You and I both have a brain, and the brain can be quite a useful organ. However, there are times when my brain does not work as it should. It forgets. That's where Evernote comes in. It's my secondary brain.
A couple of years ago I tepidly started the process of using Evernote to organize a few notes, but it has since morphed into an irreplaceable application that houses notes, images, and documents of every type. You may have started using Evernote yourself, or you may be wondering why you should begin to use it. Below are a few the benefits of using Evernote both personally, and as an organization:
Searchability
Evernote's killer feature is its ability to search everything in your account and return the most relevant results. The search not only includes text, it includes text within documents, and even text within images. In my experience, searching for anything in my account has been remarkably fast and accurate. If I'm going to rely on Evernote to be my secondary brain then it has to be fast, and it doesn't disappoint.
Real world example: I was at a store the other day shopping for a treadmill. I found the treadmill that I was interested in and I took a quick snapshot of the price tag. Later, the next week, I wanted to recall the price of the treadmill. I did a quick search in Evernote for the brand name and it immediately pulled up the price tag snapshot simply because the brand name of the item was in the image.
Accessibility
If my secondary brain is going to be useful, it needs to be accessible wherever I am, much like my primary brain. Evernote is everywhere. I have the desktop application on my Mac, the iPhone app, the iPad app, and I can use the web app on any browser. Evernote also provides apps for Windows, Windows Phone, Android, Blackberry, Palm, and any other mobile device that can access the internet.
Real world example: I travel often and a few months ago I was traveling internationally. I saved all of my tickets, itineraries, insurance information, my scanned passport, and other important information I needed while traveling. Wherever I was, I could pull up anything I needed with my iPhone or iPad, even if I didn't have an internet connection. This proved to be much faster and more reliable than keeping a bunch of documents stuffed in my carry on. (Hint: As with any web service, make sure you passwords are secure and changed often)
Organization
If you're like me, you like to keep notes, documents, and images organized. Evernote makes this simple with the use of notebooks (folders) and tags. Any time you create a note, add a document, or take a snapshot you can immediately move it to the correct notebook and tag it for easy retrieval later. I have never had to search more than a few seconds for anything in Evernote because of these simple organization features.
Real world example: We use Evernote at Collision Media whenever we have a meeting with a client. Each team member always organizes client notes into a folder called "Client Notes", and we'll often tag the note for even more obsessive compulsive compartmentalization.
Could You Use A Secondary Brain?
If your brain functions perfectly and you never forget anything then Evernote isn't for you. In fact, I'd like to help you start a club for other people like you.
For the rest of us, we need a secondary brain. I've only listed a few of the features that Evernote provides. I hope you'll give it a chance and see how you like it. Most people can use the free, ad-supported, Evernote but, I prefer the added benefit of the premium version. If you already use Evernote, how does it work for you?
Posted on
Tue, April 5, 2011
by Tommy Bailey
filed under