Evernote is much more then a simple note taking application. It can be incorporated into ones workflow which makes it into more of an extension of ones every day and life. Below is a few alternative uses I have found where Evernote is a key component.
I’m a heavy Evernote user and have incorporated it into many aspects of my daily work. One thing I use it for and would like to promote is the IOU notebook – keep track of what you have loaned from others as well as what they’ve loaned from you!
Yesterday Google unveiled their new service which is clearly in the market to compete against Evernote, Springpad and other services designed to make you organize and remember your life. The idea is nothing we have not seen before as in to save notes of text and images and be able to search for them in a controlled way.
The service might be good, it might even be better then Evernote. Evernote has been the leader of it’s kind for a long time now and is not without flaws. If there was a service presented which took these flaws into account I am sure that Evernote would loose a big chunk of its users.
But, in the light of what has happened to Google services in the past many of its users have been forced to learn how to coop without Google services as a tool in their every day life. Buzz, Wave and Reader is just three example of services that came to market, was loved by some but then pulled without mercy. With the events of Google Reader in close memory it makes it quite hard for me to trust a new service. I still will try it out (I did try to service was overloaded when I did) but I will not be quick to go all into the service.
And yes, I loved Google Wave. It was a bit ahead of its time but it was killed of much before it had time to shine.
The most frightening part of this is that one can only think of the day the Google executives start glancing at Gmail and if the service really is needed or if all mails could be send from within Google+ instead as Facebook has done. That would in fact be the last breath of the free Google service era.
More information
“Google Keep—Save what’s on your mind” by Google Official Blog
“Google Keep, an Overdue Answer to Evernote, Arrives” from WIRED
“Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself” from GIGAOM
Christmas has just passed and if you are anything like me you lock back on all the things you should have done but didn’t remember to do. So to fix this for the coming year I have identified two new uses of Evernote which I hope will help me to both plan gifts better for the next year but in the same time help me keep track of to whom I should send seasonal greeting cards! Simple lists once again, it is so easy!
Evernote is a tool I heavily use multiple and where I keep massive amount of information. In short Evernote is an application which help the user to remember things. It can be scanned documents, web pages, audio, images, pure text or even hand written text! Everything get stored and indexed online (you can choose to keep it offline) so that you can search for it afterwards. It is simply an extra brain, kept online.
I am a great fan of the GTD-method of working and pushing my days forward. Up until just some year ago I was one of those people who say that they will fix things and do stuff just a bit later then now. And just as everyone else saying the famous phrase ‘Sure, I’ll look into that a bit later’ I always forgot what I was supposed to do and it all ended up with me doing all but what I had to do. This was before as I said, until the day I found my soulmate – The Post-it.
There is something almost religious about throwing away a post-it with a task completed. The feeling when you do it is so great that you rush towards finish your tasks just so that you can destroy that little piece of damned paper. The method is great but it has one big negative aspect; if you were to bring all your post-its with you at all times you may need a trailer or a couple of square-meters of wall. This might not always be the most convenient way, sometimes a trailer is just to big to bring for a conference or a meeting. This was why I started to look for an electronic alternative I can have at my computer or in my phone, just about anywhere I can reach it in multiple locations.
About the same time I tried out my hundredth note-taking application I found Evernote and was saved in a way. Evernote for those who don’t know it is an application and a web-interface where you can store text and images which then can be searched through from your computer or phone. In my book it is THE best note-taking software on the market and the simplicity it brings makes and saves my day over and over again. Mails I need to remeber goes directly into it, I take pictures of good wines or places to remember etc. Now you may think that this was the solution to note-taking as well? Well, WRONG!
There is one thing missing about Evernote to use it as a post-it replacement. There is no visual representation of finishing a task off and I want my cookie! So I had to keep on looking for that replacement. And I continued until I finally found Things for my iPhone. Awesomeness divine.
Things is just as simple as I want, you create notes and say if you want to do it today or another day. When you have finished it you click it and a nice checkbox get checked. And I have my visual cookie for completing my task. The bad thing is though that I think that what tool works for just you is as personal as what color is your favourite for your socks. I’d love to say that get Evernote and Things and you will be forever happy – The End.
But I think you just have to through all stuff you can find on the internet and try them out for yourself. Or you just take my word for it and use Evernote and Things. We’re all lazy, isn’t it beautiful?