Process What You Collect: A Key Evernote Organization Habit
During the Practically Paperless Challenge — a training series included in The Academy, I teach three key habits that Evernote users need to master to digitize and organize all the paper that accumulates in day-to-day life.
There’s a hidden secret embedded in this challenge. And a few Academy members picked up on it:
The habits taught result in not only taming all your paper with Evernote, but they also empower you to organize anything in Evernote, even if it starts in a digital form (such as notes you type during a meeting, blog posts you draft, or websites you clip to Evernote).
Evernote users who practice these three habits have an organized Evernote account.
In earlier blog posts, I covered the first two habits:
Habit 1: Capture everything to Evernote
Habit 2: Practice effective note titling
Here, you’ll learn more about Evernote Habit 3: Regular Processing.
Defining Regular Evernote Processing:
In this context, I’m talking about the action you take inside your Evernote account, of moving notes from the location you create the note (usually your default notebook) into another notebook (the place where your note ultimately lives where it feels organized).
To understand the importance and value of this habit, let’s look at an example of processing from the physical world.
Think about your run-of-the-mill office desk. They all have an inbox tray sitting on top as a centralized collection point for incoming papers from various sources. Those papers all have a purpose — you have to deal with them. And, If you neglect the papers in that tray, over time, the pile will overflow, leaving that inbox essentially nonfunctional.
Without regular processing, you lose track of what’s in the tray. You can’t easily find the information contained on papers that you know are in the box. Worse, you don’t even know what you’re missing. The stack becomes tall and unwieldy. You have a visual mess and it leaves you feeling overwhelmed and stressed.
The inbox tray only works when you routinely take papers that come into it, pick them up, review and process them, and place them where they belong.
The inbox is a collection box, not a storage box.
It’s the same thing in Evernote. Your default notebook is your digital inbox. You collect notes there, but you don’t store them there.
This is a crucial mistake Evernote users make. By leaving notes in the default notebook, accounts become disorganized.
The Evernote default notebook is not a place to store notes long-term.
Evernote Certified Expert Tip: Keeping all notes in the default notebook doesn’t work. This is a key lesson I explain in detail inside the Starting Fresh with Evernote Course.
How to stay on top of your Evernote default notebook:
You must process what comes into your default notebook on a regular basis to have an organized account. It's easy to accomplish when you know what to do.
Many of my students worry about processing the “right way.” I teach them to simply file the note after they’ve titled it. Since Evernote indexes the note title and the contents (text, handwriting, and images), you can rely on Evernote Search to easily find it.
Here are two strategies to get going.
Strategy 1 - Follow a processing framework:
I recommend the 5 Steps for Mastering Workflow that David Allen teaches in his best-selling book, Getting Things Done (GTD).
GTD teaches processing steps that I apply to my default Evernote notebook on a regular basis. This facilitates my clarity and then organization of what I capture into its proper spot in my Evernote account. Replicate my Evernote-centric GTD structure and methods with EverDone.
If you’re not a GTD’er, simply think about what you’d do if that paper landed in your desk inbox tray.
You’d pick up the paper, visually scan it to figure out what it is, and either deal with it immediately or store it somewhere to handle in the future:
maybe you’d write down something you need to do on a task list.
perhaps you’d file it in your desk filing cabinet.
maybe you need to start a new project folder, so you pull out a fresh manila folder and write the client name on the tab.
All these actions translate to Evernote’s digital environment. You click on the note and decide what you're looking at. Then…
maybe you create an Evernote Task.
perhaps you type some notes about it.
maybe you decide it’s an idea to hold onto for a future trip to France.
Whatever you decide, take the appropriate action(s), and then file the note in an existing notebook or create a new notebook, and move it there.
Strategy 2 - Strengthen your note titling habits:
The note titling habit I discuss here simplifies this process, especially at volume, and will allow you to quickly know exactly where to file something. When you become a note titling master, processing becomes simple because organization magically appears.
The Evernote note processing activity is a regular habit. It never goes away, so make it a part of your routine.
Common Processing Pitfalls
Now, before you worry over the particulars of your note titles, here are some traps you’ll want to avoid.
Pitfall 1 - Fear of filing in the wrong spot
Sometimes, people worry about filing notes in the wrong spot. Don’t be. When you understand the power of search, you never have to worry about notes being filed in the “wrong” place — because there isn’t such a thing.
Filing mistakes will happen. You may accidentally file a note in the incorrect notebook — just like you might inadvertently place a paper in the wrong manila folder in your filing cabinet. The good news is that, because of Evernote search, you can easily find what you seek when you search for it — even if it’s years later (good luck locating that physical piece of paper you misfiled two years after you did it, though).
Now, think about combining your Evernote habits for even more peace of mind. When you embrace good titling habits, you set yourself up for even better search success.
Pitfall 2 - Not carving out the time
Note processing is a low brain power activity — you don’t have to be at your sharpest when you do it. You can process even when you’re tired at the end of the work day — as long as you do it.
I recommend ending each day with just 15 minutes of Evernote default notebook processing. Set a timer and start filing away. You can even cue up your favorite playlist to pass the time. You’ll see a dramatic improvement in your Evernote organization.
Habit Building Tip: Put a daily 15-minute block on your calendar (starting today), and start processing!
When you combine your note processing habits with your titling and capture habits, you’ll be empowered to corral — and find any time — the abundance of data we tend to collect as humans — all using one Evernote account.
Inside the Academy, I provide ongoing education, accountability, and support in working through establishing all the skills and habits required to organize your Evernote account. Get started by joining now.
