As I’ve written about before, Evernote can be easily overwhelming with how many things you can do with it. However, as I focused in that post primarily about how to use Evernote with the information you already have put inside of it, here’s the six ways I send information to Evernote (in order of most frequently used).
IFTTT
I almost forgot to add this to my list because it happens in the background. ifttt.com is a great online automator. Basically, it lets you make “rules” with different online services to follow a pattern of “if this, then that”. For example, IF you send out a tweet, THEN IFTTT can post that tweet to Facebook, or archive it into Evernote.
I primarily use IFTTT with Evernote in order to archive memories. I have a rule (or “channel” as they call them) for pictures from my and my wife’s Instagram accounts to be sent to Evernote and tagged with our memories tag. This allows me to keep all of the pictures we felt were the best to describe a moment or event to be stored longterm in Evernote.
Email forwarding
I use email forwarding countless times a day. It’s so much easier than copying the text and pasting it into an Evernote note (especially from my phone). Although I use it for other things as well, I primarily use email forwarding for my receipts. I’ve written about how I handle physical receipts before, but with emailed receipts (such as Amazon) it’s very easy to forward them to my Evernote email with the tags and notebooks already in the subject field so it’s immediately filed away properly in Evernote.
Drafts
This app is only for iOS, but if you have an iPhone/iPad, it’s an amazing tool. It allows for you to quickly take written notes and then send them wherever you’d like with preset outputs. These actions can be as simply as composing an email, or sending a text to a predetermined group, or they can become complex with markdown compatibility, and even sending to Evernote with predetermined tags and notebooks. This has been very helpful for me for updating ongoing lists in Evernote or for common notes from meetings I take or blog posts ideas where I want to use the same tags or notebooks so I can simply send my notes to Evernote in one tap and have them filed aways properly with very little work on my end.
Web clipper/extensions
This is the beginning of my use drop off. A few times a week I’ll use the web clipper on the computer, or an extension on my phone. Thankfully, the extensions have gotten some major updates so they now allow for tagging and to choose a notebook which makes them much more useful.
Launch center pro
Although I only use this once a week for Evernote, I have an action in LCP (an iOS app) that will take a picture and then create an Evernote note with that picture with a performed title and tags so I can keep an ongoing record of our church services. I’m sure this type of service could be more useful for others (a daily picture challenge anyone?), but that’s how I use it with Evernote.
Widget/App
I figured I really should mention Evernote’s widget and app as it’s the classic way to input information. It’s definitely the most effective if you’re creating a note that doesn’t follow a normal tagging system or notebook filing, but for the most part, I rarely use this method anymore because of all the other automated options there are.
I hope this helps you get your important information into Evernote as they have me. I’d love to hear if you have any great ways you get information into Evernote or if you have questions on any of my specific methods. Feel free to let me know in the comments below!