The power of Evernote is that there is no right or wrong way to use it.
From audio notes to websites, it’s the perfect place to capture and store the content you need to be productive.
The question we get from many users is how to organize the material they bring into Evernote. From notebooks to tags, you have the option to decide your own personal classification system. That taxonomy can be as simple or complex as you need, but it’s remarkable how powerful Evernote becomes when you find the right system that works.
Yesterday, we discovered a post on Medium that provides a clear example of how one user has successfully structured his Evernote account to help make the most impact in his work with an emphasis on tags.
Thomas Honeyman is a student at the University of Southern California and co-founder of a music collaboration platform. Recently, he found that focusing on tags gave him the most flexibility by associating the notes he creates to his tags.
Much like author Michael Hyatt, tags have become the engine that helps power the organizational success with how Thomas manages content in Evernote.
Let’s take a look at the ways Thomas has used tags.
Simplified notebook structure
By having fewer than five notebooks, Thomas is able to manage the flow of notes much like you would in an email inbox. Content is initially processed in an Inbox Notebook and then moved into a Cabinet Notebook.
Tag hierarchy
With notebooks, you can have stacks. With tags, you can have hierarchies. Thomas organizes his notes within three major tag categories:
.Descriptors – the source of notes, media types, and conversations.
.Knowledge – what kind of information is contained within a note.
.Projects – notes that are associated to the type of work he is actively completing.
Power tip: Tags appear alphabetically. Use symbols such as hashtags, periods, and numbers to force them into an order that works for you.
Adding Tags in Evernote
All Evernote users can have up to 100,000 tags per account. Your notes can be associated with multiple tags.
Here is how you can quickly add a tag to notes in Evernote:
1. Open the note you wish to tag
2. Open the tags editor
3. Type to add your tags. Tag suggestions based on previous tags in Evernote will appear as you type.
4. Press Return to add a tag
5. To delete a tag, backspace over the tag text
Adding tags by platform:
Mac or Windows Desktop: On the top of the note, to the right of the Evernote notebook name, click to add tags
iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch: Under the note title, select the (‘i’) icon, and then tap Add Tag.
Android: On the top bar of the note, select ‘…’ and then Tags
Web browser: On the top right of the note, select Info and then click ‘+’ Tags
How are you using tags to organize content in Evernote? Share your tips in the comments.
