I want to use this post to recommend a great app that can help you manage the many aspects of your art career. We could all use some organization to keep up with the many tasks artists need to keep track these days. Everything from notes, art materials, reminders, instructions, exhibition dates, etc, Evernote can be the app you need to keep yourself organzed. You can learn all the features on its website at http://www.evernote.com.  However, I will tell you a bit of how I use it to help me organize my art career.

In Evernote you can organize your notes into categories you call Notebooks. Each Notebook can store notes with all kinds of information.  For example, I have  a specific Notebook for each these, Art Gallery, Art Center, Art Studio, Personal, Business Cards, etc.  Every time you start a new Note, you can specify what Notebook you are going to save it to.  It is a great way to organize all your important information.

You can create notes with text, photos, reminders, and lists. Additionally, when using the camera mode, you can store photos, scan business cards, and scan Post-It notes. The information is then saved to your account. Very cool.

So how does this help me manage my art career?  When I have a meeting, I make a new note and store it where it belongs instead of random documents in my computer. I create To Do lists in the different Notebook categories so when I remember something I need to do, I just add it to my list. I have a note for all my upcoming exhibitions.  That way, when I get an email with important information related to an upcoming show such as drop off or pick up dates, I just copied them to the Note. It is a lot easier for me to search my notes in my Evernote app than searching over hundreds of emails. I have important documents I need attached to notes so I can very quickly reference them.  It also works well with Dropbox. Additionally, you can add tags to notes for future use.

You know all those sticky notes floating around your desk? Now you can scan them with Evernote and keep them organize. How about those business cards you exchange in openings?  Now you can scan them and make a category for Contacts to keep them around. Evernote will scan the business card and pull the text from it. Very cool feature.  There are many other apps that do that but Evernote keeps the info within itself to make it easier to manage.  You can aslo add voice recordings to any note and you can use the Presentation mode to present them in a meeting.

One of the best features is that it Synchronizes with all your devices running Evernote so that you do not miss any information when you need it.  If I make a note in my Evernote iPohne app, I can find it in my laptop app as well. Evernote is available for your iPhone, iPad, Balckberry, Android, Mac, Windows and who knows what else. Look it up.

Evernote is free to try but if you want all the features and unlimited notes, get the full PRO upgrade for $45/year. Not bad when you think about all it can do and the time it is going to save you over the length of a year.  At the end of the day, the app is only as good as you are willing to use it and keep it updated. Otherwise, don’t waist your time in something that you will not have the discipline of using.  Over the years, I have tried many Productivity Apps and so far, Evernote works great to help me keep my art career organized wherever I go. Give it a try!!  It may be the one thing you need to spend less time looking for stuff and more time making art. Just saying.

http://evernote.com

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