Evernote: The Right App for GTD®
Published March 14, 2020
Last updated March 7, 2024
by Stacey Harmon
ORIENTATION
Whether you’re evaluating different app’s for your own GTD practice, or already use Evernote for GTD and are looking to improve what you’re doing, this article’s the education you need to fully understand how to use Evernote for stress-free productivity.
Over the years, through my own GTD practice, as well as through lessons learned from coaching thousands to success with Evernote and GTD, I’ve found that there’re 5 Steps to Stress-Free Productivity.
I walk you through each of the 5 steps in this companion article, which helps you understand, once and-for all, all that it really takes to effectively practice GTD.
In that article, I discuss the importance of picking (and sticking to) a GTD app (Step 2).
Here I take a (very) dive deep into educating you why, in a never ending array of app choices, Evernote’s the right app choice for GTD.
Knowing which app to choose for your GTD practice is a challenge. And, if you’re serious about succeeding with GTD, it’s not a decision to be taken lightly. GTD is a comprehensive methodology as well as a lifelong practice. You need to pick a tool that can effortlessly and efficiently support the nuances of your GTD practice, and also adapt with you over the long haul. This is exactly what Evernote does.
This article is designed to educate you on what you need to know to embrace Evernote as your GTD app.
There’s a lot to evaluate when choosing your GTD app. And it’s rooted in this core lesson from Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity:
“Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.”
So, where should you put your ideas and things to remember if not in your brain? As David Allen convincingly teaches:
YOU MUST HAVE A TRUSTED SYSTEM OUTSIDE YOUR BRAIN
This central GTD theme means:
Trusted: If you don’t trust your system, it falls apart. Do you have a system you trust 100% to capture, retain, process, and retrieve everything you want to remember and tackle every day, over the course of your life?
System: The system is the framework by which you route and manage all the “stuff” that comes at you. David’s book teaches the heuristics and methodology for managing your own GTD system. Even as technology evolves, the GTD system rules remain the same.
Outside your brain: Our brain is forgetful. Our brain gets overwhelmed. Our brain ages. Your trusted system cannot be your brain.
Picking an app that makes this theme your reality is essential.
And, although the book teaches the methodology for creating and managing your trusted system, the GTD methodology is deliberately software neutral.
Each reader is left to develop their own system to hold ideas outside their brain. This means that to succeed with GTD, you must pick an app – or a suite of apps – to create your trusted system.
And I’m one of them. My own GTD practice in Evernote was the catalyst for building an entire business around helping users maximize their productivity with Evernote.
In this article, you’ll learn the reasons Evernote is a perfect app choice for the GTD methodology. I hope I’ll convince you that Evernote is the right app for your GTD practice.
And embracing Evernote as your GTD tool is the first step to putting the methodology into practice.
But it’s not all it takes. You must also use Evernote effectively, or your GTD practice will fail.
Which is why I present this article in two parts:
Part 1: Why Evernote for GTD
Part 2: How You Go Wrong Using Evernote for GTD
Let’s get started with Part 1 and the first key reason to choose Evernote for GTD.
Trademark Notice: Neither Stacey Harmon nor Harmon Enterprises, is licensed, certified, approved, or endorsed by or otherwise affiliated with David Allen or the David Allen Company which is the creator of the Getting Things Done® system for personal productivity. GTD® and Getting Things Done® are registered trademarks of the David Allen Company. For more information on the David Allen Company's products, please visit their website: www.davidco.com.