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(Archived) How do you use Evernote?


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There are multiple threads floating around on the subject. Thought I'd put links to them in one place. They are in no particular order. Feel free to add links to existing notes or post your own uses.

EDIT: after moving to the new message board, some of the links in this initial post no longer exist, so I removed the broken links)

http://discussion.ev...es-of-evernote/

http://www.andrewcma... ... note-uses/

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  • 1 month later...

And let's say, at age 54, you "find" your father's other two daughters from his first marriage whom you've never met, nor seen nor even seen photos of but you've known about & wondered about since you were 8. And you begin exchanging emails, catching up on what's happened in our lives. Evernote is a nice way to organize photos of the newly found sisters & their familes as well as keeping track of which sister is still married to her high school sweetheart & has three children & which sister is divorced & remarried & has two children, seven step children and a bunch of grandchildren from her blended family.

(It could happen...)

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  • Level 5

Half of my notes are web captures of politics over the past 2 years. It is a great reference tool when I get into a hot and heavy discussion about the current administration.

The other half is personal.

Lots of scanned stuff from my younger days, as well as stuff about the children and now the grandchildren.

I went to a wedding reception on Saturday - a 1.5 hour drive away. I scanned the hand-written invitation (names and phone numbers) and the hand-written directions into Evernote about a month ago and changed the create date to Saturday. Great reminder - I'd see it whenever I logged in. Then I marked it as a favorite on my iPod Touch so that I could see it outside of the WiFi coverage. My wife drove, and I double checked with the directions as we got closer to the reception.

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My daughter recently had spinal surgery (all going well!) and EN was very useful in noting schedules, medicines, contacts, pictures of xrays and of a map of Children's Hospital, my mom's flight itinerary, pictures in the hospital and at Ronald McDonald House. I took a picture of the prescription labels and used them for refill information, I scanned documents as needed, etc.

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My main non-work uses are:

Clipped/scanned recipes, which I access from Android when shopping and cooking

Notes about video games in progress (with links to web sites, screen shots, etc.)

An archival dump of my various contacts databases (in HTML form) so that I have a place of last resort for old contacts that may no longer be in my current phone

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  • 2 weeks later...

My number one reason to jump into Evernote is the desire to cut my MS Outlook umbilical cord once and for all. I've been running my life on various versions of MS PocketPC/CE/WM since 2002 and see that train coming to a fiery and bloody end when WM 7 comes out.

It has become painfully obvious Google neither wants to sync Outlook tasks, nor wants to integrate To-DOs, GTD, or classic PIM's into their overall model. Therefore, with an eye toward a Froyo device by year's end, I am trying to find a plan for an MS Outlook PIM lifestyle without MS Outlook.

So, from the point of view of someone who desperately WANTS to trash MS Outlook and move to Android/Gmail, I would get all warm and mushy with an ability to easily transfer Evernote to google calendar.

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My number one reason to jump into Evernote is the desire to cut my MS Outlook umbilical cord once and for all. I've been running my life on various versions of MS PocketPC/CE/WM since 2002 and see that train coming to a fiery and bloody end when WM 7 comes out.

It has become painfully obvious Google neither wants to sync Outlook tasks, nor wants to integrate To-DOs, GTD, or classic PIM's into their overall model. Therefore, with an eye toward a Froyo device by year's end, I am trying to find a plan for an MS Outlook PIM lifestyle without MS Outlook.

So, from the point of view of someone who desperately WANTS to trash MS Outlook and move to Android/Gmail, I would get all warm and mushy with an ability to easily transfer Evernote to google calendar.

I've been using EN for years, and it's just not suitable for calendaring (or even GTD, in my opinion). I use EN more for my reference material.

