Tip of the Week: Evernote as a Productivity Tool

Smartphones are handy little devices for a lot of different reasons, not the least of which their availability when a note needs to be taken and the apps that are available for just that purpose. One of these apps, Evernote, stands a step above the rest, especially for use in a business setting. For our tip this week, we’ll go over some of the features that Evernote offers that can help out your business.

Evernote, Explained
Evernote is essentially a cloud-based virtual filing system that allows users to create and organize an assortment of file types, saving them as “notes” within “notebooks.” A variety of its capabilities make it well-suited to business use, including support on a computer and a mobile device, integrations with other business-friendly applications, and its capacity for collaboration.

Evernote is available in a few tiers, with a free version, a paid premium version, and another paid business-centric version. This final tier delivers a few features that are unique and useful to a business audience, such as administrative capabilities and Spaces, a means for direct collaboration. However, we’ll instead focus on the free version, which has plenty to offer a business user as well.

Speaking the Language
To better appreciate Evernote’s organizational capacity, it helps to understand its internal terminology.

• Notes - a note is how Evernote refers to any document, in any of the formats that Evernote plays nicely with. This includes typed-up text, content clipped from the Internet, or visual content.
• Notebooks - a notebook is what your notes are stored and organized in by category.
• Tags - a tag is a keyword that you can add to a note, allowing it to be searchable via that keyword. These keywords allow notes to be viewed as a collection, even if they exist in separate notebooks.

Openly Available Features
As we said, the free version of Evernote, while not designed for business use, has no shortage of features that a business user would find extremely handy for their work processes.

• Shareability - Any content that you have on Evernote can be shared with anyone else, whether or not that person also uses Evernote. While this power would need to be used responsibly in a business setting to maintain security, this could also be a useful feature to leverage.
• Assistant Compatibility - For those users who rely on Siri or the Google Assistant throughout the day, they can be used to navigate Evernote and edit your notes by voice command.
• Scrapbook-Style Note-Taking - If you happen to find pertinent content while surfing the Internet, Evernote also has a browser extension that lets you pull whatever it is into the correct notebook.
• Self-Management - Evernote offers various capabilities that can assist in organization. From to-do lists to built-in reminders, you won’t miss another deadline.

Is Evernote a good fit for your business operations? It could be! For any of your other IT-related questions or needs, don’t hesitate to reach out to Directive at 607.433.2200!