Many of us live hectic lives. Between work, family and various other commitments it can be hard to remember everything that needs to be done in a day. Things like Gmail and other Google tools can help keep you on top of daily tasks, but when it comes to managing research -- keeping track of ideas you come across in a day -- and storing important information (such as airline booking references and software serial codes) I admit it, my filing system is broken. What makes matters worse is that I bounce between three different computers, two iPads, a BlackBerry and an iPhone on a regular basis (among other devices I might be testing out). Thankfully, I've joined the masses who are turning to Evernote for help.
This week, Evernote, the company that bills itself as making it easy to capture a "moment, idea, inspiration, or experience," hit five million users. 22,130 people joined Evernote last Wednesday alone. What the popular tool does well is that it focuses on everyday tasks that are easily forgetting, such as storing information from an important business card to snapping a photo of a new wine you just discovered. Normally, if you do anything, you might write these things down or even e-mail yourself. And that's fine if you're organized well, but any time I do that, the things I want to save end up getting lost in a sea of paper or deep within my e-mail in-box.
With Evernote, you can find anything in a few seconds. When you create a note, save a web page, or you snap a pic, you can add tags to each item, send to yourself via e-mail, or even add a voice recording. Tags make it a cinch to dig through your notes and, most importantly, you can access everything you captured from a number of devices. For example, I just created a notebook for article ideas on my iPad and then instantly logged into my account on my laptop to find the item synced. Currently, Evernote works on a Mac and PC, on an iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone, an Android phone, BlackBerry, Palm Pre, and Windows Mobile.
Although you can pay for a premium account ($5 U.S./month) that gives you more upload limits, an ad-free interface, and an expanded note history, the free version is just great. With a free account you have access to all versions of Evernote, synchronization across multiple platforms, and text recognition inside images (which helps with items such as business cards, so you can snap a photo and still search that info within Evernote without every entering the text yourself).
To learn more about what you can do with this productivity tool, check out Evernotes tips and stories section on their website.