What do I want Evernote for really ?

[StanH 0]

I've had Evernote on my laptop ever since I bought it in August 2014 and so, finally, I  thought I would try it out. So I started last week and am nearly through my first week and you might think therefore that I've not given it long enough but already I'm into problems. Evernote is easy to use but WHAT do I really want to organise and HOW do I want to organise it - because I do like to be organised and that was the initial attraction? Dithering about these fundamental issues means that I can't yet settle myself down to what notebooks , what tags, what stacks,what format for titles to make them consistently searchable (though I've created and trialled several of each of these features) - in short what STRUCTURE ? This is why I've joined the Forum and read with interest some of the ideas presented. I'm actually drafting this as a NOTE before pasting into the Forum.

 

Calling the documents "notes" is quite catchy and gives Evernote its name but of course these multi-faceted documents (sound, images, attachments, emails, etc) need not be confined to something as small as a Post-It.

 

I'm fascinated by the idea of having everything in one place (that's the real attraction - the promise that we can organise your entire life for you - or at least give you the tool) and in one App that can do it all for you and I do like the idea of synchronisation across all devices.

 

Because I'm a retired Construction Planning Manager my "currency" has always been working with TIME - time management (critical path, gantt charts, etc). I'm finding that Evernote is not that clever with time - a bit basic; although in time I might come up with a few "workarounds" such as working with other apps and then importing the results into Evernote but that kind of defeats the object  doesn't it? I'd love you to prove me wrong of course and show me something really clever that you've come up with.

 

 I would have thought that people would want to time manage as well as prioritise TASKS and PROJECTS and therefore need at least some good calendar features built into Evernote or, failing that, an ability within Evernote to receive, integrate and synchronise with some of the good Calendars you can find elsewhere (Google, Microsoft, etc).

 

It would have been handy therefore if the Evernote developers had included a good diary/calendar within the software or had partnered with some good calendar app. developers into terms of compatibility.

 

[GiacomoLaw 134]

Try using Sunrise calendar and integrating it with Evernote.

[StanH 0]

Thankyou Dipper. I will give that a go.

[GiacomoLaw 134]

I also use it for GTD, school notes and blog planning. And for game guides, interesting clippings, Feedly clippings, and much more.

[Wordsgood 526]

Hi

I just ran across a different thread in the Windows Help area of the forum and thought it might prove helpful in your case.

Forum thread link:

https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/66433-how-to-sort-notebooksstacks-under-notebooks/

In the above linked thread is a post by Scott Lougheed with an explanation and screenshot example of how he uses Shortcuts and a type of naming convention to organize his notebooks. You can save a copy of the screenshot for reference in your own Evernote account if you'd like. Just click where it says "Save to Evernote" at the bottom and choose the Notebook you want to save it to.

Scott's screenshot example:

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s25/sh/6bab0eda-cb2f-4351-a113-a08c1c0faf53/0f865f0a60ace6d4

Cheers!

[jbenson2 2,147]

Here is a list of 100 uses for Evernote.

http://andrewcmaxwell.com/2010/12/100-more-evernote-uses

 

It was created by Andrew Maxwell 5 years ago.

[StanH 0]

Thanks for your contributions which is certainly food for thought.

 

Since posting on 8 March 2015 I've had another closer look at Microsoft One Note which,depending what your're wanting to

do probably has the edge over Evernote.

 

I've also since read a good book by Dominic Wolff on One Note "How to get things done with One Note" but I've noticed he has also

written several books about Evernote and it occurs to me that there may be an argument to use more than one App.

 

I'm currently reading another decent book by Andy Williams on using Evernote "How to use Evernote to Organise & Simplify Your Life.

 

On the continuing subject on how best to use Evernote (or indeed One Note) it is often helpful to look at the titles of other Users notebooks, stacks, sections and pages because it tells you what they think is important.