P roductivity. In this world where time is at a premium, and we need to get more done in less time (ie: working smarter, not harder), productivity, which is the practice of making the most of your time, has become many people’s main goal in life.
Technology is one way to help us to be more productive. We have machines that make our bread, wash and dry our clothes, and wash our dishes (although mine’s making a funny noise, can someone remind me to call the repair guy?). Our smartphones, obviously, are one of the greatest productivity helpers (and, ironically, wasters) ever invented. We can now reply to emails, work on documents and take classes, all on our mobile device while we’re on the bus.
I’m sure you have apps you rely upon, and one of mine is Evernote.
Here are 6 ways Evernote can make your life easier:
1. It’s everywhere. One of the things I adore about Evernote is that is automagically syncs up on any device you have it installed on. I often use Evernote to jot down blog post ideas on my phone when I’m out in the big wide world. When I get home, and open up Evernote on my laptop, those notes will already be updated. It’s kinda cool.
2. Never forget the milk again. Evernote even syncs to other people’s phones. So, let’s say your significant something-or-other is picking up a few groceries on their way home from work. You can simply add ingredients to your “grocery shopping” note, and it will automatically be updated on their phone. No need for a phone call or a text.
3. Voice notes. Evernote has a cool voice note feature, where, if you have a chunk of text that you don’t want to type into your phone on that tiny keyboard, you can just say it into your phone, and Evernote records it as a voice note. It’ll even transcribe the note! I also use this feature when I’m doing interviews.
4. Clip stuff to read later. Web clipper is another great feature. Basically, if you’re at home and you come across a link that you don’t have time to read, but want to bookmark for later, you can simply use the Evernote Clipper extension. It saves the website in your Evernote for later, and even downloads it so you can read it when you’re offline–like on Transit, or waiting at the doctor’s office.
5. Never search for a business card again. Evernote has OCR technology built in that allows you to snap a photo of a business card, and file it away. You an then get rid of the physical, paper business card, and in the future, if you need to get in touch with that person, you simply search in Evernote, and it’ll find it for you. Cool, right? I need to do this with those stacks of business cards I have lying around… Learn more here.
6. Set alerts and send yourself reminders. You can program Evernote to ping you to go to yoga, pay or bills, remember to take the steaks out of the freezer, or call the dishwasher repair guy.
Bonus! I use a separate app called Evernote Food to keep track of restaurants I’ve been to, recipes, etc. for my food blog. It has social sharing features, as well.
Evernote is a great tool, and I’ve barely scraped the surface. If you want to learn more about this amazing app, and commit to a paper-free, productive and organized life, my pal Steve Dotto is offering a free webinar on it. I’m signing up, myself! There are quite a few time slots available. Check it out!
UPDATE: if you missed it, here’s the webinar replay.