Evernote®: The unofficial guide to capturing everything and getting things done. 2nd Edition By Daniel E. Gold Evernote®: The unofficial guide to capturing everything and getting things done. © 2011 Daniel E. Gold All rights reserved. This document may be printed for personal use by the owner of the digital file. Otherwise, no part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Daniel E. Gold, Charlotte, NC 28270. Disclosure. Please note, I do not work for Evernote® and this eBook has not been endorsed by the Evernote Corporation. Inasmuch as I love to share my methodology and best practices, I hereby disclaim any and all liabilities for what you do to your Evernote account. I further disclaim any and all warranties, guarantees, and will not be held responsible for any loss of your data. EVERNOTE® and the Evernote Elephant logo and REMEMBER EVERYTHING are trademarks of Evernote Corporation and used under a signed Trademark License Agreement between Evernote and Daniel E. Gold. This eBook is furthermore not affiliated with, approved or endorsed by David Allen or the David Allen Company, which is the creator of the Getting Things Done® system for personal productivity. GTD® and Getting Things Done® are registered trademarks of the David Allen Company For more information on the David Allen Company's products the user may visit their website at http://www.davidco.com. Evernote: The Unofficial Guide to Capturing Everything and Getting Things Done, 2nd Edition © 2011 Daniel E. Gold, http://dangoldesq.com Page 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................... 4 Prologue ....................................................................................................................................... 5 About the 2nd Edition ........................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 1: Hungry for the Solution. ................................................................................ 9 Productivity App Overload ............................................................ 11 Chapter 2: In walks the Elephant. ................................................................................ 13 Getting Started in Evernote .......................................................... 15 The Master Travel Itinerary Note ...................................................... 17 The Master Meeting Agenda ............................................................. 18 Chapter 3: Implementing GTD in Evernote ............................................................. 21 Implementing the 5 Phases of GTD Workflow .............................. 24 Collect ........................................................................................... 24 Process .......................................................................................... 32 Organize ....................................................................................... 33 Tagging your way to GTD success ..................................................... 33 The Master Next Action Note ............................................................ 41 What about notebooks? .................................................................... 42 A special note about when to use your calendar ................................ 48 Evernote Note Linking and Your Calendar........................................ 49 Getting to “Zendone” ........................................................................ 50 Reminding Yourself with FollowUpThen.com .................................. 54 Projects ............................................................................................. 57 Organizing Clients with a Master Client Note ................................... 63 Review .......................................................................................... 66 Do ................................................................................................. 67 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 71 Appendix .................................................................................................................................. 72 Evernote: The Unofficial Guide to Capturing Everything and Getting Things Done, 2nd Edition © 2011 Daniel E. Gold, http://dangoldesq.com Page 3 Acknowledgments This is awesome. No, really – this is awesome. This eBook is about you. It's because of you. It is inspired by everyone who has ever commented on my posts, tweeted with me, or had a substantive exchange with me on Google+. You've all inspired me. You're the reason for this eBook and have provided me with unbelievable motivation. It is my sincerest of hopes that I can give back to you some sliver of inspiration that you all have given to me. So, my thanks to you! I also want to extend a very gracious thank you to my editor, Michelle Johnson. She did an amazing job fixing my grammatical errors and turning the PDF version into both Amazon and Barnes & Noble formatted eBooks. This eBook is dedicated to the love of my life – my wife. My number one fan. My biggest supporter. My best friend. Evernote: The Unofficial Guide to Capturing Everything and Getting Things Done, 2nd Edition © 2011 Daniel E. Gold, http://dangoldesq.com Page 4 Prologue The purpose of this eBook is to help your mind relax, allow you to breathe easier, and allow you to become more productive by being able to make better decisions by using Evernote® to help give you back control and become more productive by implementing best practices tied to the wildly popular Getting Things Done® (GTD®) methodology, which was developed by The David Allen Company. Why I am I qualified to write this eBook? Well, I don’t work for Evernote. I’m just a former practicing lawyer turned consultant for a global company for the largest law firms in the country. My passions include blogging about productivity on the side and helping people turn boring presentations into awesome works of art. My most important jobs though include being a husband and a father. I’ve used Evernote since 2008, and I’ve been implementing the Getting Things Done methodology since 2007. Between all my roles and responsibilities, I’ve leveraged Evernote to help me juggle my many roles to lead a successful life – one in which I strive every day to have balance and a mind like water. Evernote: The Unofficial Guide to Capturing Everything and Getting Things Done, 2nd Edition © 2011 Daniel E. Gold, http://dangoldesq.com Page 5 About the 2nd Edition It goes without saying that I am deeply humbled by the outpouring of support and encouragement I have received, quite literally, from thousands of people, which likely include each of you right now. I have learned so much from each of you about what must go right in the first update, what you would like to see more of, and everything in between. While I may not have captured everything, there are 30 pages added in this update. Here is a sampling of what has been added in this first update. 1) More screenshots 2) Additional explanation of Today vs. Next tags 3) Additional explanation of contexts 4) How you email notes to Evernote 5) What you do with emailed notes as tasks 6) More explanation on the Area of Responsibility tags 7) Further explanation of parent/child tasks 8) More information on the weekly review 9) The “Master Note” series! (I am personally very excited about this addition!) More on this below! a. The Master Project Note b. The Master Meeting Agenda c. The Master Travel Itinerary d. The Master Next Action Note e. The Master Client Note 10) An Appendix with downloadable templates! Evernote: The Unofficial Guide to Capturing Everything and Getting Things Done, 2nd Edition © 2011 Daniel E. Gold, http://dangoldesq.com Page 6 Introduction In 2007, I learned about a book that was taking on a cult–like following when it comes to getting more organized. I admit it – I needed something that would help. But how was this book any different than any other self– help book on the market? From everything I read online, I would be a fool not to buy the book. I'm certain you guessed it by now; the book is called Getting Things Done, by David Allen. Let me just say that this incredibly logical book rocked the very essence of who I am, what I do, and how I manage myself in both my ever increasingly complex job, at home, and everywhere else in between. It crushed my assumptions of how to manage my life. I reorganized my entire life – and to my wife's dismay, I even reorganized her filing cabinet! The idea behind the book is simple at its core: (1) make substantive lists of all the things you need to do broken down by where you are and organized by your areas of focus and responsibilities; (2) review these lists weekly to gain better control; and (3) put your date–specific commitments in your calendar. The practical application of this otherwise simple and logical system has caused the Internet blogs, forums, and social networking sites to light up like a switchboard. The unlikely result of David Allen's book is a monetized space that had been likely struggling for years. Think about it