As a professional, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by everything on the workday to-do list. That’s why starting with the foundation of having an easy and efficient organizational system is key to keeping myself on track. 

Although there are many productivity apps out there aimed to maximize your effectiveness, I’m going to focus on using Evernote and why I choose to use it. In short, it’s helped me manage, organize, and retrieve the information I need to be successful. I have a great blog post about the history of Evernote here. But if you’d like to learn more, keep reading. 

Using Shortcuts for Easy Access to Lists

It’s easy to drown in a sea of notes, especially if your job involves note-taking for meetings, calls, and projects. And although drowning is easy, finding the bits you need is much, much harder. 

Luckily, Evernote gives you the ability to add shortcuts to the notes and notebooks you need every day. Let’s say you’re working on a current project, one with many moving parts. Evernote lets you add a shortcut to every aspect, so you can reference the information you need at a moment’s notice. The same goes for your daily to-do list. The best part is you optimize the organization system for yourself! 

Task Feature

This feature for adding tasks really keeps me on track when I’m juggling a bunch of projects at once. With Evernote’s tasks feature, you can:

• Organize each task by its due date
• Set reminders
• Flag what requires priority

You can even keep your tasks in multiple notes sections. This feature has saved my life when prioritizing my workload and ensures that I make deadlines. Plus, the tasks feature is easily accessible from my sidebar, aiding in a nice and streamlined workday. 

Organizing By Notebooks

Evernote offers various tiers of organization for your notes, starting with a stack, then a notebook, then notes. This way, you can keep all of your information neatly separated. Separation is a great way to avoid distractions when you need to focus. 

The way you name and organize your stacks and notebooks is up to you, so you can personalize it in a way that makes the most sense to your workflow. For example, I can quickly separate my personal stack from my work stack. 

This feature can offer more effectiveness for freelancers or consultants, who have to bounce back and forth between different projects for different teams. This way, you’ll never have to worry about note cross-contamination.

Web Clipping and Annotating

Evernote makes it simple to take a screenshot of a web page and annotate it instead of taking notes separately. This feature is excellent for everyone but especially fruitful for any visual learners. You can add articles, web pages, or PDFs right to your notes. You can even highlight and annotate right inside Evernote, so you never lose critical information. 

Before, if I needed to reference information I took on the web, I’d have to shuffle through my files and search for what each note was referencing. Otherwise, I’d have to waste paper and print extensive amounts of paper to annotate the old school way. 

Staying Organized Every Day

Making Evernote a part of my everyday organizational system has helped me be more efficient in my professional and personal life because now I have all the information I need in one place. 

Before, I was constantly wasting precious seconds searching for information I needed to complete various tasks. Now, I am more prepared and confident in my ability to accomplish what I need to. If you’re interested in transitioning to Evernote, reach out to me for more information!