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Monday, July 21, 2014

Live with Less: Evernote


I used to be addicted to sticky notes. There I said it and I am sure I am not alone.

I had stacks of them in every color and would stick them to the back of my phone with to-do lists on them. I would use a pink sticky for Boho things, a yellow one for personal things, a blue one for work things, you get the idea. I would have a whole rainbow of notes hanging off my phone case at all times.

Then selfies became a thing and I had to find a new place for my notes so they wouldn’t end up in all my pics (such a first world problem, I know). I started carrying cute notebooks of various portable sizes, but instead of writing my to-do lists on the book pages, I would still write them on sticky notes and then stick those to each page. I just could not break the sticky note habit!!

That is until I decided that I needed to lighten the load in my bag. I was carrying around too much stuff and the notebooks were weighing me down! I moved towards keeping notes IN my phone, in an effort to live with less and stop carrying around so much stuff (not to mention losing important notes to myself). I started using the Notes app that came preloaded on my iPhone. It was ok, but not easy to search or edit. When I used it for to-dos, once a task was complete, I couldn’t cross it off like I did on my stickies. I had to completely delete it from the note, which just does not feel as good. I like to look at my list at the end of the day and feel good about all the scribbled out items. You know?

Then I discovered Evernote. At first, I used Evernote as a separate place to keep notes when I was on a journaling kick. At the end of each day I would type out a few things that happened and something I was thankful for as an exercise in gratitude. I liked how I could search through Evernote way easier than searching through the regular Notes app.

A few weeks ago, I finally upgraded all my apps and realized Evernote had added all these fancy features including the most wonderful thing ever….the checklist! Now every day I make myself an Evernote list and check the box of every task I accomplish through the day. I love a check marked list. I love a list in general which is why I dedicated last week to lists and still can’t seem to stop writing about them.

Another thing I love about the Evernote app is, I can schedule myself reminders for future things and don’t have to keep them on a list for a week. So next week, when I need to remind Evan about something on the calendar, I can set up a reminder that will automatically be emailed to me in the morning. That way I can add it to that day’s list and don’t have to look at it for a whole week.

I am sure there are a million features of the Evernote app that I am not using just yet, but it is so nice to have all my lists and notes in one place, reminders for things that would have been a whole separate sticky note, a place to journal that is always with me, and no more stickies all over the place!

If anyone out there has good Evernote tips, I would love to know them! Using this handy app is just one way I have tried to use the resources I have to learn to live with less!


Do you have an app that you use to minimize the clutter of notes and reminders everywhere?

8 comments:

  1. I love making lists. So much that making lists is a to do list item for me everyday. I constantly have my gmail open in browser form and use an integrated chrome app called "Any.Do". This fancy feature is also in app form for iphone and Android users. So whether I add a to do list item via the web or my phone they sync and are waiting for me to mark them complete. I love it. I have heard great things about Evernote and admit have not tried it. Glad to hear it is working out for you and new features is a bonus!

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    1. I have heard good things about Any.Do will have to check it out. I am a list lover for sure!

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  2. I typically will just use the "Notes" app that comes with the iPhone and things are all over the place! But I think I'm going to try out Evernote to see if I can keep things a little more organized. :-)

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  3. I seriously am so obsessed with Evernote. The latest updates just make it even better! I use it to draft big, photo-heavy posts when I am travelling.

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  4. I use the Reminders feature (app? iPhone? not sure...) because it has the color coded and search features, but it does delete the finished items which I don't like. Downloading Evernote now!

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    1. I have a somewhat old phone, so I don't know if I even have reminders, lol. One day I will upgrade....one day.

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