Tools I Use: Evernote, the Braindump App

I read a lot on the web (as many of us do, I am sure). I read on my laptop, on my iPad, on my phone. And I sometimes find some great gem that should be kept, some information related to something I want to do or even something I am currently doing (like the 30 days challenges).  Then I completely FORGOT about it until I needed it and I would ask myself where I read it. This is why I needed a braindump app.

Of course, I used to save lots of bookmarks, but my browser has about 500 URLs saved. If the information I look for is not obvious from the title of the page, tough luck.

Finally, about a year or so ago I found an article on how to use Evernote as a life organizer and a braindump app. What you do is that you file everything you have in Evernote: ideas, plans, invoices, roadtrip plans, hotel reservations, flight tickets, images, pdfs, webpages, videos, audio files, everything of interest. When you read something interesting, you use a webclipper and you save the entire page, not only the link.

Weird initially, it has actually become a habit. Now I have everything I find interesting in my Evernote. And the best thing about it? A plugin that allows your browser to search through the Evernote notes when you search Google. This way, if you saved a page or filed an idea or a document related to your search you find it on the right side of the Google page (see below).

Of course, having the app on all my devices doesn’t hurt a bit, as you can imagine. I actually have a premium account that allows me to sync all the notes on every device I use, allowing me to see them offline (great to use while flying).

There are several other ways of using Evernote (GTD comes to mind), but the best usage I could find for it is the brain dump opportunity.

Do you use Evernote? How?

P.S.: You can also see an interview with Phil Libin, the founder of Evernote here, a part of Sunday Videos category on my blog.