David Allen the author of Getting Things Done famously said “your mind is for having ideas, not holding them” and this is how to effectively use Evernote to solve that problem.
During the day (and often at night as well) we are bombarded by ideas, some useful, some just interesting and some a waste of time. The problem with the useful and interesting ones is making sure that you remember them, not only in abstract but also in detail. It is rarely effective to act on them straight away and so, all to often, we try to store them away somewhere in the grey matter between our ears. One of two things then happens. Either they remain at the “front of our mind” distracting us from the most important thing we should be doing at that moment or we tend to forget them, or at the very least where they originated.
This is where Evernote comes in for me. Full disclosure, I have no commercial affiliation with Evernote (although happy to speak if they are reading this blog) I am just an enthusiastic user.
In my case ideas tend to come from three main areas:
- Something I have seen or read – either online or in a book.
- In person – either speaking with someone or at a presentation of some description.
- Out of a “clear blue sky” – usually around 03:00 a.m.
The great advantage with Evernote (other note taking apps are available) is that, as I am joined at the hip to my mobile phone I always have the ability to capture that idea, partially or fully process it and then no longer rely on my brain. The whole event takes seconds and I can then return to the idea when it moves up my list and becomes important.
This is how it works for me:
Anything online can immediately be linked to Evernote via the share function on my iPhone, iPad etc. It’s as simple as clicking the share button, clicking on Evernote and it goes straight into the Evernote inbox. I can put it in the correct folder and add tags if I have time or do that later. If you use something other than an Apple device then I understand that it is just as simple.
Anything from any other source I can simply open Evernote, give the note a title, type or dictate the idea and then process it later.
One of the many joys of Evernote is the search function, where even if I have not processed the note I can simply search for it using any part of the text.
Regularly, usually once per week but sometime more often, I file all the notes that are sitting unprocessed in the inbox. All the ideas for blogs or projects I am working on for clients are thus captured and easily recovered. Nothing is lost and my brain is clear and I’m not worried about forgetting anything.
There are many other uses for Evernote but the above is a great start and is really effective.
Remember, as David Allen says “the mind is for having ideas, not holding them” and I would add to that “it’s no point having ideas if you can’t recall them when you need them.”
It works for me and I’m sure it can for you too.
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