If you're trying to find a non MS way and you're big user of Outlook (as I was), might I recommend something like PocketInformant. I started using it a few weeks ago and I'm hooked. My only calendar is Google Calendar. My preferred Todo/GTD tool is Toodledo (I use ToodleAir for quick entry of tasks, and I was a big user of Toodledo's own iphone app.) Pocket Informant just marries the two together - I can see my google calendar *and* my toodledo tasks in the same place. Plus, it's got a very fast sync. Bonus - I can see tasks on my calendar, which is what I was really missing from the newer version of Outlook.

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I agree with Crane that you might not want to look to EN to be fully integrated with your Google world. It is the storage cabinet that can sit on your Android phone and be accessible anywhere, while your Google calendar, docs, to-do's, etc, all get managed very well by Google itself.

Along that line, there is a useful little app called GTasks which syncs with your Google Tasks on your Android phone.

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Quickly understood that EN wasn't a To-Do replacement, but could work well as a tickler file. Also realized EN was a database and not a calendar but being able to assign an EN for followup on a calendar could streamline PIM.

Thanks Crane & Vance for the input.

I had run into PocketInformant quite a few years ago and at the time it didn't do anything that activesync and Windows CE did. It looks like an interesting option from a stand-alone perspective and I'm off to research what it can sync with as soon as I hit 'Submit.' Nirvana is a beta app centered around GTD, but still looks a little limited. I may also give Remember the Milk another look, but after RTM sync completely wiped out 2yrs of Outlook task data I still don't have a warm fuzzy for RTM. Google Tasks are so crippled in what they can do and seem to be something that some guy in the Gmail department developed in an afternoon just to say Google supports tasks: no tags, no groupings/priorities, no time alloted, no recurring, etc., etc. Web-based apps aren't ideal: seems a little silly to wait 15 seconds for data to load everytime on an application you want to use to increase productivity. Nozbe targets the iFanboys, so that's out. ACT! would be ok if it worked and played well with others.

What makes EN so appealing as a catch-all storage receptable is also what I'm trying to find in a next-generation to-do manager: The ability to flag anything in life for followup, next action, or new project. A perfectly viable option would be to use EN's "mail" feature to mail tasks into PIM's that support emailed tasks such as RTM and Nirvana. However, that has to be done one task at a time because EN will simply send an email with the subject "9 notes from Evernote" if you try and send a batch.

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  • 4 months later...

I draw as a hobby. One of my uses for Evernote is a sketchbook: I often make quick drawings with stylus on my phone.

I frequently use Evernote for TODOs, especially shopping lists, checking off items as I go through the store.

Before I go to an unfamiliar place, I save maps and directions to Evernote.

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My most frequent uses for Evernote are:

1) One "My ToDo" note with my list of things I need to work on with no hard date to finish. One line per item with a space between them, and I just delete lines that I've finished.

2) Storing little snippets of SQL code and complicated command-line operations that I need to copy/paste regularly. (E.g. "show me the backlog of images to be OCR'ed, broken down by user privilege level and file type.")

3) Recipes clipped from the web. If I try it once and my wife makes faces at it, it goes into the Trash. When I use Evernote on my phone, it's usually to access these while shopping or cooking.

4) Notes and hyperlinks for "research" on video games I'm playing.

I also have random "archival" notes with information that I rarely access (e.g. a note with the start date of each employee that reports to me so I know when they're up for annual review). But these are the things that I do with Evernote at least once every week or two.

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  • Level 5*
3) Recipes clipped from the web. If I try it once and my wife makes faces at it, it goes into the Trash. When I use Evernote on my phone, it's usually to access these while shopping or cooking.

But really, how many recipes for cumin waffles does one man need? :lol: (actually , I clip recipes too)

My main uses:

* For work:

- Each week I make a new desk diary note, which contains daily records of tasks (they're usually bug ticket #'s and descriptions) I've work on. This all feeds an online timesheet that we submit on Mondays, and once all supervisors have approved, I clip the timesheet and append it to the desk diary note. If there note cloning were ever added to Evernote, this would be the place where I'd use it the most.

