[Book Review] Evernote: The Unofficial Guide To Capturing Everything And Getting Things Done

If you're a proponent of David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) productivity system like I am, you've probably tried numerous ways to incorporate it into your work flow, from paper and file folders to web and mobile apps, and everything in between. Many of these are intricate, with lots of bells and whistles and a steep learning curve. Others, like plain paper or a Moleskin notebook are simple but for many of us, too restricted.

Enter Evernote.

I'd been by Evernote for a long time, first for collecting information and thoughts, eventually, for all of my documents. One day, I chose to see if I could also use it to manage my tasks and projects. Although Evernote isn't designed as a task management application and it is restricted in that realm, I found a way to make it work for me, and today I use it every day for just so that purpose.

I like having one app for nearly everything I do. I like having all of my notes and documents in the same house as my tasks and projects. It's simple, reliable, and flexible and provides me with a complete system for administration my work and my life.

I went looking for others who use Evernote for Getting Things Done, and my search led me to fellow attorney and blogger, Dan Gold. Dan is a maven in the world of technology and productivity and has tried just about every productivity app under the sun. He used Evernote like I did, for collecting information, but was unable to find the right way to use it for GTD. In his quest to achieve a "mind like water," he finally found the right amalgamation.

The tale of his journey is told in his newly published ebook, "Evernote: The Unofficial Guide To Capturing Everything And Getting Things Done," (aff. link) now featured in Evernote's Trunk (store). It's a fantastic read and provides a much needed lesson for by an extraordinary piece of technology in conjunction with a seminal productivity system, to manage your work and your life.

I read the book and found that to a fantastic extent, Dan's journey paralleled my own. We both liked the power and ubiquity of Evernote but were frustrated with its limitations as a productivity tool. After trying various apps and workarounds, we eventually found the solution.

In his book, Dan credits my blog post about how I use Evernote for GTD (and another blogger's post on that theme) with providing some of the missing pieces in his set up. I appreciate his saying so but in reality, Dan had most of the pieces already in house. Like I had, he was adding elements–other apps that integrate with Evernote and a more complex arrangement of notebooks and tags. My post and the other blogger he credits simply showed him that Evernote didn't need whatever business else, it could be used "as is" for GTD.

The key is not adding elements but subtracting them. Not by more notebooks to organize everything but fewer, and by sufficient tags, but not too many, to manage everything.

If you are a newcomer to Evernote or GTD, Dan's book will sell you on why you need to be by them; it won't tell you everything you need to know about how. What it will do is show you how you can use them together to make a complete system for getting things done.

"Evernote: The Unofficial Guide To Capturing Everything And Getting Things Done," is a quick read and available for immediate download for just $5. Dan promises free updates and since Evernote is continually being developed, this makes a fantastic value even greater.

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