Discovering Evernote at Bloggers’ Meet in Delhi

I am one of those clumsy individuals who stuff receipts, business cards and other hard bits of information in the nooks and crannies of an oversized bag. I carry a huge tote not because it is the hottest trend around, but simply because it’s roomy enough to lodge all of my life’s daily dealings.

So while I tried to unclog my mind and de-clutter my handbag as frequently as possible, I was yet to stumble upon a comprehensive digital feature that would simplify the mess I call "life". Falling onto basic inbuilt phone features like tasks, reminders and alarms, my existence was still a mish mash of confusion - till I received this call to attend a bloggers’ meet by Evernote. Held in Khan Market’s quaint cafe Smoke House Deli on a nippy evening – the meet was an informal chat session with the vivacious team representing Evernote and fellow bloggers.

The venue 

Evernote is a super cool app compatible with web, mobile and tablet, that downloads with a promise to “make it easy to remember things big and small from your everyday life.” A chance meeting with the very affable Troy Malone, GM, South Asia, Evernote, gave me a wonderful insight into this free app that is now making my life so easy peasy. I am someone who reads my news online, but funnily scrawls all important notes in a dog-eared writing pad. Changing THAT peculiar habit was no mean feat.

The adorable Elephant brand logo

Embedded with unique features, Evernote offers something for everyone. The compulsive traveller in me particularly likes the Evernote Web Clipper which can be used to clip websites and maps of potential picnic locations. Just jot down your impressions using this app on phone and later you’ll be able to find the exact location as your note will be automatically geo-tagged. Great feature if you like meticulous planning.

I realized that I could design all my trips in a more organized way. I could just jot down information in Evernote Notebooks, use tags and maintain Notebook Stacks. I could even share my scribbles with my partner or travel mates for better coordination. I could just make a packing list with whatever free time I had on my hand and set reminders. By saving everything that you see online (including links, images and text), one can push hard-to-remember metadata in their Evernote account. The account can be accessed anywhere from any device – be it a computer, mobile phone or a tablet.

I was particularly elated to know that there’s so much I could do with these Notebooks. From immortalizing my baby’s artwork to clicking and saving a picture of THAT Michael Kors messenger bag in my ‘Next Hot Buy’ list – this app lets me now focus, remember and treasure my life. The OCR of image notes is another shining star of this app that let you scan words from a snapped photo saved in Evernote. Yes, you can now snap and save menu cards, adverts, thoughtful notes and lots more in your device and savour information later by just remembering basic keywords associated with the note. If you snap and save business cards – all the information including contacts numbers of the individual gets saved in your device.

I wish I had known about this app a few months earlier. I nearly burnt myself out planning for my brother’s wedding recently. My brain struggled everyday with the tentwalla, mehendiwalaa, bandwalla, caterer, tailor, make-up artists and a few hundred people associated with the big fat Indian wedding.

Really, it’s time to reorganize the nuts and bolts of my life, take a break and breathe easy!