Tool of the Week: Evernote

Evernote is a free app for windows, pc, and smartphones, and is a great way to remember stuff.

Evernote Screenshot

For research:

  • I love being able to quickly snap screen shots of plots and clip them to Evernote, with a description of what's going on and what i'm working on daily.
  • I can easily e-mail a note to my advisor so he can see what I'm working on too.
  • Evernote has an export function which is perfect for being able to archive your research notes.
  • It is fully searchable making finding something that you know you did but forgot what the result was a breeze.  Evernote even recognizes text in your pictures making them searchable too!!
  • I love being able to take pictures with the Evernote smartphone app and then jot some quick notes, and keep moving.  This is great when i'm changing experiment setups and need to remember a measurment

For Personal Life:

  • I use Evernote voice notes to help me remember stuff on the fly.  I simply dictate into the phone what i need to remember.  I also have used the record feature at Choir practice to help me remember my parts!
  • Sometimes if i have a bottle of wine or a really good beer that I really liked, i'll snap a photo of it and jot down a few notes, including where i got it.
  • Recently, as I've started applying for jobs I'll clip job positions to a separate notebook in Evernote as i'm searching, and then go back and review them in Evernote.

I'm sure there are a lot more uses for Evernote that I haven't mentioned here.  If you use it, let me know how you use Evernote, and if not: I'd highly recommend you check it out!