Thinking about how I can use Evernote more effectively
Posted: - Modified: | kaizen, notetaking
Every so often, I go on a tagging and filing spree. It took me a couple of hours, but I finally cleared the 700+ items that had piled up in my Evernote inbox. I was thinking about how to get even better at this because Timothy Kenny told me how he has a virtual assistant file the notes in his Microsoft OneNote notebooks.
Is my filing really worth it? Is it something I value enough to pay someone else to do? Could I explain what I wanted clearly enough so that other people could do it? Could I benefit from organization even if I’m not the one organizing things myself?
Before I dig into that, I should probably examine this question: What do I use Evernote for, and what could “better” look like?
Here’s a quick summary of the different reasons I use Evernote:
| Type of note | Description | Organization | Improvements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sketchnotes | Collection of my sketchnotes for easy searching | Shared notebook, tagged by type | Fine the way it is |
| Inspiration | Interesting sketchnotes, images, and web designs | Notebook, tagged by technique | Tag and file when clipping, identify key areas of focus |
| Visual library | Visual thesaurus / sketches of abstract and concrete stuff | Notebook, titles updated, duplicates merged | Improve workflow – delegate titling? |
| E-mail archives | Keep important information no matter which e-mail inbox it’s from | None at the moment; notebook and tags | Tag and file when forwarding |
| People, conversations | Quick notes from my mobile | Notebook | Add full names; consider Evernote Hello for mobile input? |
| Ideas and thoughts | Quick notes from my mobile | Notebook | Should have weekly task to review and act on; separate from main Inbox? |
| Actions | Quick notes from my mobile, when I’m away from Org | Notebook | Should have weekly task to review and act on / copy into my Org file |
| Cooking | Recipes, usually with pictures | Notebook, tagged by technique or dietary considerations | Review periodically; update when cooked |
| Wishlist | Resources to buy after more consideration | None at the moment; tags, probably | Tag and file when clipping |
| Reference books | Books held by the Toronto Reference Library, to request next time I’m there | Notebook, search | Go to the library more often |
| Letters | Scanned letters so that I can review correspondence | Notebook, tagged by person | Fine the way it is |
| PDFs | Makes PDFs more searchable | Inbox, occasionally tagged | Use Web Clipper to specify tags and file in Notes right away |
| Blog posts / casual browsing | Interesting things that might be useful someday, especially for related items | Notebook | Use Web Clipper to file in Notes right away |
| Other sketches | Scanned sketchbook pages so that I can review | Notebook | Fine the way it is |
| Private notes | Things that I might want to remember or write about someday, but not yet | Notebook | Have an outline? |
| Blog post ideas | Inspiration, drafts, links, images, checklists | Notebook, some tags | Add links to outline? |
| Business and personal receipts | Back up business and personal receipts; possibly be able to search through them | Notebook; tags, or just use folders on my drive? | Decide where to do the organization; have an assistant retitle before import? |
| Blog research? | Clipped pages so they’ll show up in Google Search and related notes, and so that I can review them even if the source disappears (payoff > 2 years) | No organization; search by keywords or sourceurl: | Clip, but remove from inbox quickly |
I have different types of clipping activities:
- A. Researching a topic, which results in lots of clips related to a single topic. Usually in preparation for a blog post or as a way to answer a question.
- B. Casual browsing and clipping based on blog posts, news items, or other things I come across; roughly topical (ex: skill development), although may be tagged and filed in different places
- C. Saving reference material from email or websites, which should be filed
- D. Adding notes on the go using my phone, which should be reviewed and acted on or filed when I get back to my computer
- E. Automatically clipping things based on external input, using services like IFTTT to archive my blog posts.
There are several strategies I could use to manage my Evernote collection. I can choose different strategies based on the results that I want. Here are some possibilities:
- A. Spend a few extra seconds tagging and filing things when I clip them. Advantage: I touch something once, so I don’t have to recall the context of an item.
- B. Capture everything into an !Inbox, then file shortly after clipping. Advantages: I can select multiple entries and tag them give them the same tags, and copy all the note links in one go.
- C. Capture everything into an !Inbox, then file weekly. This is my current strategy. This isn’t working out too well – things pile up.
- D. Capture everything into an !Inbox, then teach someone to file.
I think strategy B will give me a good improvement in performance without me needing to bring in someone else.
One of the areas that I could generally improve in is integrating the notes into my outlines and plans. Instead of just collecting the information, maybe I can use Copy Note Link and then spend some time adding those links to my outline. Alternatively, I can copy the source URL right then and there, find where it fits into my outline, and paste the link. If org2blog respects comments, I could even use that as part of my workflow.
If I were to outsource more tasks in order to improve my effectiveness at learning, I think I’d gain more value from finding someone who can speed-read like I do, filtering through lots of cruft on the Internet to find high-quality resources. They could then clip those pages into Evernote for my review. That might be worth an experiment or two… Let’s find out how that works!