The Only Organization App You'll Ever Need
I'm all about organization and productivity. If you're reading this, I assume you are too. I've used a number of different organization systems from notebooks to CRM's to Google Docs, but I've finally found one app that has everything I need to consolidate my busy life and to keep track of my array of interests. The app is called Evernote and no, this is not a sponsored post. I truly love Evernote so much and it's changed my life so I wanted to share all about it with you today.
What is Evernote?
Evernote is an app designed for note taking, organization, and task management. According to Forbes, "Evernote is a powerful tool that can help executives, entrepreneurs and creative people capture and arrange their ideas." The great thing about Evernote is that anyone can use it for whatever their note taking and organizing goals are. In Evernote, you can create a "Notebook" (virtually of course) and fill each notebook with your notes. Here's a look at my notebooks to give you an idea:
The notebooks I've created are specific to my interests and needs (like my photography business and this blog), but you can create notebooks for anything. For someone else, their notebooks might look like: Household Projects, Knitting, Recipes to Try, Home Inspiration, Movies to Watch, etc. The options are endless and the notebooks will reflect your interests or hobbies.
Inside of each notebook, you have your notes. You can make as many notes in each notebook as you want. And as far as I know, you can have as many notebooks as you want too. Here's an example of what one of my notes looks like inside of my Buddhism Notebook. You can also see some of the other notes that are inside of this notebook, which are in the gray middle column.
Example of a Note in a Notebook:
Within your notes, you can take basic notes like I have shown above, or you can even add charts and graphs when needed. Here are a couple of examples:
Example of a checklist in Evernote:
Example of a table in Evernote:
You can also link one note to another note in Evernote. If you look at the table above, that is one of my notes in Evernote. But you see the client names all in green on the left side of the table? Those are all linked to other notes so that each name goes to the client's profile. I use this chart and the linking capability for my photography business, but this could just as easily be used for keeping track of other things like the books you've read, trips you've taken, DIY projects, or any other type of project. These are just a couple of the fun, useful tricks I've learned in Evernote but I'm sure there are even more features to discover.
Why You Need Evernote:
Having all of your notes in one place. Instead of having your notes and documents on multiple online platforms (e.g., Google Docs, Trello, Asana, Word Docs, etc.) or physical notebooks, having all of your notes in one place makes your life so much simpler and better organized. You don't have to worry about where you put a note because all of your notes are nicely consolidated in your online notebooks. The best part? If you need to find something specific, just type it into the search bar. As you can see above, I have 13 notebooks on Evernote so far. If I were to have 13 physical notebooks, I can't imagine ever finding what I needed. Or if I did, it would definitely take a lot longer.
Having your notes with you wherever you go. Unlike physical notebooks, you can always have all of your notes with you since Evernote is both an app on your phone an a website. I love the convenience of having all of my notes with me all of the time because no matter where I am, I can update my notes and make adjustments as long as I have an internet connection.
Having unlimited space. In physical notebook, I will eventually run out of pages whereas on Evernote, I can create as many notes as I want and not have to worry about running out of room.
The Cost:
I'm on Evernote's free plan, which gives me access to having as many notebooks and notes as I want. I've had Evernote for a few months and so far I've been loving the free plan. Evernote also offers paid plans, which include their Personal Plan for $7.99 per month and their Professional Plan for $9.99 per month. Both of the paid plans offer the ability to connect to your Google Calendar, due dates, reminders, and notifications to your tasks, which are all things I would like to have in addition to the free features. I'm not willing to pay for those extra features yet, but I could see upgrading in the future.
The Bottom Line:
So far, I've been using Evernote to keep notes about this blog, my photography business, my daily journal, and random hobbies and interests and I looove it. I can honestly say that Evernote has changed my life for the better. Since using this app, I've become much more organized and productive in both my every day life and my business. I seriously can't imagine my life without it at this point. I hope you give Evernote a try because I know it will help you tremendously as well!
Your gal,
Kayla
