6 Ways I Use Evernote

evernoteI have confessed my love and reliance on Evernote in the past. I’ve used it for years now and really would be lost without it… at least everything I have would be lost without it. A lot of people look at Evernote and use only a small portion of it or see it as just too much for their needs. The truth is, it can be as in depth and carry as big of a load as you’ll let it, but can also be a light weight, quick note taker.

Here are 6 ways I use Evernote on a regular basis…

Capture Blog Thoughts

When I get a blog idea or thought, I usually capture it in the Drafts app on my iPhone or iPad (this post started that way). From there, I can export it to a folder in Evernote called “Blog.” 99% of my blog ideas start with this folder. When the idea is imported from Drafts into Evernote, it gets the title of “Blog Idea.” Once I’ve completed the idea and written the post, the title of the note gets changed to the title of the particular blog entry. Once I post it, I add “Posted” to the top line of the article so I’ll know that the particular entry is complete. All blogs entries stay here… forever!

Back Up Important Documents

I do a lot of creating system documents and other things for our church. All of those files go into Evernote to back up. Sure, I back up my computer regularly, but I also back it up to Evernote. I’ve also found this helpful not just for in case of loss, but so it’s always with me. I can open up documents and projects that I’ve drug into Evernote from anywhere I go.

Travel Notebook

Evernote is a go anywhere app. With the premium version, I can even read and edit notes offline. This makes it great for travel. As I’m booking travel, I put all receipts and paperwork into my travel notebook. Later, when I need to remember the address for the hotel, I can click on it or copy and paste it into the maps app on my phone. This has saved me multiple times on getting confirmation numbers! Once the trip is over, I slide needed receipts into a receipts notebook and delete what I don’t need.

Takeout Menu Keeper

I’m not an “order the same thing” every time I go somewhere kind of guy. I like trying new things at restaurants. When we order takeout, I can always access the picture I took of the to-go menu in Evernote. It’s quick to recall and makes it much easier than trying to remember what the restaurant has or the price of items. I’ve sent takeout menus to a bunch of people from the Evernote app!

File For Clipped Articles

I use Pocket to quickly save something to read later. If I liked the article and want to permanently file it, I send it to a Clip, Link, & Keep stack in Evernote. Within this stack, I have notebooks divided by topic. Depending on what the article I want to keep is about, I file it in the appropriate notebook. Later, when I want to find something, I have a notebook to look to for quick access.

Sermon File System

As a teaching team, we keep all of our thoughts and sermon series outlines in shared Evernote notebooks. Personally, I have notebooks for funerals, weddings, Sundays, and Other. Every time I preach or officiate, I put what I did into these notebooks for keeping. I also create sermons in Evernote and preach straight from the Evernote app on my iPad.

These are just a few of the uses I’ve found for Evernote. I’d love to hear your system and what you use. If you’d like more ideas, I’d be willing to share those with you or in a future post, just leave a comment below.


Comments

6 responses to “6 Ways I Use Evernote”

  1. William Brown Avatar
    William Brown

    Great article. I have an evernote stack for quotes that I want to remember or possibly use in sermons. I try to tag the quotes for easy searching later. I am interested in some of the sub-organization you have within your stacks. For instance: what are the subgroups in your “Clip, Link, & Keep” stack? How do you tag or organize your sermon ideas stack and your Project notebooks stack? etc.

    1. My groups in the clip, link, and keep stack are things like church and leadership, social media, technology, health, ebook, etc. Any “category” of things I may want to find later. I don’t use tags very well. I need to, but just never spent much time on them.

  2. Brandon Mills Avatar
    Brandon Mills

    You guys are inspiring me with Evernote. I’m still an unorganized user. I’d like to implement a similar setup to yours Jonathan to collect speaking topics, etc. Thanks for putting this out there.
    One way I use Evernote is with IFTTT to auto file tweets I favorite. I use them in a Tweets of the Week ice breaker with the youth to transition into our meeting time.

    1. I had a IFTTT account but hadn’t set up that channel. Just did. Great idea!

  3. […] Evernote is a service that I’ve talked about before and love for so many reasons. When an article strikes me as something that I need to “file” away for a long period of time, […]

  4. […] Jonathan Pearson offers additional insight into some of the more practical applications of Evernote here and here; you can find countless other recommendations on Forbes, Entrepreneur, and similar […]

Leave a Reply to Jonathan Pearson Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *