• View Options
• Naming Your Notes (important!!)
• Searching not turning up something you know is there?
• How do you rename a tag or Notebook?
• Adding tags to multiple Notes.
• Annotate a note
• Shortcuts, oh how I love thee
• Sharing a Notebook with someone else

View options.
You have three options for viewing your Notes: List, Snippet, & Thumbnail. Hands down, I prefer the snippet (middle) view. You get both text and a visual image. Within the view, you have several options for sorting but I prefer sorting by Title.

Naming Your Notes (important!!)
Whether you sort by title or not, you’ll want to pay attention to what you name your Notes. It’s just like naming file folders! Even, nay, especially when you click that little elephant icon to save a webpage and it autofills the name of the Note. Make sure the title begins with the letter that makes the most sense.

Look at how this one was automatically saved (a product I’m going to check out called Document Guard):

It automatically titled the note:
Partner Programs, Affiliate Program, Specialist Program | Document Guard (yikes!)

I changed it to:
Document Guard — Affiliate Program (rock it with some cut and paste so that it shows up under “D”)

It’s worth the 5 seconds to change the title!!

Searching not turning up something you know is there?
You can search for a Note via search field (upper right of screen) or by clicking on a tag (under Notebooks in left sidebar). If nothing turns up and you know there’s a note with that name exists, then check at the top of left column and make sure that “All Notebooks” is selected.

How do you rename a tag or Notebook?

To rename a Tag or Notebook, (Mac) Ctrl + click, or (Windows) Right click on the name.

Adding tags to a multiple Notes.

With a bunch o’ Notes selected, click on a tag and drag it over to one of the Notes. That tag will be applied to all of them.

Annotate a note

To add a comment or note on a screenshot that you’ve saved, you can:

1. type inline if the website page saved is text based. (Tip: Use a different color so it stands out.)
   OR
2. if the page is image based, you can add a table with 1 Row and 1 Column that spans 100 % of page. Then you can type your notes in that. (see example)

Shortcuts, oh how I love thee

Evernote’s keyboard short cuts for:

• Mac OSX
• Windows

Sharing a Notebook with someone else

Say I want to give my assistant editing privileges to a Notebook called “for Shawn to comment”. The idea being that as assistant is surfing the www, she finds and saves websites that are relevant to my business in this Notebook.

Share a view-only Notebook by (Mac) Ctrl + click, or (Windows) Right clicking on the name and selecting Share Notebook.

Minor glitch.

Up to this point in our discussion, Evernote has generously been a free, no-cost program. The share feature in the free version, however, is limited to granting View Only status.

Premium service

If you upgrade to Premium, $5.00 per month or $45.00 per year, you can grant editing privileges. **This is the only feature that floats my boat in the Premium service.**

Back to sharing Notebooks with another special someone

My work-around to this limitation was to just give my assistant access to my entire Evernote account.

That’s just about it, folks.

There are, of course, all kinds of other things you can do with the program that I haven’t explored. I’m not a super gadgety type of person, I like the basic functionality of an easy-to-use program.

There’s a fine line between

1. learning new stuff just because you can and someone had a cool idea AND
2. making sure your tools stay in the position of working for you with minimal maintenance.

On that note, go get Evernote working for you and let us know what additional organizing functionalities help you!

You can add simple lists, images, photos, audio files and screenshots.

• Its platform is uber-flexible: Mac, PC, online-based, Android, Blackberry, iGadgets (iPhone, iPad).
• You can use it online or offline and it syncs between the two automatically.
• You can send clips to it from anywhere on your computer.
• It has both list and image based view options for the visually oriented.
• It’s free!

(Discliamer: I’m not an affiliate for Evernote or connected with them in any way besides being a user of their program.)

Is it for you?
If you glean a lot of resources from the internet, I’d say it’s a must. Bookmarking and folders in bookmarking only go so far. My experience has shown that these get big and unwieldy and then you never want to look at them again. Not helpful. The difference with Evernote is that you have multiple sorting options which make finding and accessing info much easier.

