directories, class pictures, schoolwork, artwork, etc. This is also shared with my husband. - Receipts
Receipts for tax deductible items, things I may want to return, or items still under warranty. This is super helpful at tax time! - Recipes
I scan in recipes but also find many online that I clip directly into Evernote. When I’m at the grocery store and need to know how many plum tomatoes to buy for my favorite guacamole recipe it takes just a few seconds to find out.
How to Get Started Using Evernote
I’m sure you are starting to see the value of Evernote and can understand why there are over 225 million users worldwide. Having one place to capture, access and store all the various types of information that comes our way is extremely valuable. I encourage you to check it out for yourself. Here’s how…
- Click here to download the app for free.
- Start small. Pick one thing you want to start using Evernote for so you don’t overwhelm yourself. Get inspiration from the list above.
- Check out Evernote Help & Learning to get answers to common questions or hire an Evernote Certified Consultant like myself that can work one-on-one virtually to help you get started.
You will be amazed at how much one app can simplify your life! Feel free to contact me directly with any Evernote questions you may have.
Organizing your gift ideas as you come across things instead of having to scour the web come the holidays/birthday/et cetera is a great idea! Excited to try Evernote for this.
Hi Adrienne, Thanks so much for checking out my blog. I’m so glad you liked the tip about organizing gift ideas in Evernote. It is such a game changer when the holidays come and I have all sorts of fantastic ideas for nearly every member of my family. It makes gift giving super easy and stress free. Hope it works well for you too!
The new site looks great Dawn, Congratulations! I’m an Evernote dropout, but after reading your article I’m going to download it and try again. Email clutter drives me almost as crazy as physical clutter so I’m somewhat rabid about deleting. I’ve wished I’d saved a particular email or conversation more than once so this could be an excellent solution. Thanks for the tips!
Kerrie, I’m so glad you like the new site and found my blog article to be helpful. I’m so glad this inspired you to re-download the app. I have to admit that years ago when Evernote was new, I downloaded it and tried it out for a little while, but I just didn’t “get it” nor did I use it very religiously. Since that time I heard so many people sing it’s praises I gave it another shot and it just clicked with me. I use Evernote daily and it has been life changing. I will be holding an Evernote workshop on June 20th that could be very helpful to you if you really want to learn how to use Evernote. The details will be in the next newsletter & on social media soon!
Hi Dawn are you offering this service for free or is there a certain charge? I’ve had Evernote for ever on my phone but never used it?
Hi Angela, thanks so much for your comment. Now through June 30, 2020 I am offering free 15 minute Evernote training sessions to help people get started with Evernote or to answer any questions they may have. After the free 15 minute session you can opt to schedule additional virtual trainings for $85/hour. The sessions are pro-rated in 15 minute increments so if you don’t need a full hour it will be less. If you are interested in scheduling a free training session this month just visit my online scheduling page at https://calendly.com/dawngeorge/wbc I hope to be in touch soon Angela!
Hi Dawn!
How do you feel about saving high security things like taxes or other papers with a social security number on evernote? Do you store these items on a hard drive or still use evernote?
Hi Kathleen. I personally don’t find a problem saving sensitive information to Evernote. My Evernote account is password protected and my information is encrypted using industry-standard encryption so I’m not concerned about anyone getting to my info. In addition, you can add an extra layer of security within your Evernote account by encrypting individual notes as you’d like. This will prevent someone who has your Evernote password from getting in to see any of your very sensitive notes. If you want to read more about it check out https://evernote.com/security. Hope this is helpful!