(Archived) Okay, I just don't "get" Evernote

[SkipII 1]

Maybe I'm suffering newbie ignorance here, but I have spend a couple of hours trolling through all kinds of high-production videos but still don't understand how any of this works. 

 

For example, the playful video on Evernote for Food shows someone apparently searching recipes, then cooking something or going out on a date and looking at pictures on his iPhone. What is all that about? Is he searching the net for recipes (a la Google?) or his own. And what are the scenes of him looking at pictures on his iPhone over dinner trying to depict?

 

I look at all the videos and keep coming away with a giant "So, what?"  I am lost on how any of this helps organize life. 

 

Is there some other resource/video that is more of a "day in the life" approach so i can get a more practical view of all this? Most of the video look like marketing fluff. 

 

Thanks for any direction. 

 

 

[Metrodon 2,184]

Got stuff you want to remember?

If yes, stick it in Evernote. If not, (lucky you) you don't need the app.

Forget all the marketing blurb, just think of it as a repository of stuff that is useful to you and then it might work for you or it might not.

[sgarcata 49]

Were you asking about Evernote Food in particular or Evernote in general? 

 

If the latter, there are quite a few use cases on the Evernote site plus some extensive blogs, etc. that various users have posted.

 

I have adopted Evernote because after quite a bit of research, I see the potential for far superior organization and far less cultter in my life by going paperless, to say nothing of the reduced space currently occupied by lots and lots of paper and the ability to find information quickly.  I'm just starting out and in process of developing my workflow for various information so I have no expertise to share.

 

For starters, check out postings by

• jbenson2
• Grumpy Monkey http://www.christopher-mayo.com/?p=462 Use cases: http://www.christopher-mayo.com/?p=462  and http://www.christopher-mayo.com/?p=363  and lots more in his public shared notebook on the subject
• Brad Farris http://www.enmast.com/2011/04/how-i-fell-in-love-with-evernote/
• Michael Hyatt http://michaelhyatt.com/how-to-get-your-stuff-into-evernote.html
• the lifehacker site:
  
  http://lifehacker.com/5964285/whats-all-the-fuss-about-evernote-why-do-people-use-it
• spgscott:  https://www.evernote.com/pub/spgscott/evernote5help#b=8879f6ff-b336-40f1-8fc2-9f43af568ebe&st=p&n=a215e27f-a89d-40c1-89fe-94afa217773c
• lan1h https://www.evernote.com/shard/s15/sh/be42981b-6fe4-4dc5-ad52-d71274f4ab80/058d57387c69436a46aa84c14ec15909
• Mark O'Neill: http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/how-to-use-evernote-the-missing-manual-full-text?utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_source=2012-09-03
• David Allen re: Evernote and GTD AfterTheBook.com
• http://www.thesecretweapon.org/
• Ruud Hein »  Evernote GTD How To http://ruudhein.com/evernote-gtd
• geoffstaples
• rsweetland
• David Sparks’s Paperless Field Guide

 

[SkipII 1]

Got stuff you want to remember?

If yes, stick it in Evernote. If not, (lucky you) you don't need the app.

Forget all the marketing blurb, just think of it as a repository of stuff that is useful to you and then it might work for you or it might not.

I had some general qualms about Evernote, but, yes, Evernote for Food really put my confusion into focus (if there is such a thing as focused confusion!).  I just did not understand what the actors were actually doing in the video and why life was better because of Evernote. I think a couple of case study or day-in-the-life examples would help me a lot in understanding the value. 

[SkipII 1]

 

Were you asking about Evernote Food in particular or Evernote in general? 

 

If the latter, there are quite a few use cases on the Evernote site plus some extensive blogs, etc. that various users have posted.

 

I have adopted Evernote because after quite a bit of research, I see the potential for far superior organization and far less cultter in my life by going paperless, to say nothing of the reduced space currently occupied by lots and lots of paper and the ability to find information quickly.  I'm just starting out and in process of developing my workflow for various information so I have no expertise to share.