- Each separate large-scale project that I work on typically runs on a 2-week deliverable cycle (it's 'agilistic'!), and we have weekly meetings that track each gen's goals (again, usually tied to bug ticket numbers). I keep a

single note for the project that tracks the weekly meetings, progress, what have you.

- Each task that has a large enough scale typically gets its own note where I can work up overall design, research, code references & snippets, and other considerations.

- I clip web research for tasks I am working on, as well as other development related articles.

* Personal:

- I clip articles for things I'm interested in: recipes, bicycling (mainly exercises and bike repair information), hand percussion, travel, personal finance, consumer goods research, and of course coffee. I have a long-term goal of transcribing all all of my hand-written rhythm arrangements to Evernote, but that's going to be a work in progress for some time. I know I could scan them in, if I had a scanner (and maybe I'll do that eventually), but I like the idea of having text versions.

- I also tend to clip order confirmations.

~Jeff

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3) Recipes clipped from the web. If I try it once and my wife makes faces at it, it goes into the Trash. When I use Evernote on my phone, it's usually to access these while shopping or cooking.

FWIW, I keep track of recipes that get the thumbs down from Mr. Fries. No need in making that mistake twice. :lol:

I also tend to clip order confirmations.

I do too, as well as online payment confirmations for credit cards, auto insurance, auto license renewal, property taxes, etc.

Back to the topic of food... If I order take away from a new (or new to us) restaurant, I take a screen cap of what I ordered & how everyone liked it. If we like that place & want to order again, I know either what to get or what not to get.

Fonts...I love using EN for FONTS! I've made our Christmas cards for the past ~14 years. Although I save the final files, it's disappointing to move to a new computer, install the program to make the card, load in an old card file & get the message that the font is not on your computer & another one will be used instead. In recent years, I scan a hard copy of the card & make a note about what font was used & even include the font (in a zip file) in the same note, so I don't have to find it on the internet & download it again. I know this is a very minor deal in my life. But if I was trying to make a living doing something along this line, it would be a lifesaver.

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My iPhone has been dropped one too many times. It has a crack in the back & the email notifications sound funny. :shock:

Going to move to an iPhone 4 in week or two. But, I jailbreak. So I'm making notes (in Evernote) about jailbreaking an iPhone 4 & getting everything organized. Hopefully, the transaction will be a smooth one.

#1 on my list is to backup old iPhone & then restore old iPhone to factory settings (un-jailbroken) before heading off to the Apple store. :lol:

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I use a small number of notebooks:

1) Keizer: I am a city councilor, so everything related to my official duties goes into this notebook. Staff reports, research, select emails, etc.

2) College: This is my only notebook stack, with the top level labeled College, and sub-notebooks for each individual class I'm currently enrolled in. Once the class is completed, the notes get tagged and dumped into the Personal notebook. This has been extremely helpful in keeping me organized.

3) Work: Self-explanatory, everything I get related to work goes here.

4) Personal: everything else, including Christmas shopping list, kids records, auto info, bills, receipts, letters, personal written correspondance from Evernote executives, etc.

5) Unsorted: this is my default folder, both for emailing notes to EN and importing from the desktop. Then once a day I title/date/tag and throw into the correct notebook.

I use several hundred tags. I'd love to have an auto-tag feature some day.

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My number one reason to jump into Evernote is the desire to cut my MS Outlook umbilical cord once and for all. I've been running my life on various versions of MS PocketPC/CE/WM since 2002 and see that train coming to a fiery and bloody end when WM 7 comes out.

It has become painfully obvious Google neither wants to sync Outlook tasks, nor wants to integrate To-DOs, GTD, or classic PIM's into their overall model. Therefore, with an eye toward a Froyo device by year's end, I am trying to find a plan for an MS Outlook PIM lifestyle without MS Outlook.

