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5 Ways Evernote Maximizes Your Organizing Potential — Guest post by Lorie Marrero

August 07, 2009 | Posted by Lorie Marrero in Tips and Stories
 
36 comments
 
Lorie IMG 041 Name: Lorie Marrero
Profession: Creator of ClutterDiet.com and author of The Clutter Diet: The Skinny on Organizing Your Home and Taking Control of Your Life.
Blog: The Clutter Diet
Twitter: @clutterdiet

Part of Evernote’s Summer to Unclutter Series

I have always enjoyed figuring out ways to create shortcuts and live more practically and simply. I started working as a Professional Organizer in 2000, but I saved up my allowance to buy a label maker when I was ten, at about the same time the teacher started asking me to stay in from recess to help other kids organize their desks.

The Clutter Diet is like “Weight Watchers for your house.” We have helped thousands of people in nine countries to affordably get their homes organized for about the price of a pizza. Earlier this year our book was released, entitled The Clutter Diet: The Skinny on Organizing Your Home and Taking Control of Your Life, available in all major bookstores. Now on to the list!

5 Ways Evernote Maximizes Your Organizing Potential

It’s amazing how this one organizational tool reinforces so many concepts that we teach our clients. Here are a few examples:

1. Evernote gives everything a home

Quick—can you tell me where your underwear is? I bet you can. Most people have a special drawer for their underwear, and most people know exactly where their toothbrush is, because those things have a specific home. We teach people that virtually everything in your house can have its own parking spot so you can find things quickly and easily. Evernote provides a home for every piece of random information you run across. Now you know where to look!

2. Evernote is everywhere

We professionals teach a storage concept called “point-of-use.” The idea is that you put the laundry soap next to the washing machine, and you store the pot holders right next to the stove or oven. Evernote works because it is available at all of your points-of-use, unlike your paper filing cabinet or even your My Documents folder. You can add to or access your Evernote data from your own computer’s desktop, from your smartphone, and from any computer via the web.

3. Evernote is great for lazy people

I always tell people that I am organized because I am lazy—I create systems because I don’t ever want to do things the hard way! Organizing reference information in the traditional ways is difficult. With Evernote, you just throw things into your notebooks, tag them with all of the related keywords you like, and search for them later. No big decisions, no guesswork, no doubts.

4. Evernote Helps You Make Quicker Decisions

All clutter, whether it consists of physical items or mental distractions, is about delayed decisions and actions. Your ability to get and stay organized is directly related to your ability to make decisions!

Ambiguous reference information slows people down because they face these questions and decisions in order to do something with it:

  • Should I keep this? I don’t need this right now, but I might need it later…
  • Where should I keep this? Should it be printed out and filed in my drawer? Should it be a Word document or an image file?
  • What should I name this? Should I title it “Car insurance” or “Auto insurance” or “Geico?”
  • How will I find this later? How am I going to remember what I named it and where I put it?

With Evernote, these decisions are no longer obstacles. You title it, tag it and forget it.

5. Evernote improves over time

I teach that the mindset of continuous improvement is one of the hallmarks of an organized person. One thing I love about using Evernote is that nearly every time that I search, I find things that I forgot I had and am delighted to rediscover. I continuously improve my data by adding better tags to notes as I run across them again. As you learn and expand your interests, you realize that there are more tags that help tie things together. Traditional paper filing systems don’t have this capability, and those systems typically begin to deteriorate immediately.

I use Evernote to…

Some of my favorite uses of Evernote include: capturing gift ideas, books to read, phone call and meeting notes, web pages, articles, tips and recommendations from friends told to me in passing, favorite quotes, blog ideas…I could go on and on…

 
 

August is Evernote’s “Summer to Unclutter” Month

August 05, 2009 | Posted by Ron Toledo in Friends and Partners
 
9 comments
 

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Have you ever felt like the guy in that picture? Well, then this month is for you.

Dealing with life’s clutter, physical and digital, poses a huge challenge for many of us. Even more difficult is finding a way to get organized and, most importantly, stay that way. Evernote is here to help. All month we will focus on tips, systems, and methodologies meant to cut life’s clutter.

To help you embrace the organizer within, we’ve enlisted a number of experts in the organization community to provide some priceless guidance. Look for guest posts throughout the month filled with great ways to use Evernote to maximize your organizational potential. We’re also planning an exciting, and somewhat unexpected, giveaway. Stay tuned.

Great partners. Great ideas.

Over the past year, we’ve partnered with some great companies that make decluttering your life a breeze. Here’s a look back.

  • Eye-Fi cards: Keep your digital photos organized with Eye-Fi and Evernote. Put an Eye-Fi Card into your camera, go through a quick setup process, and any photo you take will be wirelessly sent into your Evernote account. No cables. No docks. Just magic.
  • Shoeboxed: Shoeboxed is a service that will scan all your business cards and receipts. Stuff all that paper into an envelope, mail it to Shoeboxed and then easily import it all into your Evernote account.
  • Fujitsu Scansnap scanners: After a quick setup, a single button push sends your business cards, receipts, documents and anything else directly into Evernote. Great for getting rid of that paper clutter.
  • Pixily: Collect all your papers and place them into a pre-paid Pixily envelope. Once they get your documents, Pixily scans everything into your personal online account. From there, simply click on the “Send to Evernote” button and the scans shoot over to the notebook of your choice.

How does Evernote help you organize your world? Share a suggestion in the comments section below and stay tuned for lots of great content this month.