If you are brand new to Evernote, check out this quick tutorial for setting up your desktop program and your online account (you do both for syncing). The tutorial also shows you the basics of creating new notes.

Once you have it set up, let’s look at your options for organizing and viewing info in the program. The goal is for you to have meaningful lists with minimal maintenance. I’ll also point out tips that have made my list life easier.

The method I use the most for creating new notes is in Safari, my web browser. Click the little elephant icon to the left of your address bar to save a page.

There are 2 main tools for sorting info in Evernote:

1. Notebooks. These are collections of notes on a particular subject. Each Note can belong to one Notebook.

   Here’s a partial list of the Notebooks I have set up. You’ll customize yours based on your business and projects:

   • Biz models
   • Blog post ideas
   • Book related
   • How To’s
   • Inspirationals
   • Marketing
   • Resources for biz dev.
   • SoMe ideas (i.e. Social Media)
   • Studies and research

2. Tags. These are keywords or descriptors that you can assign to Notes. You can assign multiple Tags to a Note. (A list of tags you’ve used shows up under the list of Notebooks in the left column.)

Here’s an example of using both Notebooks and Tags: In Safari, I clicked the elephant icon to save a link to a webpage with Mac keyboard shortcuts for Evernote, then

filed it in the Notebook called How To’s, and
tagged it: Mac, HowTo, ShortCuts, Evernote

TIPS

In the interest of not having a post that’s a mile long, the tips are in the post called Specific ways to maximize use of Evernote to organize lists for your small business. Subjects include:

• View Options
• Naming Your Notes (important!!)
• Searching not turning up something you know is there?
• How do you rename a tag or Notebook?
• Adding tags to multiple Notes.
• Annotate a note
• Shortcuts, oh how I love thee
• Sharing a Notebook with someone else

Go to Specific Ways post.

For reference, the other Zones are:
Zone 2 = reachable from your chair
Zone 3 = in the office, have to get out of your chair
Zone 4 = out of office storage

While the desktop is frequently the catch-all for stuff that we don’t know what to do with or forget about, here’s why I believe it’s so important to treat that surface like the prime real estate that it is:

1. It provides the perfect opportunity to indicate your intention.

   Let’s get deep here for a few sentences. Ultimately, the natural professional works with a clear and unobstructed channel of intuition. Clutter clogs the channel. Period. End of story. It doesn’t matter if you don’t think you’re accessing your intuition in your work much—that’s why it’s important to indicate your intention and open the space.

2. Besides, reclaiming your immediate workspace helps:
   • your brain focus by minimizing distractions,
   • your flow by having what you need in easy reach, and
   • your mind settle by removing incomplete projects.

What’s allowed in Zone 1 (the table image is an actual representation of my work table):

• computer
• telephone
• certain supplies that you use a lot. For me this means: a selection of pens that I like to use, a mechanical pencil + eraser, paperclips, post-it notes, scissors, stapler, letter opener.
• Additional items may live here as long as they earn their keep and add to the look you want your office to have: bills to pay holder, printer, current project files, Easy Access binder/files containing useful lists and info, computer speakers, small scanner, current journal + drawing journal

What doesn’t belong:
Unsharpened pencils, random people’s business cards, toys that your kids left there, unlabeled DVDs, phone book (unless you use it frequently), box of thumb tacks, scraps of paper with passwords, paid bills, files you worked on last week, and the broken flashlight waiting to be returned.

All those are distractions. Your brain does a decent job of tuning them out after a day or two, but this stuff still takes up mental and psychic space.

Some questionables and exceptions:

1. You may decide that some things used all the time don’t belong in Zone 1 for aesthetic or space-limitation reasons.

   For example, even though my printer’s frequency of use could earn it a home in my Zone 1, this clunky, old-school-computer-beige monstrosity is so bloody ugly that it’s relegated to an easy-to-reach, under-the-table troll abode.

