I like to write. Whether what I write is published in any form makes no difference. It’s just good for me to write.
Thoughts untangle themselves running over lips and pencil tips.
The problem is, I can write so much more and faster when I type.  Pencil tips just don’t do the trick for me, but this little device turned out to be the perfect solution for me.
Here are 6 reasons I like it and some applications I use it for.
By no means is it comprehensive, but call it a review if you like.

In 2013 I was invited to be part of a hand-selected team of Holy Spirit agents who would go on a pioneering missions trip to Cambodia and Malaysia. I was planning on bringing my laptop with me so I could write letters, journal, and do all the other things you do with a laptop. My laptop decided it wasn’t up for the trip and died a week before it was time to leave. I didn’t have time, nor the money to get it fixed in time.
Being a proud owner of an iPhone 4 at the time, all I was lacking was a way of typing other than pecking the screen with my fat thumbs.
When your fingers are capable of typing a smidge over 60 words per minute when equipped with a real keyboard, using only 20% of your fingers for typing is like making a hungry man eat soup with a toothpick. Frustrating.

Here is a list of the applications I’ve used this nifty device for.
Been using it for one year and five months now, and haven’t had any problems with it at all.

Microsoft Wedge.
A Bluetooth wireless mobile keyboard that works with phones, tablets.  Will probably work with any device with a screen that supports Bluetooth. Not sure what they go for now, but I got mine for $39.95 on Ebay.

• Saved the day for my mission trip.  This little keyboard literally replaced my broken laptop. I was able to complete all the tasks I would have done on my laptop thanks to this keyboard + my phone.

• Note taking. Thanks to the Wedge I was able to jot down many incredible one liners and notes during my transformational three years at Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. I use the cover as a platform for my phone, and the keyboard lays across my knees. Not perfect, but it works.

• A bible stand. This is a recent discovery. The cover that comes with the keyboard is not only a cover.   It bends in half to any angle you like and works as an excellent stand for an iPad or such. Turns out it works great for my bible.  Or a book.

• It shuts off and comes on by itself, when I close or open the cover.  This is nice.  I don’t have ot worry about turning it off or on.  Just open the lid, and it’s on.  Close it, and it’s off.  

• The batteries last like forever.  Probably close to three months with my use.

• Writing down ideas, notes, revelations in during trips, or in the Airport, or just about anywhere.  I’ve used it for everything from shooting off an email to writing down prophetic words for churches during a long drive.  I can pull out my keyboard, turn on Evernote on my phone a lot faster than digging my computer out of my back pack and hoping it’s charged.

Lastly, if you’re already using Evernote, or are looking into start using it, I highly recommend reading a book on Evernote called Evernote Essentials by Brett Kelly.  Brett used to work for Evernote, and he truly did an amazing job explaining all the magic in Evernote.  It’s genuinely a fun read for a techy book.  Being one of the geeks who helped make Evernote, he’s probably been using it longer than anyone else on the planet.

Click on the picture or HERE to check it out.

Mountains of papers, emails, letters, notes, reports, drawings my kids made for me, receipts and lots and lots of other logistical crud. How to store it all and keep it organized? There’s one app that can do it all. Just about. I use it on my smart phone and laptop every day.  And of course I use it on my iPad I don’t have.

Here is a general overview of some cool features and what I use this app for so far. “So far” because the more I learn about this app, the more I realize how much more I can do with it.
O.k. enough suspense.
Drum roll….

Evernote.

Yep, that’s it. That’s the app.

This app is slowly but surely taking the place of  a lot of traditional tools I use.

I use it for journaling, notes, ideas, brainstorming, shopping lists with check boxes, saving my kids pictures and lots of other stuff.

A friend of mine even writes his books using Evernote as he commutes to work.  He just lays his notes out on the passenger seat, and starts orally recording through his iPhone as Evernote transcribes what he’s saying.

Here are some features I like about it, and some of the secret sauce you may have not heard about.

1. It’s free and it works on Mac/PC and iOS/Android.

There is a paid version that allows more data to be synced per month and some other perks, but so far I have been happily using the free version, and have not yet needed to upgrade.

If you have a Mac or iPhone, then just head to the App store.  If you use an Android phone or Windows, then you can easily download the app from Google Play or download the program for windows on the Evernote site.

2. Tags. Forget about folders.

On my computer I’m sort of a folder freak. I put everything in folders and sub folders. I have to say however, Tags just really trump folders in a lot of ways.  Anytime you create a note, you can tag it.  And you can create any tags you want like “shopping lists” or “meeting notes” that you can use to tag relevant notes with.  These tags help sort notes according to tags.  So if I have thousands of notes but I want to only see shopping lists, I can click on the “shopping lists” tag and only notes tagged with that tag will show up.  The thing I like about tags for organizing notes compared to folders is that a note can have multiple tags whereas a file cannot exist in two different folders simultaneously. For example I have a tag called “Internship”.  But what if I have a note that really would be good to sort as an “Internship” note, but also as a “meeting notes” note also?  Well, if I was using papers in folders I would have to choose one or the other folder to store the file. With tags, I could just add both the “internship” tag and the “meeting notes” tag to the same note.  This way that same note will show up under either of those tags.

3.  Go paperless.

Many people are using Evernote to go completely paperless. When they go through their mail, they simply scan the important stuff and put in Evernote with relevant tags. No more keeping thousands of bills and letters. Their new home is the trash basket while the documents are well organized and stored in Evernote where they can be accessed from virtually any device anywhere.

4.  Never underestimate the power of a… NOTE.

When you think of a “note” you probably think of a little piece of paper with a list of what to buy at the grocery store. Or a simple file with primal unformatted text. In Evernote however a note can contain just about anything. Literally. You can store absolutely any type of file within a note.  That could be a website, a video, a picture, a document, a spreadsheet, an audio recording etc. So basically you can use “notes” in Evernote as containers to organize just about anything you have on your devices. (There is a size limit however)

5.  A Search Engine with X-ray vision.

The search engine of Evernote works so well, you could probably get by without even using tags. X-ray vision? Well not really, but the feature I’m about to tell you about is just about as impressive as x-ray vision. The evernote search engine can search text within images. For example you visit a cafe called “Cafe Barista Italia” and you take a picture of the sign outside and save it in Evernote in case you forget the name.   Even if you didn’t add any text, if you do a search for “cafe” Evernote will find that image, because Evernote like us humans can read text in images.

That’s just a few features that I like.

And, once again, if you really want to get the most out of this phenomenal app, make sure you read Evernote Essentials by Brett Kelly.  It’s really worth it.  I’ve almost finished reading it and I am very impressed.

So, are you a paper person or a digital person?  In any case you may want to give Evernote a try.   :)

Feel free to comment below.