So, from the point of view of someone who desperately WANTS to trash MS Outlook and move to Android/Gmail, I would get all warm and mushy with an ability to easily transfer Evernote to google calendar.

Why not try this out http://www.snapcal.net/en/ it is listed in the Evernote Trunk. Looks like it might be a calendar solution.

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-- Daily notes/journal of phone calls, meeting notes, small scans, links/clips, drafts of short projects, scraps of info, business cards, etc.

-- Reference database for web clips, scans, papers, etc. used in client projects

-- Storage for meeting agendas and handouts

-- Spot for drafting short projects

-- Database of medical reports, meds lists, doctor lists, vital stats for family members

-- Lists of specs, programs, licenses, change logs, registrations, etc. of all my computers and phones

-- Lists of Christmas presents and other gifts I need to get

-- Travel and packing lists

-- Tables of passwords, sizes, parts, emails, projects, etc., for appliances, programs, car, people, etc.

-- "In box" for magazine stories I want/need to read

-- Recipes

-- Genealogy stuff (scans of documents, web clips, photos, info, etc.)

Basically, everything that would go on a scrap of paper, Post-it note, memo, list, table, notepad, notebook, etc.

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I Use Evernote to Capture, Process, and Remember Information

Have you ever count how many information you get in a single day? Information can come from email, SMS, blackberry messenger, fax, phone, brochure, notifications, people, news, etc. Can you remember all of it? Sometimes we just suddenly remember things but not in the time or place we need it most. For example, I was used to remember that I need to buy toothpaste when I was in the bathroom, and not in the Supermarket. By using Evernote, I can solve this problem with three simple steps: Capture, Process, and Remember.

Before doing these three steps, I manage my notebooks and tags first. Notebooks are managed in three areas: Process box, To do list, and Notes. Tags are managed in four areas: Events, People, Places, and Thinking About.

Notebooks:

- Process box

- To do list

Action list

Thinking list

Today’s focus

- Notes

General notes

Work notes

....

Tags:

- Events

Board meeting

Product Development meeting

....

- People

Harry

....

....

- Places

Supermarket

Home

office1

office2

....

- Thinking about

Marketing

....

1. Capture the information

When I get new information, I make a note in the process box. I can capture a picture, record a sound, write down a note, and then save it in the process box. I don't want to distract my attention to this new information while I am in the middle of doing something. So I keep my mind focus on one particular task, but I also don't forget other things.

2. Process the information

Then, there will be a time to make this process box empty. And this is very important. I have to move it somewhere, either in the "to do list" or just in the "notes". If it requires action, maybe something that I have to think about or an obvious physical action, then it has to be moved to the "to do list". If I can do nothing about it, I will put it in the "notes". You can also classify these notes if you like to.

3. Remember the information when you really need it

And the very best of Evernote can be found on its tags. Tag answers "Where and when do I want to be remembered?”. When I am in the middle of product development meeting, I open that tag, and then I know what I have to say in that meeting. When I meet someone, Harry for example, I know what I have to say to this guy. When I am thinking of marketing strategy, I get the notes that I needed.

So, that’s what I do with my Evernote. Capture, Process, and Remember. This CPR really saves my life

By the way, I want to credit David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done. That is where the CPR idea comes from.

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I Use Evernote to Capture, Process, and Remember Information

Wow, such a great Idea! i just started using ur idea to manage my stuff, apparantly it's pretty simple,and it seems very well-organized. thank you wisnu for sharing :)

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  • 3 months later...