2. A plant doesn’t get “used” in your workflow, but if it makes you happy, then it’s a great thing to have there on your desktop.
3. Some small items don’t get used everyday, but right there in easy reach is the most handy place for them. The letter opener is a perfect example of this. I pick up my mail at the PO Box once or twice a week, and that’s the only time I use the letter opener. Due to how my office is set up, i.e. minimal drawers, it makes the most sense to keep it in Zone 1.

Making a ton of rules would defeat the purpose of using this as an easifying tool. What I’d love for you to get from this is a newfound motivation to treat your desktop like prime real estate and have a clear understanding of what is allowed to live there based on your situation.

I was at her house a couple of days ago for some concentrated pow-wowing on the Zones section of the online program.

She had taken off for an appointment and I was ready for some caffeine.

Not too long ago they got one o’them high tech Nespresso machines that uses “capsule technology”. No more waking up your spouse or kids running the coffee grinder! No more coffee grinds to coat your sink! Just drop the capsule of coffee in the machine, push a button and voilà! A perfect little cup of espresso.

Except… I couldn’t quite remember how the thing worked. I’m used to the old school Italian stovetop variety espresso maker that I got used to when I lived in Italy 20 years ago.

I knew there was a an instruction booklet and flavor list that came with this mini-Cadillac—I’d seen it when they were learning how to use it.

Caffeine is a wonderful motivator. Just think if it was a dish washer that I couldn’t figure out. I’d have given up saying, “I’ll just wait ’til she gets back.”

I stood there staring at the machine. “hmmm,” I thought, “being the Simplifier that she is, I’m guessing that she’d put the instruction booklet and flavor list nearby.”

I looked to the left. Nothing.
I looked to the right. There’s a stand up basket with a folder in it. Guess what was in said folder: instruction booklet!

That is seriously the best thing ever. Have a machine that takes a little learning and the How To lives close by yet unobtrusive. Sweet.

I’m also posting this here to experiment with using the WordPress video uploader and poster. Please let me know if you have ANY difficulties viewing. Thanks!

(This one is hosted on Flickr and it would appear that the last few seconds were cut off.)

Great question!!! As much as I don’t want everything cordless (and thereby adding more little invisible waves of mystery flying through the air), I fantasize about ditching all the cords on my desk.

Remaining in fantasy land leaves us committed to some late 20th Century technology and exploring the wondrous world of cord management.

Here are 4 types:

You can bind cords together with velcro ties, available at Staples (in store) in multi-color packs.
$3.99 for 5

There are also reusable cable ties. $14.29 for 25 pack

The around-the-house version of these are twist ties and pipe cleaner.

For easier access to the cables, for ex. if you end up moving them somewhat regularly, then a split device is good.

The flex tube looks like a corrugated tubing except that it’s split all down the side for easy access. $10 for 6 feet

They also have a clip variety. $3.79 for a 6 pack

The around-the-house version of this one is using empty (or not!) paper towel or toilet paper roles. And you can decorate these for a bit of creative expression, to match the decor, or just for fun.

Design-y options are available, too, especially for smaller and individual needs. Here are 10, 9 of which I’d never seen before, in a blog post on Mashable.com called 10 Cool Cable Management Solutions. There are some cable ties, the phone holder at the outlet doo-hicky, and some clever little gadgets to hold individual cords from slipping off the desk.

I currently have on my desk a raised dealie that the cords can pass under, thereby keeping them somewhat contained and sort of hiding them from site.

Wrapping it up (pun originally not intended but we’ll call it intentional for now), once you start making good progress on the clearing of your desk, you may find that the site of cords rambling across your desktop is now offending your aesthetic sensibilities.

Know that you’ve got options. You can spend big bucks or no bucks—whatever floats your boat. You’re in charge.

Beware and behave unruly cordage!

: : : : : : : : : :

Photo and image credit: Shawn