{"id":8021,"date":"2016-10-13T10:12:02","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T09:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.mentor.com\/colinwalls\/?p=8021"},"modified":"2026-03-26T16:50:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T20:50:00","slug":"using-evernote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/2016\/10\/13\/using-evernote\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Evernote"},"content":{"rendered":"

As it is a software tool [or a service, depending on how you look at it], that I use many times every day, it is surprisingly long since I last wrote<\/a> about Evernote. Overall, the benefit that I gain from using Evernote is a very flexible operating environment. I can work on my desktop computer [iMac] in my home office. Then, without really making any preparations, I can grab the MacBook and continue my work elsewhere. To a significant extent I can do this with my iPad and my iPhone as well. At a stretch, I could even work at any Internet-connected computer using a browser to access Evernote.<\/p>\n

There is almost no limit to the number of applications I find for Evernote, but I would like to highlight a few …<\/p>\n

The broad concept of Evernote is the idea of a \u201cnote\u201d. This is a document that can contain text [formatted or not] and images. Any number of other files, of any type, may be attached to a note. Notes may be grouped into notebooks, which, in turn, may be grouped into stacks. Along with tagging and powerful search facilities, Evernote provides a very flexible way to store and easily retrieve a variety of data. There are lots of ways that Evernote can be used and there is much discussion about which approach is \u201cbest\u201d. I have evolved the way I use Evernote in the 5 or 6 years since I first tried it and now tend to use quite a large number of notebooks, grouped into a few stacks. Each notebook typically holds a minimal number of notes. Many of my notebooks have a companion, with the prefix \u201cold\u201d on their name, into which I drop notes for which I have no further immediate use, but do not want to trash. They are, thus, available if I want them, but do not clutter my workspace.<\/p>\n

Here are some examples of my notebooks:<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a>Books<\/strong> [actually I have 2 notebooks, one for unread and the other for read books]. Each time I acquire a new book [usually on Kindle], I create a note and copy the \u201cblurb\u201d from Amazon. The note is tagged \u201cfiction\u201d, \u201cnon-fiction\u201d or \u201cbiography\u201d; a few notes, which are for books I plan to read soon are tagged \u201chot books\u201d. I use the note to record notes after I read it, which find their way into a blog.<\/p>\n

Recipes<\/strong>. I do quite a lot of cooking, a lot of which I can do without instruction. But I do use recipes sometimes, of course. I usually find recipes online and, if I like one, make an Evernote note. I use a \u201cvegetarian\u201d tag to help me find such recipes. Otherwise I just use the search facilities to look for what I need. Sometimes, when I am preparing a meal, I create a note in my Scratch notebook and copy in the recipes. I then add checkboxes, timings and maybe a shopping list.<\/p>\n

Travel<\/strong>. I have a standard, comprehensive template note for when I am traveling on business. It has checkboxes for everything and places to note details. I make a copy for each trip and complete it as I make arrangements. Relevant documents, like itineraries, boarding passes etc., are attached and are, thus, immediately to hand. I do the same thing for personal travel – just make a few modifications to the note, as required. When I am on business, I have another note in my Expenses<\/strong> notebook for each trip, where I note my expenditure and attach receipts etc.<\/p>\n

Events<\/strong>. I often participate in business events – conferences, trade shows, online seminars etc. Each one has its own note, where I keep all the contact details, web links, schedules. I also attach all of my materials – papers and presentations. So, I just need to open the event note on my MacBook or iPad [or even iPhone] and I am ready to make my presentation.<\/p>\n

Hopefully this gives a flavor of why and how I use Evernote. Although I am an enthusiast for the product\/company, I have no business interest in them. I am always on the lookout for alternatives, as there might be something even better out there. Microsoft OneNote is the best option, but it has a few limitations at the moment. My reservation with Evernote is mainly with the company, who sometimes take their time fixing little bugs in the apps and I am unsure of their long term viability. I try to remain open minded.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As it is a software tool [or a service, depending on how you look at it], that I use many…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71677,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spanish_translation":"","french_translation":"","german_translation":"","italian_translation":"","polish_translation":"","japanese_translation":"","chinese_translation":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[370,302],"industry":[],"product":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-8021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-evernote","tag-off-topic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71677"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8021"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10517,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8021\/revisions\/10517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8021"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=8021"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=8021"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=8021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}