I don't know if I've posted this before & right now, I'm too darned lazy to search to find. :D

I have two tags - one is "where to buy things" & one is "where I put things". For many years, I used an Access database to keep track of where I put something. When you've been married a few decades & only one parent is still alive & lives in assisted living, you end up with all this... "stuff"... that you don't necessarily want to get rid of but don't want to have on display and no one else wants it either. (IE an award my late father-in-law received. There are many things I've shed that my husband will never think about...but this...yeah...someday, he's going to want to see this again & if I can't produce it, things will get ugly.) This is magnified if you have lived in the same home for a couple of decades b/c the more you move, the more stuff you shed. :) So I'd label our cabinets/closets as well as the containers & note (mostly generically) what was in each one. (I know...I have it bad...) I've moved most of that to Evernote. But there are also smaller things that (as I get older) and since I'm also responsible for some of my elderly mom's stuff that I have a hard time remembering where I put it. That's what the "where I puts things" tag is good for.

The "where to buy things" tag is neat for when I find something I use but that is not available at many locations. Say you use Mrs. Meyers cleaner...b/c of the weight issue, I normally don't buy it online b/c the shipping is costly (IMO). So I make an Evernote that I can buy it locally at Cost Plus and Safeway.

Stuff like that... :D

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Started to keep track of YouTube videos that I like in Evernote instead of / in addition to using YouTube playlists.

- Click more to get full details on the video.

- Clip the details

- Typical notebook=Music, tags=Music,Video,genre (e.g.Americana)

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  • Level 5*

Silly, but when I forward a joke I bcc: my EN account and tag it "Jokes", go figure. So whenever I need a laugh I know where to go.

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  • Level 5*

erm, I keep stupid photoshops etc as well (tagged as nonsense)...... I'm starting to think that this thread should allow people to post anonymously to reduce embarrassment.

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I found what seems like a cool use for EN:

Sometimes a link on my mobile will take me to an article that i don't have time to read just then (plus which I find it's hard to read articles of any size on a mobile). If that happens, I long press on the URL (I use Dolphin Browser), select Share Page, then send it to EN. It goes into my "@next actions" notebook, which is where all the untagged and unfiled things I have go. Then when I'm on a proper computer, I can go and read that article, delete the note, and be done with it.

Serves as a reminder that way, and not just get filed away in the morass that is my delicious account :)

Anybody have a way to streamline this process?

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  • Level 5*
I long press on the URL (I use Dolphin Browser), select Share Page, then send it to EN.

If a send email link is available you can forward to EN. Not sure if that is better in your case, just a thought.

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  • 1 month later...

When painting the house, I take a photo of the label that shows the color mixture/blend. So when we need to buy new paint, same color, I know what to get.

I also take photos of the "leftovers" in the cans, so I can identify which can is for the interior walls, interior trim, outdoor stucco, etc. when we need to do touch ups.

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  • 3 months later...

We moved a couple of months ago. Of course, Evernote was heavily used during house hunting, the purchase of the new home, the sale of the old home, the move, finding movers, blah, blah, blah... Now, we're in the position of wanting to get new non-essential things for the new house & replacing some of the old things. Not necessarily high priority stuff. I've taken photos of the "spots" where I'd like something or of an item I'd like to replace. If it's a space, I try to add the measurements. This is helpful when I'm out & find something I rather like but wonder where I'd put it, I can check my "need something here" tag & compare sizes, if measurements are crucial.

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Started to keep track of YouTube videos that I like in Evernote instead of / in addition to using YouTube playlists.

- Click more to get full details on the video.

- Clip the details

- Typical notebook=Music, tags=Music,Video,genre (e.g.Americana)

Copyright issues aside, I've probably been known to download informative, funny, cute Youtube vids to my hard drives for future reference...just in case the original gets taken down. If they fit in EN (that pesky note size limitation, you know), I've been known to put the video itself in EN.

Hey, twenty years from now, if anyone wants to see that video of Tucker the white dog playing piano & singing a torch song & you can't find it on Youtube anymore, hit me up.

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LOL. I would need to add some more terabytes to my media library to accomadate my viewing habits if I downloaded everything. Just checked and I have 808 clips just from YouTube.

Holy smokes!!! I guess the good news is that terabytes are getting "cheaper" & "cheaper" these days.

