Evernote: Organizing Your Life in Lists

If you’re like me, then you’re a list maker and a post-it note leaver.  It’s how I remind myself of important things I need to do in the morning when I wake up, things I need to stick in my purse before I leave for the day, and just how I remind myself to get tasks done.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed with the amount of notes and lists piling up everywhere in my room.  It had gotten to the point where I actually had too many and I just began ignoring them – they’d lost all meaning to me.  So I began toying around with the idea of using an app on my phone to stay organized.  And after trying several different ones, I gave in and downloaded one that I’d been avoided for quite a long time.

I can’t really explain why exactly I’d been avoiding trying Evernote for over a year.  I just hadn’t heard much about it, and what I did hear didn’t appeal to me, or it just didn’t make sense.  But after looking into it more and reading reviews of it, I decided to give it a try.  After all, I’d already been through several failed attempts at apps, what could one more hurt?  At that point, I was desperate for an organization system that would work for me, and perhaps this one would work.

I began by going to the app store on my laptop (I have a MacBook Pro), and getting the free app.  I went through the tutorial, and began.  I created several notebooks, including a “To-Do List” one.  In this notebook, I have a ‘note’ labeled for each day, which I bullet-point each task I have for the day.  I also have notebooks for my blog, where I have a running list of post ideas, links, quotes, etc., YouTube inspirations, an ‘other’ notebook, and a few others.

After creating my first few notes, I downloaded the app onto my phone, and synced the two apps together.  This way, anything updated on one app, automatically goes onto the other app.  I love this about the system.  It makes it much easier to stay organized and up to date with everything.

So far, my favorite aspect of Evernote is the ability to create the notebooks and organize the notes that way.  It makes me feel so much more organized since I know exactly how everything is stored.  Knowing that my task lists are always at my side is a great feeling, since I always have my phone with me, so I can always add or subtract from them if needed. 

I know I’m not using the program to its full ability at the moment.  That being said, if you have any tips or suggestions on how to use this program completely, let me know in the comments below.  I would love your help!

To all of you looking for a new way to get organized and are looking to do it electronically, I highly recommend this app/program!  I can’t believe I avoided it for so long!