Brandie

Wow! That's quite a collection! I like how you're using Evernote in conjuction with other programs. I wonder, did you already have all your recipes in a spreadsheet, or did you do that just to get them into EN?

This is so inspiring (and my comment is a little late to the game), but wow, a Wiki. You've inspired me... I'm going to give this some thought to see how a wiki might help my brain!

I do something similar with a @phone-log notebook. Easy way to track cancellations and conversations with service providers. Good habit to get into before you need it. I like your format!

I like this too. I also snap pics of things like printer toner, the inside of lamp (for those crazy lightbulb numbers I can never remember!) and parts for things around the house that may be inconvenient for a "show & tell" at the hardware store. Super easy to just snap a picture. Thanks for sharing!

What an awesome idea! You could really use this for a lot of different people. A Christmas/Holiday gift list? Thanks for sharing!

Two notebooks I use the most: "@action" has the things I'm working on right now, which have not been completed. "@phone-log" is where I put written/typed notes of voicemail. I keep them for a while until they are resolved, when the info is then added to my CRM. Hope that helps!

So, the consultant in me has to ask: How much of that is actually needed? Are you overcomplicating your life by scanning it all?

I've not used Evernote as a calendar (and this is the first I'd heard of it.) I look at Evernote like the "Notes" section in a paper planner (yes, old school.) It has a different purpose. This is an interesting thought though!

Zaythe, Maybe it will help to think of it this way: Notebooks are the main structure you use to organize notes, and are great for the visual aspect of organizing your notes. I think of them like a Table of Contents. Tags are a great way to get down to the granular organizing of your notes. I think of them like a glossary. Does that make sense?

This is awesome! Isn't it fun to find what you need in less than five minutes (seconds?) So, I wanted to suggest to look into using Shoeboxed to get all those piles of paper scanned in FOR you. Oh yeah, that is a beautiful thing. Here's the info, since Shoeboxed is in the Evernote Trunk: http://evernote.com/about/trunk/items/shoeboxed?lang=en&layout=default&source=home Hope that helps!

Loving that article. He makes a good point, that needs to be said. Too many times, people "over organize" and it becomes a distraction rather than a tool. Or worse, it doesn't get done (organizing), guilt and procrastination ensue, and self-worth takes a dive. No good. Loving where this is heading...

Not stupid at all! I would put those changes in parentheses so you know the difference from the original. Just open the note and edit away.

This is really great info! You can also "stack" notebooks, which is what I do instead of tags. Here's the bit on the site that tells you a bit more about it: https://support.evernote.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=622&hitOffset=160+149+132+131+119+94+88+85+80+75+71+65+53+47+43+27+21+20+15+7+4&docID=3896

Actually, you can do this with Evernote itself, no third party app. Here's the instructions I found, hope it helps! (Here's the link to the place I found it: https://support.evernote.com/link/portal/16051/16058/Article/547/Adding-content-to-Evernote-using-email) "Evernote allows you to designate the target notebook and tags for an emailed note in the email subject line. For example, if you wanted your emailed note to appear in your Cooking notebook, simply append "@Cooking" to the email subject (without the quotation marks). If you wanted to tag the note, just add tags to the email subject like this: #recipes #vegetarian #sometag. Note that if you want to designate the target notebook and tags using this method, you must place the notebook name before the tags. Here is an example of the correct way to format the email subject using this syntax: Authentic cornbread @Cooking #recipes #vegetarian #baking Note that both the notebook designation and the tags appear at the end of the subject. Also, any notebook or tags added to the email subject must already exist in your Evernote account. Using the above example: assuming you didn't already have a tag "baking" in your Evernote account, the title of the note would contain "#baking" once it arrived in your Evernote account and that tag will not be applied. If you designate a non-existent notebook in the email subject, the note will be added to your default notebook."

Tracey, Think of tags like the dividers in a notebook. The notebook itself is your personal "cookbook", and the tags are the sub-categories. That being said, I don't tag too often, as I use search a LOT. However, I've gotten to the point where the search results are pretty extensive. If I had to do it all over, I'd be better about tagging in the beginning.