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It seems I'm coming up with more ways to use Evernote since we recently moved from a home we lived in for 19 years. My latest project I've started (they are legion) is documenting wedding gifts & mementos. I'm sure there's a more sophisticated way for today's brides with today's technology. But we've been married for 28 years. As I was packing/unpacking, I'd run across things that were shower gifts, wedding gifts or souvenirs from trips we took long ago. As I remember them, I try to take a quick photo (normally using FastEverSnap on my iPhone) and a bit of text to remind me where it came from or maybe the story behind the item & then send it off to the EN cloud. Some of the tags I'm using are "shower/wedding gifts", "souvenirs" & "things I put on Ebay". I suppose a new bride could have "things TO Ebay after an appropriate waiting period" for those gifts that make you say to yourself..."WTF???"

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Getting on the band wagon. I use Evernote for tracking my progress in World of Warcraft and for running instances and raids too. I have two notebooks, one titled Horde and one titled Alliance. I then heavily rely on tagging to associate to my various notes regarding talents, strategy guides etc. It is great to have the strategy displayed on my iPad for a particular instance that I can reference as I am fighting in the various instance. Yep I know I am a nerd when it comes to computer games, but I would be lost without referencing everything in Evernote for one of my past times :)

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For work: Research articles from journals, meeting notes (typed straight into EN or hand-written and scanned), notes on projects, business cards for people I meet who have yet to be (or may never) get to my address book, reference material, ... actually nearly everything.

At home: Most correspondence that arrives, web logins (with encrypted passwords), medical records, bank statements, utility statements, records of runs and rides, coffee photos (!).

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What kind of coffee photos?

Every time I order a coffee from the many and varied cafés here in Melbourne and from my travels around Australia and the world, I take a photo, assign a star rating (1 to 5) and send the note to my EN account. I make sure the location is set correctly as well (which usually happens automatically). It seemed like a crazy idea, but I find I can browse back through them and the photos bring back memories not only of the particular café, but also the business trip, holiday or outing of which the beverage was a part!

I sometimes photograph desserts, too! :rolleyes:

Incidentally, I'd love EN to be able to make more use of the ‘location’ tag. I believe the Android app has the ability to display notes on a map, but it would be fascinating to be able to browse notes (filtered by search) via a Google Maps mashup in the web version, for example.

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Just thought of another way I use EN. I frequent an Asian grocery store. If I can't find something I'm looking for, I may be asking a clerk who doesn't speak English well or it may be an item I don't know how to pronounce. So I have a photo of the item in EN & pull it up on my phone & show it to the clerk. IE, my favorite chili oil:

post-48228-0-65734300-1319567641_thumb.j

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  • 2 weeks later...

I also use EN to keep track of software versions. I have a tag "Software versions" & take a screen cap of the About popup. Also, I make a note about upgrade policy. Some of my personal payware apps provide lifetime upgrades (YAY!) and others do not. It's much easier to look under my "software versions" tag to quickly see what the upgrade policy is rather than go to the website.

Also useful for storing your email address you used to register the app and the reg code.

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Several years ago, I transferred many of our Hi-8 home movies to the computer. I labeled each tape with a number & created a database with a brief description of what was on each tape. HOWEVER...since video files are pretty big, at that time, I didn't have a backup of them. :P And...about 3 years ago, that drive failed. :o :o I still have the database info (was on another drive). But the video files went to the bit bucket in the sky. (Not to be confused with the cloud.) But all these years later, those descriptions are not always as helpful as I wish they were. I've now started the process of re-transferring the tapes to computer. But this time, I'm putting my notes into Evernote. In addition to the text descriptions pulled from the database I did several years ago (helpful with respect to occasions, years, etc), as I am perusing the transferred files on the PC, I am taking screen caps from each segment to include in my Evernote note. Hopefully, a few years from now, when I'm looking for a particular clip, this will be very helpful.

