In our recent blog post: How’s That (Tech) Been Working Out for Ya? we discussed how agents are creating “digital briefcases” to help improve their business and workflow. We mentioned a few digital tools we recommend and use in our own digital briefcases. In the next few #TechTuesday blog posts we’ll take a closer look at those tools. Today we’ll take a closer look at OneNote and Evernote
How often do you find yourself writing things down?
Probably all the time! You’re probably just like me, using your trusted “go to pen” and either one of the following:
- a note pad for important notes
- sticky notes for all the to-dos
- scrap paper to write things down on the fly
Here’ the problem with this method: unless I physically grabbed all this stuff and carried it around everywhere, I wouldn’t have it. And even if I did have my pile of notes and ideas, I would waste time scanning my chicken-scratch trying to find what I needed. These are the small problems that turn into big frustrations that ultimately hurt my productivity. Growing tired of all the paper (and not seeing my desk for years) I switched over to using OneNote. Before you ask, no, this is not a paid endorsement, in fact OneNote is free!
For those of you not familiar with OneNote or Evernote, they’re both one in the same, having your trusted “go to pen” and paper with you all time. With OneNote or Evernote I can download the software on all of my devices, like my smart phone, tablet, office computer, home computer or laptop. Notes I make and all changes will be synced up across all of my devices. So as long as I have a device with me (who leaves the office without at least their smart phone?) I always have all my notes.
But you can even go beyond a single notebook!
In fact, you can create multiple notebooks, with multiple sections, with individual pages. All can be uniquely named, and the best part, you can search for entries across all note books. So if you can’t remember which notebook you typed your million dollar idea then you can just search for “millions dollar idea” and it will find all the different pages with the Million Dollar Idea name on them. You can’t do that with a pen and paper! Jokes aside, once you get up and running you’ll be amazed at what you can keep track of using OneNote or Evernote. Both programs allow you to attach pictures into your notes, draw, insert spreadsheets or tables, record sound bites, and save links to websites. We even use Evernote to scan in company receipts and track expenses. If you want even more ideas check out this list of 38 Things you can save in Evernote.
My transition from my trusted “go to pen” and paper wasn’t fast, and at times it wasn’t easy. For every time I would go back to my old habit of quickly grabbing my “go to pen” and write down whatever was important in that moment, I would always ask myself:
“Will I need this again in 5 minutes?”
If the answer was yes, I took the time to enter it into OneNote. Slowly, but surely I had retrained myself to skip the pen and paper step and go right to OneNote. Oh and by the way, as for my trusted “go to pen”, I pawned it off on one of my coworkers. She’s still using pens and fancy stickynotes that get blown off her desk.
Check our next #TechTuesday Blog post where we’ll take a look at using Evernote’s Scannable app, and Lens to turn your mobile device into your office scanner.
Have any questions about any the apps we’ve mentioned? Or have an app that you can’t work without? Reach out to me today at EranHaupt@srbenefit.com .