It really is kind of amazing. It seems many of us are long standing, paying Evernote customers, me, since 2008, and to have such ongoing slowness, despite the incremental improvements with 10.18, is very frustrating.
I'm such a fan, and want to use Evernote for all of its capabilities, including tasks, which do make sense to locate within the notes themselves, but it seems that it opens and works quickly only sporadically.
Yes, probably more patience ...