Notebooks: The Optimal Way to Organize Evernote for GTD®

Core to the GTD methodology is the creation of next actions which are organized into contextual lists. Lists are the cornerstone of GTD. LearnEvernote About Shop UseEvernoteforGTD® Scroll    EVERNOTE:THERIGHTAPPFORGTD(PART2Continued)Notebooks:TheMostEfficientWayToOrganizeEvernoteforGTD®PublishedMarch29,2020.LastupdatedOctober10,2021.byStaceyHarmon       WHATWEKNOWPart2Continued:EvernoteSearch:TheSecretWeaponinOrganizingEvernoteforGTD®(Page5of7)Evernotesearchisagame-changingfeaturethatbettercomplimentsanotebook-basedapproachtoorganizingEvernoteforGTD.    I’vestatedthatyourGTDpracticeissufferingbecauseyou’reorganizingyourEvernoteaccountusingtags.And,I’veshownthatwhenyouunderstandingtheimpactofEvernotesearchonyourdatamanagementexperience,youhavereasonenoughtoembraceanotebooks-basedapproachforGTD.Butthere’salsolotstolearnabouteffectivelypracticingGTDinEvernotewhenyouunderstandthereasonsbeyondsearchtoorganizeEvernotewithnotebooks.Let’scontinuetolookattheelementsofeffectiveGTDandhowtheEvernotefeaturesfavoranotebook-basedapproachtoorganizing.Firstup,GTDlists.    GTDTHEME:LISTMANAGEMENTCoretotheGTDmethodologyisthecreationofnextactionswhichareorganizedintocontextuallists.ListsarethecornerstoneofGTD.Therefore,whenusingEvernoteforGTD,you’resmarttoconsiderhowyougenerate,createandmanagelistsinEvernote.Andthetruthis,listmanagementisverydifferentwithnotebooksandtags.And,yourchoicewillimpactyourexperience– andefficiency–inusingEvernoteasyourGTDapp.Let’slookathowlistsarecreatedinEvernotewitheachoption:EVERNOTE:NOTEBOOKSVSTAGSFORLISTCREATIONListsWITHTAGSWhenyouorganizebytags,listsaregeneratedbypullingaseriesofnotes– allofwhichcontainthesametag:  Forexample,onthedesktopapp,youcanseethat:1:Whenyouselectatag2:Thelistisgeneratedinthemiddlepane,witheachnotereflectinganextaction3:And,thefullnotedetailappearsontherightYoualsoseethatthenextactionis:4:Inthetitleofthenote,and5:Thebodyofthenoteisnotutilizedfornextactionsthathavenosupportingdocumentation. Usingtagstocreatelists   Noteworthy:Ifanotedoesn’thavethattag,itisn’tappearinginthelist(2).Inotherwords,everysinglenotemustbeproperlytaggedtoappear….moreonthisinthe“processing”sectionbelow. LISTSWITHNOTEBOOKSWhenyouusenotebookstoorganizeyourdatainEvernote,listsarecreatedonnotes-eitherbyusingthecheckboxfeature,orEvernote’sTasksfeature.Inthisexample,yousee,usingthecheckboxfeaturehow:1:Asinglenoteholdsmanynextactions2:Checkboxesareusedtoindicateopen/completeditems3:Notelinksareusedtoprovidenavigationtosupportinginformation/notesAlthoughbothapproachessuccessfullygeneratelists,eachapproachisfundamentallydifferent.Whencompared,thetwoapproachestolistmakingbegintoillustratewhatIcallan“efficiencyadvantage”toanotebookbasedorganizationalapproachforGTDinEvernote.notebookEFFICIENCYADVANTAGEYouusefewernotes:Ifyoudon’thavetocreateanoteforeachandeverynextaction,youwillhavefewernotes.Tagorganizationcreatesnote-bloat.Noteutilizationisbetter:Noteshavetwo“fields”:anotetitle,andanotebody.Withatagbasedapproachtolistmanagement,allofthenotesthataresimple“next-actions”onlyusethenotetitlefield.Whenyouuseanotebookbasedapproachtoorganizing,boththenotetitleandnotebodyareinplay.Screenutilizationisbetter:ThemiddlecolumnofEvernotedesktopisnarrow.Ifyouhavealongnotetitle(nextaction),youneedtoclickonthenotetoreadtheentirenextaction.Contrastthistoalistbasedapproach,youcanseethefullnextactionwithoutfurthernavigation.And,ifyouuseEvernoteTasksvscheckboxestotrackyournextactionsinnotes,youhaveawholetasksviewinterfacebuiltspecificallyforefficientlyviewingyourtasks,nomatterwhatnotetheyliveon.Screenutilizationismoreefficientonmobiletoo.Youhaveaccesstomoreinformationonasinglescreensoyouscrollless.And,youhavelessnavigatingtodoonmobileifyouwanttodrilldowntorelatednotes.Thisisbecauseyoushouldbeusingnotelinksinyournote-basedlists.Thiscreatesfewerswipesandtapsovertime.   