Evernote is a multipurpose personal tool used to help people stay organized. Evernote is like a digital version of a “Trapper Keeper”, the 80s version of an organizer for school assignments and notes, but much more. It is a digital notebook, planner, and organizer of documents, projects, ideas, and events. It not only helps organize ideas and notes but is also capable of helping to manage projects and tasks through integrations with task management apps and productivity tools. The dashboard is also customizable to individual needs and personal preferences.
Evernote tool is not lacking for features. The Google Drive and Google Calendar integrations are key features in the personal and professional subscriptions in my opinion. Notes and notebooks can be used to record lecture notes (audio and written) or keep project documents and tasks all in one place. The note size is limited to 25 MB for the free version and up to 60 MB per month for uploads.
This tool is great for personal, educational, and business use. Most everyone will find this technology effective for taking notes (audio and written). Tagging content is also a nice added search feature. Notes can be tagged to find them later quickly and easily by the project name or other created tag name. The limited features and file size/storage limits in the free plan may be a barrier for users needing to include images and multiple documents in a note or notebook.
Evernote keeps clippings from websites, PDFs, images, and other documents related to your interests and needs. It allows you to jot down ideas on the go as they pop into your mind because it is available across multiple devices (limited to 2 devices for the free plan). Another advantage of using this digital solution as opposed to a physical solution (such as printed documents and clippings saved in a trapper keeper) is the ability to view content at any size desired and search for it later using the tag feature.
As a graduate student and full-time employee, the ability to create or edit notes on or offline from multiple devices, search key words including within handwritten text, images, and PDFs, manage all aspects of my projects and tasks in one place, and the ability to sync with my multiple Google Calendars make the personal and professional plans the most appealing to me.
It’s a little disappointing that many of the most useful features like task management and Google Calendar integrations are not available with the free version. However, the free version offers the note keeping and ability to attach images, documents, PDFs, and other items to keep in one notebook for quick access to related information (with file size/storage limits). The search and tag features, handwritten notes, record and play audio notes, note sharing and two-step verification security are also included in the free version.
This personal tool has the potential to increase productivity and efficiency by organizing notes, ideas, and tasks in one place. Mostly, the future outlook for this tool is good because it has a customizable dashboard, responsive design for desktop and mobile, easy to use, and has sharing and collaboration potential for use in personal, work, and/or school environments. As iPads or tablets are integrated into K-12 schools, I can imagine Evernote expanding its use to target a younger K-12 audience with either a new platform for this age group or by adding customizations that would appeal to them such as learning games and other apps for social connections.
