April 2015 – Productivity Success Cake

Blank Space: On Getting Started in Evernote

So let’s say you followed my advice and started an Evernote account. You heard it’s a solution to your productivity problems. You heard it’s simple and fun to use. Not only that, but you heard it will be life-changing.

You take the plunge, and the first thing you see after creating an account is this:

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Which is really more like:

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This is a perfectly understandable response. I get it; a blank screen can be daunting. That’s why I’m here to help. Here are a few steps that you can take to turn Evernote from a blank screen to a world of possibilities.

1. Start by making notebooks.

Notebooks are the basic building blocks of Evernote. They’re where you’ll put notes as you generate them, and like folders on your computer, they’ll help you keep track of everything as your documents begin to pile up. Think of them as all the different parts of your life, the types of files you use, random categories… whatever is going to help keep your ideas straight as you start building on the tool. Don’t worry too much about being overly organized at this step. The beauty of Evernote is that, however you use it, the tool will begin to help you sort and organize every bit of information you record, automatically.

2. Load in your documents and pictures.

This is key. You don’t want to shift your life over to Evernote, only to have to trade back-and-forth between file locations in different places. Do this, and your head will be spinning in no time. Evernote is made to be your one-stop place for every file you have. Load as much onto Evernote as you can; you’ll thank yourself when you’re in the airport and need to access a file on the cloud, or if you want to collaborate on a shared document and want the latest version available to everybody on your team in a flash.

3. Start tagging your ideas in categories.

Like the notebooks above, tags are just another way for you to group and sort your files and notes. The benefit of using tags for organization is that one file can have multiple tags, and it becomes easier to categorize a file as you’re creating it. Now, when you’re trying to search for something and it’s just on the tip of your tongue, you can start searching things like: “Dogs… Pets… Leashes… Bones…” Odds are, if your file is somewhere in the canine family, you used a tag in a related category like these, and your search will be more successful.

4. Invite your friends! Coworkers too!

Like everything in life except brushing your teeth or going to the doctor’s, Evernote becomes a richer experience with other people. Sharing notes, pictures, files, and to-do lists will allow you to pool resources with everybody, including family and friends. The more cross-platform sharing, the more you’re able to search and draw upon, and the more notes you’ll be able to make. Collaboration becomes easier, communication becomes easier, life becomes easier. Maybe “hive minds” aren’t so scary after all…

5. Download Evernote on all your devices.

This is where the network you’ve built on Evernote goes global. On your phone, tablet, or other devices, you’ll be able to access, create, and share notes wherever you are. Take iPhone notes on the fly, and you can trust that you’ll be able to capitalize on your spontaneity later on. It’s like you’re pulling the weight of your entire workspace and lifestyle all the time… with far less heavy lifting involved.

There you have it, 5 steps to getting started in Evernote. We’ve gone from a blank screen to…

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… in no time at all!

Some things that are impossible: pigs flying, hating pictures of kittens, and multitasking.

Wait, what?

It’s true! Multitasking is impossible. At least, multitasking in the often misunderstood sense of doing two things at once. As NPR explains, you cannot split your active, working consciousness between two tasks; you can only switch your focus between the two very quickly. This is due to interference between processes, so that while your attention may be divided between tasks, your poor brain cannot share the tools it needs to complete them. Think you’re writing a grocery list and reciting pi at the same time? Think again! Your brain is merely doing its best to remember the word for cucumber before it comes up with the 11th digit (5) in a matter of milliseconds.

This constant flitting between ideas and objectives has been reliably shown to reduce effectiveness when the brain is too divided. A University of Utah study found that only a tiny fraction of people – around 2% – could perform multiple tasks without any negative impact on their overall performance. They also found that this microcosm of multitaskers received this gift genetically. If you’re not one of the lucky few, don’t try and exercise your brain for superhuman focusing abilities. For most of us, effective multitasking is far out of reach.

Someone should let the modern world know that. For most of us, multitasking is a reality of our day-to-day lives, like cursing (while driving) at the person who is talking on their phone (while driving). Multitasking is especially endemic to our workplaces, where we navigate emails and texts and countless other stimuli, hoping that our ability to be efficient will prevail. It doesn’t. A Stanford study examined the habits of heavy multitaskers and discovered that those who rely on multitasking frequently are often the worst at it, performing tasks much more slowly and with less success than their singularly focused peers. Forbes also reports on a University of London study’s findings: “Participants who multitasked during cognitive tasks experienced IQ score declines that were similar to what they’d expect if they had smoked marijuana or stayed up all night.”

This is no way to be a productive worker and manager of your time. So how can you be more effective? According to Stanford researcher Clifford Nass, dedicating 20-minute blocks of time allows your brain time to focus and attune to a single goal, reducing the time and confusion caused by multitasking’s shuffle of ideas.

And in the Get Organized System course, we will see that it doesn’t take much to see the benefits of focus. By choosing to not multitask for just 90 minutes, a worker can save 5 ½ to 6 ½ weeks of working time per year. That’s even more time to get more done, and with focus, productive time snowballs, rather than the avalanche of confusion and work multitasking creates.

Slow and steady, as Aesop so wisely said. Perhaps you can remind yourself of his words between your 23rd email and 2nd phone conference of the day. Just be sure to stop and let them sink in when you do.