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  • Level 5

Burgers,

yes, the longer we are using EN the more it seems to be creeping into our lives :o

I started out with simple text notes in 2008 and did not foresee how valuable the program would eventually become. Today I am using it for so many things (general filing, tax returns, movie database, contacts, home improvement, the list could go on...).

The mere thought of EN not working (or disappearing, God forbid) is sending an icy cold and convulsive shiver down my spine... :P

Wern

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I am a new user, and I'm completely blown away. So far ...

  • I have moved my entire work life to EN. Multiple notebooks in categorized stacks. Seeing all of my documentation in one place rather than having to dig through folders is quite a bonus for me. It also means that when my job process changes next year, my company won't have to purchase a new laptop. I will have enough hard drive space to accommodate the new process.
  • I have moved my recipe collection from multiple sources to EN.
  • All of my personal lists and to-do's - gift lists, errands, shopping lists, etc.
  • Pictures and ideas for my "cosmetic" home remodel.

I'm an iOS/Mac OS girl working in Windows land, so I love that I can access everything everywhere.

I am blown away when I find something new about EN. I almost cried today when I figured out that I can open an attachment in EN, edit it, save it, and not have to re-attach the updated attachment. I'm such a geek.

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  • Level 5

Sounds you really enjoy using EN, Congratulations! That's how it should be.

You will discover how indispensable EN gets after using it for some extended time. You will find more and more useful ways to apply EN to your personal needs.

Wern

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My wife organized the pull-out spice rack - we cook a lot and we have two levels of spice racks that pull out and lower down. 8 rows in all. She like things a certain way - separated by: frequently used items on the lower level, alphabetized. Then lesser used items on the top pull out rack, also alphabetized. I can never keep it straight. So, I stood on the kitchen chair and got out my 8+ mega pixel camera and snapped photos of both shelves. Now, I know, and knowing is half the battle - at least in the kitchen.

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I'm a guy, and I am not exactly good about describing how I want my hair cut. One day I went in to get my hair cut, asked the lady to 'just make it nice and business-like'. I got a great hair cut, so I had her take three pictures - front, side and back. I also added text about the clipper - apparently I use a #5 clipper.

Now I go in to the place and say 'give me this' and I show the photos and text.

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  • Level 5*

A little off topic, but bear with me - I answered a question in another forum a couple of years ago - well before I started using Evernote -

  • What is the desktop application you're missing the most? - If you could have any piece of desktop software (whether it currently exists or doesn't yet), what would it be and what would it do?

My answer then (it got me Best Answer) was -

  • Software that's able to take random individual "facts" like addresses, URLs, product descriptions, as separate items but link them together through smart and user selected tags so that I can source all the contacts in one area, all the products for one contact, and any other variations I may need to put together an agenda, an intinerary or a report.
    The idea is to (finally) replace all those bits of paper on my desk with my digital assistant of choice, without my having to learn a new package or categorise each item intimately as I enter it. The best stab at this so far used to be called Lotus Agenda...

...It won't be a surprise that I wound up here.

OK - finally the point; I use Evernote to kill the disorder that used to be my desk (and floor and walls...) and create an environment that saves me wasting time finding and filing stuff that's never in the right place anyway after the paper fairies have their way with it. I can keep my working and living areas much cleaner and clearer of clutter, because all those magazines, printouts, notes, files and back-of-envelope reminders are somewhere I can refer to them instantly when they're needed. I can share stuff with family and friends by sharing the note or notebook - which also saves me ever answering questions more than once. I write a coherent answer, stick it in a note, and share the note.

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I'm a guy, and I am not exactly good about describing how I want my hair cut. One day I went in to get my hair cut, asked the lady to 'just make it nice and business-like'. I got a great hair cut, so I had her take three pictures - front, side and back. I also added text about the clipper - apparently I use a #5 clipper.

Now I go in to the place and say 'give me this' and I show the photos and text.