 

For starters, check out postings by

• jbenson2
• Grumpy Monkey http://www.christopher-mayo.com/?p=462 Use cases:
• Brad Farris http://www.enmast.com/2011/04/how-i-fell-in-love-with-evernote/
• Michael Hyatt http://michaelhyatt.com/how-to-get-your-stuff-into-evernote.html
• the lifehacker site:
  http://lifehacker.com/5964285/whats-all-the-fuss-about-evernote-why-do-people-use-it
• spgscott:  https://www.evernote.com/pub/spgscott/evernote5help#b=8879f6ff-b336-40f1-8fc2-9f43af568ebe&st=p&n=a215e27f-a89d-40c1-89fe-94afa217773c
• lan1h https://www.evernote.com/shard/s15/sh/be42981b-6fe4-4dc5-ad52-d71274f4ab80/058d57387c69436a46aa84c14ec15909
• Mark O'Neill: http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/how-to-use-evernote-the-missing-manual-full-text?utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_source=2012-09-03
• David Allen re: Evernote and GTD AfterTheBook.com
• http://www.thesecretweapon.org/
• Ruud Hein »  Evernote GTD How To http://ruudhein.com/evernote-gtd
• geoffstaples
• rsweetland
• David Sparks’s Paperless Field Guide

 

 

Thanks, I don't doubt there is great ideas in all of those posting, but I am in a more "inductive" phase than "deductive."  I am looking for more of a day-in-the-life that shows pretty clearly the benefits of Evernote and contrasts it is with how we may be doing things today less efficiently. The Evernote for Food video is a perfect example of my confusion -- at least for me, it simply does not clearly depict the process and the value. 

[sgarcata 49]

Many of those links will give you just that...

[Wern 246]

EN is very versatile but for starters just a few hints.

Just think of a big bucket you can throw things in. That bucket has the capacity to remember everything and instantly.

Just think of this:

 

• You are doing your taxes and this super-important bill of your house renovation is nowhere to be found
• You forgot the serial number and the password of your software installation
• You visited a great restaurant before, but don't remember the name or the location, nor do you have the phone number
• You remember that your neighbor was serviced by a great repairman and you took a picture of his van, with address, phone numbers, but it is long gone and your neigbor moved
• Someone sent you recipes for exotic Thai curry and you are eager to impress your girlfriend with your cooking skills but can't find the recipes
• You want to make a to do list for that particular project of yours (or any other list) with due dates to remind you
• You are finding some super-useful info on the Internet and want to clip it instantly, making sure you will find it again for sure.
  
  Just a few ideas. The list can go on endlessly.

 

In each and every case, EN will come to the rescue and within seconds you have what you are looking for on your computerscreen (Ipad, smartphone)

 

EN may not be instantly useful for you, but will be in a relative short time and it will become your trusted system and 2nd nature after a while.

 

Just to get your fantasy going.

 

Wern

[gazumped 11,652]

You should have more than enough food (sorry) for thought by now,  but just two recent practical examples from me;  

1. We have a nice narrow bookcase in one room that we thought might be useful in another.  A quick search got me the receipt and an exact description of the item including its website and purchase code.  Now we have two.
2. I'm considering upgrading my digital camera and currently have a notebook with several articles,  reviews,  sales links and comparisons - whenever I see something on a prospective new toy I throw it in there with a view to getting a balanced view of the correct item to buy.  In a previous life that would have been a growing pile of magazines,  scraps of paper and leaflets...

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Thanks, I don't doubt there is great ideas in all of those posting, but I am in a more "inductive" phase than "deductive."  I am looking for more of a day-in-the-life that shows pretty clearly the benefits of Evernote and contrasts it is with how we may be doing things today less efficiently. The Evernote for Food video is a perfect example of my confusion -- at least for me, it simply does not clearly depict the process and the value.

