Evernote: The External Brain
As a youngster I voiced my displeasure at a particularly painful headache to my parents. "Why is this happening!?" I yelled, "It hurts!" to which they replied "Well, the little man in your head that goes through all the file cabinets is very busy getting you information, sometimes he starts slamming them shut and that's why you get a headache."
This asshole sounded a lot like the guy in the mailbox, both of whom were relatives of that creepster in the fridge on light duty.
Now, as a jaded twenty-something, I know better than to ask those two anything, yet the image of countless rows stretching past imaginable distance is one that has remained. Day to day dealings involve massive amounts of information and while the little man is now replaced with a frenzied gibbon (he's upgraded to the Minority Report interface, truly a sight to behold) it's a concept I constantly revisit.
Endless information and all of it necessary. Tiny repositories both temporary and permanent that I need to have in hand's reach when the needs arise. Think tank, shopping lists, and more recently a database of details surrounding a job search. A call can come at any time and while the more mundane route of a pen and paper could certainly suffice for a quick lookup I've found an easier medium by which to navigate these information heavy archives. A singular solution like the ever present Moleskin but with meta rich tagging and scalable, universal access.
I've fully embraced the "external brain" that is Evernote.
Initially discovered as an iPhone app, Evernote first impressed with the ability to sync meta-tagged data be it text, voice, or photo. As I delved deeper in to the cross-platform solution a system unfolded that could combine limitless forms of input from wrinkled post it notes to wall mounted white boards. My "to read" list always at my side, job search particulars neat and tidy, and catastrophically unorganized "Ideas" folder archived and searchable.
At its core the Evernote account is remotely hosted, access offered by means of web interface or local app on your computer or smartphone. Notes of any form are synced throughout in a rich cloud of meta data from geographic location to OCR'd snapshots. Browser plugins allow entire web pages to be stored for later reference, local apps allow webcam video capture, and an account specific e-mail address can be utilized from outside the confines of your own machine. Evernote offers a modern backbone to the note taking process, a customizable road map to your information with directions specific as you want.
You can head over here to the official site for even more uses of this service, which exists in both free and premium ($5) formats, or hit the jump for a more in depth look at a few solutions I've been extremely satisfied with.
Access Used
- OSX Client
- iPhone App
- Firefox Plugin
To Read List
As an avid devourer of books I'm alway hungry for recommendations which can come at any time. Great to have a singular list on hand at all times.
This led to similarly formatted Movie, Music, and To Torrent entries.
Tags Used: Authors, Genre, Buy/Library
Recipes
Cook books are great, the Alton Brown inspired binder better, fully searchable database best. Not only can I search by what I have already entered and have ready access to an ingredient list in the store but there's no need to print out or transcribe on to recipe cards. The ability to save a website directly to Evernote, tag it accordingly, and review at my leisure has been invaluable as most of my recipes stem from the FoodNetwork's site or AllRecipes.com
Tags Used: Ingredients, Prep Time Needed, Source
Job Search
I'd previously used an Excel document to keep track of this process alongside a bunch of filters in my GMail account. Now I just save each position as a note and tag with all correspondence attached. If I want to narrow my information to a specific tag such as Need to Call Back, filtering is just savable search away. Pulling up info in the middle of the grocery store is manageable via the iPhone app.
Tags Used: Source, Location, Percent Travel, Left Voicemail, Applied, Need to Apply, Needs Followup, Created Web Account, Submitted Resume, Active, Inactive
Ideas
Whether for an article, blog post, or collaborative exercise with a friend inspiration can strike at any time. I used to carry around a Moleskin for ideas and know a lot of artist friends that do the same with a sketchbook. It's critical to harness creativity when it appears and having the ability to do so regardless of location is incredibly satisfying. I started a folder on my laptop after seeing a great talk by Adam Savage but it quickly became a collage of unmanageable pieces. Even with the 40MB/month upload limit on my free Evernote account I've been able to sort everything as it appears in to a manageable resource.
Tags Used: Artist, Format, Genre, Source, Medium
Technical Notes
I've lost track of the times that I've transcribed a network diagram or pinout to the front section of a notebook for quick reference. In the highly detail oriented business of proper syntax or wiring these notes are my bread and butter. Now I can snap a photo or save a PDF and access it from my smartphone or any machine with internet access.
Tags Used: Area, Format, Brand, Tools Needed
