Thursday, May 27, 2010

Mastering Evernote

I had an evernote account for quite a while but I have never really used it. Now, it sounds like it is a great service, but once again, I don't know much about it. I'd like to have some feedback about it, and how you use it.

So far, to be organized, I use three different system that gets combined at work:
  • My email account: I used it as a feed of information/task to make. I range it in several categories, and for "less than 2 min tasks", I either do it right away, or keep the email opened until I finish it. I try to do thoses tasks in the very same day, most of the time at the end of the day, while it is calmer.
  • My blackberry: I mainly use it for the calendar. Every tasks that has a due date, I put it in, and get an alarm. Like this, I am always up to date with it. I also use it to take some notes on the go, or take pictures.
  • A notebook: I still use a notebook, especially while I am in meetings. Because I don't find proper (and a lot of people do), that I am typing everything on my blackberry (even though I am pretty fast and efficient in doing it). I use a sheet, where I write with my multicolor pen the different tasks I have on board. I use a multicolor pen to range them, and to categorize them. Using a multicolor pen also forces me to keep a simple category system, where I can only have 4 categories, which is easier to read through than dozens.
Know I have always in front of me my email account, this notebook with my checklist, and my blackberry. When I switch a task/note from one to another I delete it from the other one. For example, a meeting pops up on my email account, I delete the email and I note it into my calendar. The goal is not to have the same task on several device, because then it gets too complicated.

Once again, I wish evernote allows me to improve my system, yet I have to understand how.
And you how do you use evernote?