TagbasedlistinEvernoteiOS   NotelistinEvernoteiOS   Asastandaloneissue,theprocessofmakinglistsmayormaynotbesignificantenoughforyoutochoosenotebooksovertags– despitetheefficiencyadvantagesofanotebooks-basedapproach.Butit’sjustonefactortoconsider,andanothercheckinthecolumnfornotebooks.There’reothers.Tounderstandthem,youneedtofirstknowafewthingsabouthowEvernoteworks.     EVERNOTECONSTRAINTSThere’sno“perfect”GTDappoutthere.TheGTDappthatDavidsketchedoutin1994stilldoesn’texist.Sostoptryingtofindtheperfectapp– thereisn’tone!Instead,doyourresearch,andthenpickapowerfulandpromisingtool(Evernote).Then,learnthesoftwareandmoveforwardorganizingwithintheboundariesofthesoftware.Whenyouunderstandtheconstraintsofatool(theyallhavethem– evenEvernote),youcandesignworkflowsthatsucceedwithinthoseconstraints.HerearetherelevantEvernoteconstraintstounderstandthatimpactyourGTDorganization:NOTECONSTRAINTS:InEvernoteFree,Personal,andPremium,allnotesliveinanotebook.Inotherwords,allnoteshaveanotebook“container”theyareassociatedwith.It’snotpossibleforthenotetoexistoutsideofanotebook.ThisconstraintexplainswhyallEvernoteaccountsstartwithasinglenotebookalreadyinthem.It’sreferredtoasthedefaultnotebookandiswherenewnotesarecreated“bydefault”,unlessyouexplicitlyoverridethenotecreationlocation(howcomfortableyouaredoingthisisasignificantindicatorastohowEvernote-fluentyouare).CoachingSuccessTip:Therelationshipbetweennote,notebook,andtagsisessentialtounderstandifyouaregoingtoeffectivelyuseEvernote.ThenoteisthebasicunitofEvernote.Anotecanbetagged– ornot.It’struethatalltaggednotesliveinanotebook,butnotallnoteshavetags.Notescanonlyliveinonenotebookatatime.Anoteisonlyassociatedwithonenotebook“container”atatime.Youcanmoveanotefromonenotebooktoanother,butitonlylivesinonenotebookatatime.Theconstraintisoftencitedasthereasontouseatag-basedapproachtoorganizingyourEvernoteaccount.Taggerswanttobeabletoassociateanotewithmorethanonecontext,ormorethanoneproject.But,whereinGTDdoesDavidAllenadviseorganizingnext-actionsinmultiplecontexts?Ihaven’tfoundthistobepartofthemethodology.Althoughthereispersonalchoiceappliedtowhatcontextyoutrackanext-action,themethodologydoesn’tsuggestyoudouble/triple/quadruple-upcontexts.TagapproachestoorganizingEvernoteoftenencouragethisthroughassigningmultipletags.Youmightwanttopullagroupofnotesthatliveacrossseparatenotebooksorusetagstofilternoteswithinanotebook.Theseareexcellentusesfortags.And,Iencouragetheuseofthemforthesepurposes.However,thisisdifferentthanusingtagsasthefoundationoryourGTDorganizationalsystem.Instead,useanotebooksbasedapproachtoorganizingandthenaddingtagsasanadditionallayertorefineyourretrievalofnotesinspecificworkflows.NOTEBOOKCONSTRAINTS:NotebookQuantity:Evernotelimitsthetotalnumberofnotebooksyoucanhaveinyouraccountbasedonyourtierofserviceasfollows:Basic:250Personal:1,000Professional:1,000Business:10,000(acrossallusersintheaccount)Asapointofreference,I’veusedEvernotesince2009.I’mapoweruser.IuseitforGTD.EvernoteishometonearlyeverythingIwanttoretainandmanageonboththepersonalandbusinesssideofmylife.I’vecreatedover35,000notesand(attimeofpublication)haveapproximately550notebooksinmyaccount.Istillhavea450notebookcushionbeforeIbumpintothisconstraint.NoteworthyisthatEvernotehasincreasedthenotebooklimitovertime.InOctober2018,itmaxnotebookcountwentfrom250to1,000notebooksforPremiumsubscribers.Thismakessensetome– it’slogicalthatthelongeryouusetheapp,themorenotebooksyouarelikelytocreate,andEvernotecateredtouserswhohaveusedtheplatformforyears.Italsoopensthedoortothepossibilitytheycouldincreasethenotebooklimitagainovertime(reducinganyriskthisconstraintpresents).TAGCONSTRAINTS:TagCreation:Itistooeasytocreateerroneoustags.Icoverwhyinmoredetailhere,butoddsarethatifyoulookatyourtaglist,you’llfindsomethingsimilartothisissue:  