Photography news and tips for the hobbyist or seasoned pro
Before I started this idea of becoming a full time photographer I didn’t rely on much to keep my calendar in check. I woke up every weekday at the same time went to the same place and did pretty much the same thing until that round device on the wall said it was time to go home.
The past two years have been great. I now set my own hours and am able to actually get things accomplished during the day when things are actually open for business. It’s not all roses though. As I keep track of hours spent on my business I am spending at least twenty more hours a week and working pretty much every day. It’s hard to keep track of everything I need to do on a daily basis. One valuable tool as a working photographer is Evernote.
Evernote is a web based tool that allows you to keep a record, organize and even search notes. Sounds simple right? It’s also much more. Read on and I’ll tell you why it’s a vital part of my business (and life!)….
What you see above is a screenshot of Evernote’s web client. The best part of this program is that it’s FREE. Just log on to Evernote’s Website and sign up. Your Evernote account will be made up of things called notebooks. I created a notebook called “todo” and every day I make a new note with the date as the title. Once I’m done the task that day I add a simple period “.” to the end of the line to indicate that I’ve done that task. It’s an electronic equivalent to a sticky note (except no trees are wasted). Any tasks that I don’t complete I copy and paste to the next day. It’ s just that simple!
I use Evernote so much that I’ve created quick access points to it. The first access point is with my desktop. Evernote has the coveted bottom left corner spot of my desktop. This is the spot that’s mostly visible and easiest to access.
Since Evernote is web based you can also install an application for your mobile device. Above you can see a screenshot of my iPhone4 home page. Notice that Evernote is also quick to access as it’s on the bottom right of my iPhone screen at all times.
There are a few more things I do with Evernote like keep a copy of my scanned invoices and receipts. As most of you are aware organizing and storing piles of paper receipts is annoying. It’s too bad we need to keep them right? Wrong. Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) allows you to keep a scanned copy of your receipts (for folks in the US check rules with the IRS). I’ll touch more on using Evernote to get rid of your paper receipts on another post.
What are you waiting for? Sign up for Evernote now and start organizing! :)
P.S. Drop me a line if you are also using Evernote. I’d love to hear how you use it.
