Evernote is an online note-taking application that allows users to create paperless, shareable notes.

For years I was a terrible note-taker for several reasons. First, I have horrible handwriting and by the time a meeting was over and reviewed my notes, I could not read anything I had written. Second, I never ever held on to notes long enough. Weeks or months would go by and I would think, okay, I’m done with these notes, and just when I disposed of them, someone would come along and ask about that meeting. At that point, I had no clue. Finally, with so many notes connected to so many meetings or projects they just got too out of hand to organize.

Then, 5 years ago I discovered Evernote. Back then it was just a text note-taking application. I would use it to add notes for current assignments or projects, just to supplement my work organization. However, over time, the way I use Evernote has changed in conjunction with the features it provides.

Learning to use Evernote was a bit of a curve. It took an adjustment on my part to go from paper and pencil to keyboard and mouse and then to tablet. However, the benefits far outweighed the learning process. My finished notes were legible, could be saved online for indefinite periods, and organized in a way that made them easy to find.

There are several reasons I love Evernote for my note-taking needs. I think these are the best Evernote Features.

1. Syncing
2. Sharing
3. Tagging

Syncing: Part of the reason that Evernote is such a powerful note-taking system, is that it provides users multiple ways to connect. A user can connect through a web browser interface, a downloadable Windows application, and also through tablet and smartphone applications. This allows a user to have access to notes almost anytime and anywhere. At the same time, the data is synced across all of these platforms. I most often access Evernote through my iPad and desktop web browser.

Sharing: Evernote allows you to share your notes with other users. This allows any notes for meetings and projects to be shared with any other interested party via email. It should also be noted that with the premium membership, whole notebooks can be shared and notes can be edited by those shared users.

Tagging: This is my favorite feature of Evernote, each note can be assigned multiple tags which help to organize notes or optimize organization and advanced searches.

One other reason that I love Evernote is

4. The Trunk

The Evernote Trunk section of the Evernote website contains additional third-party applications which enhance Evernote. Many of these applications are extremely useful and some are nearly essential. Many of these are designed for mobile devices. One of the essential apps is the web clipper. This application is installed on your web browser and allows you to make any web page you visit a note.

Many of us at ISU Workforce Training utilizes Evernote daily because Evernote has the best features, especially its ability to share notes with everyone in the office.

Sometimes pen and paper are still very useful and I will probably never go fully paperless; however, Evernote is an excellent application for electronic note-taking by which you can save and share your notes in the cloud, making you more efficient, saving time, and giving you a little peace of mind along the way.

Do you use digital note-taking? Is it Evernote? If you use Evernote which do you think are the Best Evernote features? If you do not use Evernote what do you use? I would like to know all the alternatives out there as well.