Misspelledtagscauseyourtag-basedlistbuildingstrategytofail,asnoteswiththemisspelledtagswon’tbeincludedinthelist.Sharing:Youcan’tshareagroupoftaggednoteswithothers.However,whenyoushareanotebook,allthenotesinthatnotebookareavailabletoyourcollaborator.Sharingisalogicalextensiontoanaccountorganizedbynotebooks.It’smoreefficient(lessstepsandlessdisruptivetoyourorganization)thatwhenyouorganizebytagsandthensharewithothers.And,sinceGTDisyourlifemanagementsystem– yourcommandcenter– whywouldn’tyousetyourselfuptobeabletoeffortlesslyshare/collaboratewithothers?Inevitably,you’llworkonsomeprojectwhereit’dbebeneficialtocollaborateontheinformationyouarestoringinEvernote– whetherit’splanningthenextvacationwithyourspouse,organizingtaxreceiptswithyourbookkeeper,orworkingonaclientprojectwithyourassistant.Notebooksmakeiteasiertodoso.WithanunderstandingoftheseEvernoteconstraints,wecannowaddressaverypowerfulreasonfororganizingEvernoteforGTDwithnotebooks– moreefficientprocessing.   GTDTHEME:PROCESSING Returningtothe5StepsofMasteringWorkflow.AsDavidteachesus,inordertomaketheCapturephasework(andavoidEvernotebecomingadigitaljunkyard)youmustemptyyourcapturetoolsregularlybyprocessing–thecollectivetermforsteps2and3(ClarifyandOrganize)ofMasteringWorkflow.“Processing”meansyou’lltakeeach-and-everynoteyoucaptureandrunitthroughtheMasteringWorkflowDiagram.Followingthediagram,you’lldecide:whatisit,isitactionable,andifso,whatthenextactionis.You’llthen:doit,delegateit,ordeferit(yougetquickatthiswithpractice).You’llbedoingsomework.ThisrequiresyoutomoveeachnotefromyourEvernoteinbox(yourcapturelocation)andtoanothernotebookinyouraccount.You’lltakethisactiononallyourcapturednotesregardlessofwhichorganizationalapproachyouchoose.Intheseways,theworkrequiredtoprocesscaptureddata– regardlessifyouorganizebynotebooksortags–isthesame.But,thisiswherethesimilaritiesend.Whenyouhaveatag-basedapproachtoorganizingEvernote,youalsomusttag100%ofthenotesyouprocess.Thisisbecausethetagistheprimarysearchvehicleyouuseinretrievingnotes,and– ascoveredearlier– atagsearchishowyoucreatelists,thecornerstoneofGTD.So,inorderforyoutoretrievethenoteinthefuture,duringtheprocessingphase,thenoteMUSTbetagged.And,youneedtotagthenotecorrectly(bigassumptiongivenhoweasyitistocreatemisspelledtags).Plus,you’dbebettertokeepthenotecurrentwithyourcontext-basedtag(s)sothatyoucangenerateaccuratenext-actionlists(seemsatallordergivenhowquicklycontextchangesinourlives).Whew.Soundsexhaustingtome.I’vegot35,000+notesinmyaccount.I’mnotsayingitcan’twork.But,italsosoundsalottokeepupwith– especiallywhenyouaddvolumetothemix.Atag-basedapproachmightbereasonabletokeepupwithwhenyouhaveseveralhundrednotesinyouraccount,butwhataboutwhenyouhavethousandsofnotes?GTDisacomprehensivepractice.Youaregoingtocaptureatonofstuffovertheyears.LikeIhave.Eventhinkingabouthavingtoprocessusingatag-basedissimplyoverwhelmingtome.It’scountertowhatGTDisdesignedtodo– createstress-freeproductivity!Organizingwithnotebooksmakesprocessingfarmoreefficient.And,acompellingreasontogowithnotebooksovertags.    