Getting Organized with Web 2.0 Application Evernote

Evernote is a powerful Web 2.0 tool. Have you tried it yet? If you have, you're probably in love with it. If not, it's about time to get acquainted. Evernote is an advanced note taking and data capture application. I still use and love Workflowy, but Evernote takes organization to a different level. It's really complex or really simple. It all depends what you want to make of it. As it says on the applications home page "Make a note. Or 500,000 of them". It really is up to you.

It's all about the capture

The mission of Evernote is to allow its users to capture literally anything they want and store it. You can capture traditional text notes, audible notes, emails, web pages, photos, or screenshots. Imagine having a big scrapbook with an unlimited amount of space. A virtual filing cabinet that never ends. Evernote uses a freemium model (a great choice if you ask me) and the free version is more than capable of handeling your note taking needs. The free service will give you 40MB a month worth of space. The premium version will give you 500MB and unlimited amounts of notes. The premium costs $5 a month or only $45 a year. Well worth the investment.

The platforms

Evernote is supported on your desktop (Mac or PC), online, or on just about any smartphone platform you can think of. The best part is that all formats play nice together. Take a note while on the run with your iPhone and access it later on your personal computer. Take a note on your office computer and access it later on your home desktop.

The method

Why should you use Evernote? The simple answer is to get organized, but the best answer is that it has a wide variety of uses. Use Evernote to create a to do list, set goals, remember something you might forget later, idea capture, or for a virtual contact and address book. Users have the ability to tag notes and reference them for later use.

Using Evernote to its fullest.

Evernote just might be the best all in one tool for organizing you life. The service already has 5 million + members. In his book Getting Things Done, author and productivity coach David Allen says that we should have a clear mind and that we're not properly set up to capture all the ideas and data we receive. Allen goes on to say that productivity can be greatly increased by having a collection inbox for all the things that we think about and need to do on a daily basis. A high tech tool is needed to help collect information so we can focus on what needs to get done. Evernote lends itself particularly well for fulfilling this need.