Evernote Task Management – Introduction

by Steven B. Combs, Ph.D.

In a previous post I share my path toward an Evernote task management system. At the end of the post, I include a statement that I will share this system. My intent was to do so in a single post. As I prepared an outline for a single post, I realized that the length of the post would be unwieldy both from a writer and reader’s perspective so I chose to write the instructions as a series of posts. This post is part two of that series.

I want to reiterate, as I share in my previous post, that task management systems are very personal. I don’t subscribe to the belief that my, or anyone else’s, system is the best and will work for everyone. I highly anticipate that if you give my system a try, you will modify it to match your own workflow. My system even allows for some customizations. My hope is that readers will add additional features and workflow ideas in the comments area after each post. Let’s grow this system together and make it even better and more customizable.

This is a multi-part series and will include the following posts (titles in blue represent posts available):

1. Path towards an Evernote Task Management System: The long and sordid story behind my move to use Evernote as my primary task management system after trying just about everything else available on the Mac platform.
2. Evernote Task Management System – Introduction: You are reading it now.
3. Evernote Task Management – Install: Before we setup Evernote as a task management system, we need to first install the application on our Mac. This post will show new Mac users how do to this. If you are already an Evernote user, you can skip this section.
4. Evernote Task Management – Setup: We begin to configure Evernote to become a mighty and powerful task management system.
5. Evernote Task Management - Task Creation: A task management system is of no use if we can’t create tasks. This post will describe the many ways you can add tasks to my Evernote task management system.
6. Evernote Task Management – Task Review: Any good task management system includes task review as part of the process; however, if you have a long list of tasks, this can become difficult. This post will demonstrate the Evernote tools available that make the review process simple.
7. Evernote Task Management – Task Completion: What you do with a task after it has been completed is the topic of this post. You might be surprised by the things you need to consider and the decisions you must make.
8. Evernote Task Management – Scenarios: With the Evernote task management system in place, I demonstrate several scenarios that highlight the use of my Evernote Task Management system.
9. Evernote Task Management – Paper: I like paper and I like to print my task list. This post demonstrates how I integrate paper into my system for those of you who still like to put pen to paper.
10. Evernote Task Management – Enhancements: As is, my Evernote task management system is pretty powerful; however, with some additional software, you can turn it into a powerhouse of productivity.

I’m looking forward to the series. This is the first time since my AutoCAD publishing days that I’ve pushed myself to create a lengthy set of detailed instructions. Unlike my days as an AutoCAD author, I won’t have the benefit of an editor or technical editor. If you find errors, please let me know via the comments or feel free to send an email to:

steven.combs+etm@gmail.com

It is also likely to take some time as I will craft these posts as time permits. This may turn into an entire 2016 project. If you want to know when the next post in the series is available, you can follow me on Twitter and Google+ where I always announce new posts. You can also subscribe to the site RSS feed.