External Brain, Part 2

One of my very first posts was about my first steps toward creating my "external brain". Everyone has different bandwidth, but everyone has their limitations. Storing your information digitally allows you to choose what you will spend your energy remembering. Locally stored files are not easily indexable, searchable or shareable. Digital files are.

Evernote

Evernote is your digital filing cabinet in the sky (cloud). Notes are organized by Folders, which work more like binders, and Tags, which work more like folders with cross-reference capability.

Notes

Notes can simply be text, or contain attachments like photos or documents. You can type your text into the app, clip it from your web browser, or you can forward an email to capture the text. You can attach just about any file. Text in photos are searchable as are Microsoft Office documents, if you are a Premium subscriber.

Folders and Tags

I recommend limiting the number of folders to a dozen or less and tags to as few as you can manage. The search function in Evernote is pretty robust, folders and tags just help you get to frequently used data more quickly.

Upload, Upload Some More

What is really unique about Evernote is that they restrict you monthly upload size, not your total account size. Basic users can upload 60MB of content per month for free. Plus subscribers ($34.99/yr) can upload 1GB per month. Premium subscribers ($69.99/yr) and Business subscribers can upload 10GB per month.

Evernote and Email

Your Evernote account comes with an email address, so you can easily send information to Evernote through your email client. You can use "@" on the subject line to specify the target @Folder. You can also use the "#" symbol in the subject line to specify the target #Tag. One tip about emailing Evernote: The notes look better if the email is in Rich Text format; the HTML format emails become double spaced in Evernote.

Security

A brief word about security. Evernote has a 256-bit encryption so your data should be quite secure, provided you have a strong password, consisting of at least 10-20 upper case, lower case, numbers and symbols.

With so much to gain with Evernote for absolutely free, you really have nothing to lose. Just take a few minutes to think about the fewest number of folders that can contain all your data and the fewest number of tags you would want to search or link similar documents with and you will be ready to make serious efficiency gains with Evernote.

Stay well engineered,

Devon

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These statements or products referenced are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.