How to Use Evernote For Moms

Since it’s so essential to how I stay organized I knew you’d want to know why and how to use Evernote for Moms.  At the end of my Preparation Series I provided a resource list of great tools like Evernote. I started thinking, many moms probably never even heard of Evernote or they wonder how do you use Evernote.

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How Motherhood Turned Me into an Evernote Junky

My story behind using Evernote is very common especially for the butterfly moms like me.

First, you must know that I’m very much a paper gal. I am a lover of paper books (vs. e-books), journals, drawing pads, notepads, planners and anything that encourages list-making. I think that all makes me a writer through and through.

However, it was not a good thing as soon as I became a mom.

My lists and other paperwork started piling up. As we made a few locations moves the piles followed but I lacked the time to keep things organized like I desired.

The piles became just clutter.

I didn’t know how to store all the paperwork that comes with motherhood. I was buried and disorganized.

I cannot tell you how miserable I felt with JUST the piles of paper clutter!

Then one day I was visiting a friend. Her computer showed an appetizing food image and a recipe on the screen. I took a closer look and I saw a list of other recipes with altogether in one place. I realized this was not an Internet page.

When I learned that Evernote was not limited to recipe collections, I knew I had to have it. I went home and right away downloaded the application.

So why did I want it? Why do I have it on my phone? What is the use of this app besides recipe collections?

Why and How to use Evernote as a Mom

Organizing with Evernote is one of my personal delights.  It just has everything you need.  Tags, notebooks, search.  It can do loads of things like recording audio, searching within PDFs, clipping from the Internet, sharing with others and more.  But most importantly is I can find every note I’ve made!  And you may wonder what kinds of notes do I make that make this app so resourceful.  Well here is a list of how you can use Evernote as a mom.

Saving my Kids Paperwork

If they do something especially memorable (or they just are unwilling to see it trashed) I can snap a photo and save their artwork in a notebook marked Kids Art.

Saving my Kids Schoolwork

The same concept here. Now since we homeschool I can categorize the files by subject and year and have an ongoing homeschool storage by child, year, and subject.

Homeschool Lesson Plans

Yep I do this almost entirely in Evernote.

Save anything from the Internet

Find something cool online? Use Evernote Clipper, a browser plugin, and save just about anything from the Internet into a specific notebook, tag it and reference it later.

For example, I have a Facebook notebook, a Twitter notebook, and a Youtube notebook. Although Youtube videos do not embed right into your Evernote 🙁 you can save the link.

Blogging

As a blogger (and writer) I make up all of my blog posts, some of my Facebook posts and am writing my first e-book all in Evernote. Quotes, images, tweets, all your research in one place.

Health Tips and Information

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve gone back and referenced my health notebook. I cannot ever remember what is considered a high fever or what to do for a tummy ache. Everything that I know about ADHD is saved there too.

Repeating Grocery List

One thing that’s annoying, writing a brand new grocery list each week. I stumbled upon the idea of creating a list for each store in my Evernote. It took a while but now I have a pretty consistent list that I can just put a checkmark next!

Not only that but with the phone app I don’t have to print it out. Even better, I can share the list with my husband.  This is one of the best things about Evernote that I use every week.

Could I use a grocery list app? Of course, but this app is multi-functional and keeps my phone and my life uncluttered.

Digital File Cabinet

Talk about going paperless, I can snap a photo of any document right into Evernote. I can print it anytime. When I get an email receipt for something I can save it right away. You can do this for your recipe or magazine clippings (does anyone still use paper magazines anymore?).

Evernote is so valuable!

Not to say that we are a paperless family. I still have my home management binders. I keep several of my kids’ art papers and I have a bin for homeschool record.

Why am I not Paperless?

Even with the convenience and organization that Evernote affords me, I am still at heart a paper gal. <3 However, Evernote gives me a plan for all the paper in my life.  A part of getting and staying prepared is having a plan.