A lot of those links are excellent, and probably better than mine, but if you go to the use cases I have collected, it will pretty much answer all of your questions -- everything from accounting to working out.

http://www.christopher-mayo.com/?p=462

For food, see:

http://blog.evernote.com/blog/2012/04/09/lauren-atkins-home-cooking-ambassador-shares-tips-for-cooking-with-evernote-and-evernote-food/

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

My partner and I own a cat, I share a household notebook with her where we can keep scans of all of the cats paperwork so it is always accessible to either of us. Wh have reminders set for renewal dates so the pet license renewal comes up a week before it needs to be submitted. We also track his weight in there since we are trying to keep that under control.

We both travel a fair bit too, so we put our flight itineraries and other relevant information in there so that if she is out of town, I can see her flight info and accommodations, or she can see mine and so on.

We also share a cooking notebook. We scan magazine recipes and use the web clipper to clip website recipes, as well as scans from our mobile devices of recipe cards when we visit family. We also use a calendar to plan weekly meals. Using note links, each meal event in the calendar has a link to the recipe in Evernote. Click the event in calendar, click the note link, and the recipe is right there at hand

And that's just two notebooks out of 15!

I also have notebooks devoted to individual products. Any notes on academic literature get put into the academic literature notebook tagged appropriately by project or subject matter. This is a hefty notebook.

Another notebooks stores receipts. If fit is a travel related item, it gets tagged "expense", I usually scan, for example, a meal receipt, right at the restaurant. If it is just for archival/warranty/reference, such as for an appliance, it may or may not get tagged.

So Evernote is kept fairly busy by these three notebooks alone!

Hope this helps give you some insight,

[bnp 1]

Some people do not need an alarm clock to get up in the morning.   I do.  Some people do not need to study, research, follow-up on things, plan, keeps digital copies or whatever.....    I still do.   I use a moleskin, yellow tablet(s), dry-erase boards,  and soon (wipeout).  The smart people on this forum have taught me how to handle all this using en.  If anybody knows forums of this quality please advise!

 

thx -bnp

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

I think if you try Evernote & don't "get it" that it may not be something you need. For that reason, I do not try to convince anyone they need Evernote. In my case, I initially tried Evernote & OneNote. OneNote won. But about six months later, when I had a different need, I remembered Evernote. I used it for that project & have tapered on since then. I now have over 65,000 notes in my main account. (I have a few accounts,).

So...in a nutshell, if you don't "get it", maybe you don't need it. But maybe you will someday.

[SkipII 1]

Sorry to have not responded earlier to all the recent posts. For some reason, EN blocked my posts, saying I had posted too many times (three is too many?)

 

Anyway, you will be pleased to know that I already "get" it, thanks to your help. The mini case studies an examples were very helpful. 

 

Pretty cool app. 

[megsaint 441]

Sorry to have not responded earlier to all the recent posts. For some reason, EN blocked my posts, saying I had posted too many times (three is too many?)

 

Anyway, you will be pleased to know that I already "get" it, thanks to your help. The mini case studies an examples were very helpful. 

 

Pretty cool app.

Due to an unfortunate increase in spam, new users are limited in the number of posts in a day. I'm glad you "got it". I hope we see you back with more questions and comments.

Best of luck.

[Bill Myers 458]

Sorry to have not responded earlier to all the recent posts. For some reason, EN blocked my posts, saying I had posted too many times (three is too many?)

 

Anyway, you will be pleased to know that I already "get" it, thanks to your help. The mini case studies an examples were very helpful. 

 

Pretty cool app. 

 

I had seen this thread yesterday but hadn't had time to post. I got to the party too late.

I'll simply add this: I learned about Evernote in a roundabout way, when version 4 was still current. I learned how to use it by just opening it up and playing with it. I think you may benefit from doing the same. The cool thing about Evernote is that you're likely to come up with your own use cases for it, just by tooling around the software for a bit.

 

Good luck, and enjoy! I know I have.