I do a similar thing with our dogs. (Sorry...!!!) Many years ago, after trials & tribulation, I defined a cut we like for our dogs, including the blade numbers. I normally take them to the same groomer each time. & normally they have it in their records But, as one would expect, there are times when I need to take them to a new/different groomer. So whenever I have to change to someone else, I know how to tell them to groom them.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Wow! so many great EN uses.

I'm pretty new to EN, and all you guys gave me a ton of ideas (and how I can sort them out :)).

I'm thinking of using EN to sort out my finances, as I realized I need to do some serious risk management. Also I can store all the interesting articles I've been reading about risk management analytics and such (I linked this one I thinks is pretty useful, no affiliation).

Stacey

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Wow! so many great EN uses.

I'm pretty new to EN, and all you guys gave me a ton of ideas (and how I can sort them out :)).

I'm thinking of using EN to sort out my finances, as I realized I need to do some serious risk management. Also I can store all the interesting articles I've been reading about risk management analytics and such (I linked this one I thinks is pretty useful, no affiliation).

Stacey

Yeah. If you do some searching about the forum, you can find some really great conversations about security and Evernote. You might also want to do some searches on backing up your stuff. There are multiple regimes users have concocted for themselves depending on their individual preferences for security and redundancy.

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  • 10 months later...

This time of year, we are overwhelmed with all the holiday catalogs. I used to keep a stack of my favorites until after January b/c you never know when you may want to find something for someone a week or two before Christmas. Plus, my husband's birthday is in January, which is why I wait until after January to toss them. Anyway, what I've done for the past few years is just scan the catalogs, put them in Evernote & toss the originals. This isn't always convenient, if I have to go to my computer to view them. But, since my husband got me an iPad last year for Christmas, I've realized this year, it's so neat to pull up the catalogs on my iPad & scan through them.

PS - I have to add that I also have a ScanSnap 1500, which if the fastest home/home office scanner I've ever used & I've used more than a couple. So I can cut the spine off with a guillotine paper cutter & run the catalogs through the ScanSnap very quickly.

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PS - I have to add that I also have a ScanSnap 1500, which if the fastest home/home office scanner I've ever used & I've used more than a couple. So I can cut the spine off with a guillotine paper cutter & run the catalogs through the ScanSnap very quickly.

Ah... ha !! Thanks for the PS - I wondered about that LLBean catalog ! ;=}

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PS - I have to add that I also have a ScanSnap 1500, which if the fastest home/home office scanner I've ever used & I've used more than a couple. So I can cut the spine off with a guillotine paper cutter & run the catalogs through the ScanSnap very quickly.

Ah... ha !! Thanks for the PS - I wondered about that LLBean catalog ! ;=}

:P Yeah...if you have a slow scanner, scanning catalogs is probably not worth it, unless you pay a bored kid to do it.

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  • 4 months later...

Another gold star for Evernote today.  I occasionally need to mail something certified with a return receipt.  There's a bit of a protocol to this b/c you have to fill out a certified form, a return receipt form & put the certified form number on the return receipt & affix them properly.  I will do almost anything to avoid waiting in long lines at the PO.  So I print & pay for all my packages online & either put them in my mail box for the mailperson to pick up or drop it off at the PO.  But the occasional certified/return receipt thing tends to be a PITA.  Last year, when I did this, some kind lady showed me how to do this via the kiosks in the USPS halls.  So I promptly grabbed some extra certified & return receipt forms & came home & made a short tutorial video on how to affix all these things, print the postage via the kiosk & where to deposit the item.  SO...I needed to send something today certified/return receipt.  Quickly found the tutorial in Evernote, filled out & affixed the forms I brought home last year, got the postage via the kiosk at my local USPS & was on my way! 

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I love to read all the great uses for EN. I have been using EN for many years and one of my favorite uses is for collecting ideas. As I go through the day I clipped ideas, tag them, and then later I can put them together into something new. This has increased my new ideas incredibly!!

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