digitalgoonies.com

www.evernote.com

Let me apologize ahead of time- I get real excited about Evernote. You may even call me an Evernote evangelist of sorts.

I have not blogged about Evernote before now for a couple reasons:

1. There aren’t enough words to do this justice.
2. Hasn’t everyone already heard of Evernote?

There are only a few programs that I launch daily that I cannot live without- and Evernote is one of them. What is it and why do I need it? Those are the hardest questions of all so let me see if I can summarize it:

• A platform to let you remember and access all of your information when you and where you need it
• Your digital life coach and manager
• Your lifesaver in time of need
• Your agent of change- start leading a “paperless” life

Evernote works on the concept of “Notes.” You add a note to your account using a device (computer, tablet, phone, etc.). The note can contain text, of course, but can also contain a photo, a link, a file, almost anything digital. You can then access that note at anytime once it is synced to the server. You can also share that note with others when you want!

Rather than be bore you with the details, here are some practical ways I use Evernote:

• Post-it note replacement- Instead of writing something down on a little note, I just whip out my phone and make a quick note within Evernote. I then can access that note later.
• Son’s football practice schedule- I take a picture of the printed football schedule (called a “snapshot” in Evernote). Then that text in the photo is searchable. Let me repeat that- any text in any image is searchable (sort of like the way scanners use OCR). This works even for handwritten text within an image!
• Take a picture of a PPT slide during a presentation
• Take snapshots of business cards, then trash the card itself
• Take snapshots of receipts- I inevitably will misplace paper receipts. Taking a snapshot makes them searchable and can show them to the store so they can get the information they need for exchanges and refunds!
• Take a snapshot of a diagram or poster on a bulletin board, etc.
• Take a snapshot of a book I’d like to read or buy later (since I won’t remember the title or author on my own)
• Take a snapshot of the paint & stain labels for my deck paint/stain so when I go to touch it up later I know what pigment/color to get
• Take a snapshot of my Mom’s (and others) handwritten recipes to use later
• Take a snapshot of the church bulletin with my handwritten notes- then I can recycle the paper but keep my notes!
• Take a snapshot (or two or three) of a staff development session’s handout- then I have it stored long term to access the information and can give the paper back to the presenter!
• Save some of my family digital images here- to easily share with others or show on various devices
• Store phone numbers, addresses, and WiFi codes on the fly
• Keep track of printer model numbers and cartridge numbers so I can access this when I’m out shopping and think about buying ink!
• Share meeting notes or my Christmas shopping list- and I can encrypt selected text if it contains something I don’t want others (with whom I share) to see!
•  Bookmarking on the web- no longer do I use a browser’s bookmarking feature. Instead, I use Evernote’s browser extension (called the Web Clipper) and I can then clip a URL, an article, or an entire page and it is saved to the server.
• Forward information in emails- every Evernote account has a unique email address created for it. Add that to your address book and then forward messages containing information (or attachments) to your Evernote to store long term or access outside your email client.
• Grab screenshots- yes, I still use Snag-it for creating professional-grade screenshots. But for something quick, just use Windows+PrtScreen and the screen capture immediately goes to my Evernote account. Sorry, Mac users, this isn’t available to you… yet.
• Create a To-Do list with boxes to electronically check and uncheck as needed. I would be lost without this!
• Use this in conjunction with the new Moleskin journal to transfer my handwritten meeting notes to my Evernote

I could go on and on… literally. This application is just the best. And it’s FREE! Yes, FREE! There are a few limits with the FREE version- but these are very generous! If you want the premium version (which eventually you probably will when you are addicted like I am) check out the features of the premium account.

For educators- this is absolutely invaluable. I’m even teaching my 8th grade daughter how to use it- along with her phone. Can you imagine how students can really use this? There is a paid Evernote for Schools version that you may want to check out. My daughter is managing just fine with the FREE version.

If you read this far, you are either very interested in Evernote or just a Digital Goonies stalker… hmmm… maybe we should get a T-shirt that identifies you as a true Digital Goonie!