GTDTHEME:ORGANIZINGBYCONTEXTWeknowGTDteachesustoorganizeournextactionsbycontext.Regardlessofyourorganizationalapproach,you’llneedtodothis.Butwhathappenswhencontextchanges?Inatag-basedapproachtoorganizing,tagsarethetoolforidentifyingcontext.Toaccountforthechange,youneedtoassignandactivelymanageyourcontextualbasedtagsforeverysinglenote,orelseitdoesn’twork.It’slesswork(i.e.moreefficient)tocreatecontextualbasednotesonce,anduseliststoorganizeyourstuff.Thisisanotebooksbased-approachtoorganizing,andit’smoreforgivingascontextchanges.Whenyouprocessyourinbox,notesandnotebooksserveasyourprimarycontextualcontainers.Theworkistofileyournotesinthepropercontextualnotebook,andlogthenextaction–ifthereisone –ontheappropriatecontextlist.Foraportionofmynotes– notallofmynotes– IalsomakeadditionaleditstothenotestodowhatIcall,“preparethemforsearchsuccess.”ThenIfilethemintheircontext-basedlocationinsidemyaccount.It’smoreworktomanagecontextchangeswithtags,andyetanotherreasontonotebooks.   VISUALAIDOneadditionalpointinfavorofnotebooksvstags.Notebooks– especiallywhengroupedtogetherinstacks– providealevelofvisualorganizationandtidinesstoyourEvernoteaccountthatisusefultothehumanbrain.ThenotebookslistinthelefthandpanelofEvernoteactsasacompassthathelpsyounavigateyourdata,andkeepsyouorientedinyoursystemthroughsubtle,visualcuesfoundintheEvernoteinterface.And,withstacks,youcantoggleopenandclosedgroupsofrelatednotebooksasneeded,keepingyourdigitaldesktidyanddisplayingonlythedatayouareactivelyworkingonatthattime.It’sthroughstacksthatIkeep500+notebooksneatlygroupedandhiddenfromsiteexceptwhenIneedthem.There’snovisualoverwhelm– nodigitalcluttersotospeak– createdasaresult.Inaddition,notebooksprovideavisualcontaineraroundrelatednotes.Backtothemovinganalogyprovidedinourdiscussionofsearch– relatednotesarepackedinabox.And,Icanquicklyseehowmanyitemsareinthatboxataglance.And,Icanvisuallyscantheinteriorcontentsofthatboxwithaclick.Mybrainfindsitorderlyandoftenremembersjustwhatnotebooktonavigatetobysimplyseeingthenameofthenotebookintheinterface.Whenyouorganizeyouraccountbasedonunderstandingtheopportunitythisprovides,yourGTDpracticebecomesincrementallymoreefficient.   ManypeopleabandonGTDbecausetheyfindittoomuchwork.Yes,it’swork,buttheworkresultsinthepromiseofthebook – stress-freeproductivity.Whencreatingyourtrustedsystem,you’rewisetocreateonethatmakestheGTDprocessasefficientaspossible.Asshownhere,theevidenceisclearthatorganizingyourEvernoteaccountwithnotebooks,nottags,isthemostefficientwaytopracticeGTDinEvernote.You’venowlearnedhowtagsareakeywayyougowrongusingEvernoteforGTD.Inadditiontothis,therearetwoadditionalfactorsthatcreatespeedbumpstoyourEvernoteGTDefficiency.Iconcludethisarticleonthenextpagewiththem.   ManypeopleabandonGTDbecausetheyfindittoomuchwork.Yes,it’swork,buttheworkresultsinthepromiseofthebook – stress-freeproductivity.Whencreatingyourtrustedsystem,you’rewisetocreateonethatmakestheGTDprocessasefficientaspossible.Asshownhere,theevidenceisclearthatorganizingyourEvernoteaccountwithnotebooks,nottags,isthemostefficientwaytopracticeGTDinEvernote.You’venowlearnedhowtagsareakeywayyougowrongusingEvernoteforGTD.Inadditiontothis,therearetwoadditionalfactorsthatcreatespeedbumpstoyourEvernoteGTDefficiency.Iconcludethisarticleonthenextpagewiththem. Continue>> Next:HowtoImproveYourGTD®EfficiencyinEvernote(Page7of7)   TrademarkNotice: NeitherStaceyHarmonnorHarmonEnterprises,islicensed,certified,approved,orendorsedbyorotherwiseaffiliatedwithDavidAllenortheDavidAllenCompanywhichisthecreatoroftheGettingThingsDone®systemforpersonalproductivity.GTD®andGettingThingsDone®areregisteredtrademarksoftheDavidAllenCompany.FormoreinformationontheDavidAllenCompany'sproducts,pleasevisittheirwebsite:www.davidco.com.    WhyNBs:Header WhyNBs:IntroSummary WhyNBs:HeatedDebate WhyNBs:ListManagement WhyNBs:Constraints WhyNBs:ProcessingImpact WhyNBs:OrganizebyContext WhyNBs:VisualAid WhyNBs:Conclusion WhyNBs:NextPageCTA WhyNBs:GTDTrademarkNotice