What I’m getting from your sharing is the ubiquitous capture being both searchable and quickly actionable.

Going back to one of the items in this posting, I think it does help for managers to consider the different “streams” of their workflow. Individual work and teamwork can differ greatly, they can blend or overlap, and we can’t minimize the personal support we get (which positively affects our work effectiveness) when we know that we have a good handle on our own “business of life.” Even if you only use a tool like Evernote privately, the better organization of your non-work concerns can help you feel far less stress.

Recently I had someone remind me to “let the experts do what they each are good at, and allow the partnership between them” when I lamented using two vendors for something instead of just one. It’s another way to look at productivity too, even when you are in a job, career, or Ho‘ohana where “it’s all personal.”

I scan work memos, training materials, and any document I might need to look up in the future into Evernote, health insurance information packs, etc. Then if someone wants to know about it I can quickly search by keyword that may be in the document and print it out for them or just let them read it. Evernote’s not exactly social, but notebooks can be shared with either specific people or shared publicly. I share some work memo folders with specific managers and require Evernote login so just anybody can’t wander past and read our internals.

Scanned memos are most helpful when someone wants to know what one said from six months ago I can search for a couple words in it and then read it to them. It has really enhanced my reputation as being very organized when I’m primarily a good tool user and search bar user. (It being able to search and index photos and pdfs never ceases to impress me.) As surprising as it sounds this has come up more than once where I’m only person who can put my hand on a memo sent out in December outlining the special/promo for January that will be paid out in mid-February and suddenly we get an e-mail asking “Were we paying 5% commission or commission based on beating goal by 5% anybody have the memo?” I wish I were kidding on that last one.
.-= ´s last blog ..What tech can’t I do without? =-.

So Rich, knowing how you manage other managers, I’ve got to ask: Do you use Evernote for work, and for any management tasks in particular?

Today at the gym I snapped name of the machine and named it 3×15@50 for 3 sets of 15 reps at 50lbs. It worked perfectly. When I got home I opened evernote on the laptop and there the information was to move into exercise journal. Phone, to web, to laptop and all seamlessly.

I also love that it will scan the text IN a photo. Chest Press was one of the names of the exercises. I didn’t type it, it was on the photo I took of the machine. Now, if I type in the search box “Chest Press” it’ll bring up that picture and I can see how many reps I did on that day etc. The Optical Character Recognition on the signs etc in the pictures is pretty good too.
.-= ´s last blog ..What tech can’t I do without? =-.

Will admit I was getting carried away for a while, head swimming in all the possibilities… I get what you mean about bookmarks. I can be an obsessive tagger, and have been looking for a better Delicious alternative for a long time. Happy not to have the sharing/community component in Evernote (or if there is one I’m ignoring it) and for now am simply excited about having a searchable and sync-easy inventory that’s a personal filing cabinet of sorts. Being able to tag the iPhone grabs is golden.

I still have bookmarked sites, but between RSS and evernote I would say my bookmarks are down to a 10th of what they were two years ago.
.-= ´s last blog ..What tech can’t I do without? =-.

Also… thanks to the combination of Rich’s article and a chat with my good buddy @ktoddstorch yesterday morning, I have spent the weekend falling in love with Evernote – wow. Will be very useful for me, and can see why so many people say they use it daily, for I am sure I will too.

Full-immersion all-in learning on a quiet weekend continues to be one of my favorite things!
‘Ike loa ~ the Hawaiian value of learning