Are you looking for the perfect studying tool to help you be organized at school? Note-taking can be messy—especially if you have multiple classes to manage at once.
Evernote is a smart note-taking tool bundled with features to make studying easier. If you suffer from poor organization, Evernote can help to break your bad habits and get your life at school back in order. Here’s how to use Evernote to take notes easily in class.
1. Organize Your Classes Using Notebooks
Notebooks are what Evernote uses to organize your notes. A notebook can contain several note pages—in this way, they act like physical folders or exercise books for each of your classes. Here’s how to create a new notebook in Evernote:
If you’re looking for a deeper level of organization, Evernote offers Notebook Stacks. A Stack can contain multiple Notebooks that you may use to group together similar classes.
For instance, you can group Notebooks titledBiology,Chemistry, andPhysicsinto a Stack titledScience. To add a new Stack, right-click a Notebook, hover overAdd to Stack, then clickAdd Stack.
2. Add Tasks to Your Notes
When taking notes, you may realize subject-related tasks that you need reminding yourself of. There might be a subtopic you need to follow up on or a homework task due shortly. Evernote’sTasksfeature allows you to integrate tasks into your note pages and access them all in one place.
You can add a task to any note by hitting the checkbox icon on the editing window or by using the shortcutAlt + T. To view tasks across all of your note pages, you can navigate to theTaskstab on the sidebar. If you’re consideringupgrading to a paid Evernote plan, you can set due dates and create custom reminders in Evernote Personal.
3. Link Ideas Between Topics
One feature many popular note-taking apps offer is backlinking. A backlink allows you to reference another note page in a document. By clicking on a backlink, you can navigate straight to the linked idea. You can use this to help connect themes from similar classes, such as notes taken in science and math classes.
To create a Note Link, use the keyboard shortcutCtrl +Alt + K. Then search for the note to link and hitInsert. You can access more options by right-clicking the note link and hitting the three dots. Here, you can copy the link or change the view using theText,Title, orPreviewoptions.
4. Take Advantage of the Editor
Evernote’s rich text editor is one of its primary assets, making it ideal for students. The editing ribbon offers several ways to format your notes, helping you emphasize key information and create a structured notes page.
To the right of the editing window is the color selection tool and a highlighter option with several available colors. You may use different highlighter colors to indicate different levels of importance. Evernote stands out for being one of the few note-taking apps allowing you to change the font style, which is ideal forcreative note-takers.
Organizing chunks of content in class is also simple—Evernote offers three heading sizes that can be found next to the font options. You can change the default heading sizes by hovering over a heading and selecting theUpdate ‘header’option.
5. Add Reminders to Your Note Pages
Keeping track of all of your studies isn’t an easy task. Trying to remember lots of information at once can lead toeveryday overwhelm. To help with this, Evernote offers a reminders feature to notify you of your most important notes.
To create a reminder, hit the small bell icon at the bottom of the editing window. Then, select one of Evernote’s suggestions or set a custom reminder using the calendar pop-up. If you’re using the Windows desktop app of Evernote, make sure you check desktop notifications are enabled in the Windows settings. HitWindows + Ito go to the Windows settings, then navigate toSystem>Notificationsto check notifications are enabled.
6. Scan Handwritten Notes in the Mobile App
Evernote’s mobile app is great for taking your notes on the go. But it also offers a unique feature to scan and upload handwritten documents to your workspace. As a bonus, you’re able to annotate uploaded notes and even search for text using its OCR technology.
To scan a note in the Evernote app, hit theNewbutton on the homepage and selectCamera. After taking the photo, you can crop the image and choose from several save options, includingDocument (Color)andPost-it Note.
You can find scanned pages in theNotestab on the Evernote app. Click on an image and tap the pencil icon to edit and annotate the image. There are several tools in the annotating window, including shapes, markers, and highlighters, making Evernote a top choice forannotating information for study.
7. Use a Template
Using an Evernote template will save you a great deal of time when taking notes during class.Evernote’s Template Galleryoffers multiple school-related templates to enhance your studies. You can apply any template directly to your workspace for free.
In the library, you’ll find a weekly planner to help you achieve awork-school life balance. TheClass Notestemplate is most helpful for taking notes in class. To apply a template to your workspace, visit the webpage and hit theUse Templatebutton in the top-right corner. You can also access templates when creating a note by hitting theOpen Gallerybutton, shown below:
Be a More Productive Student With Evernote
You may have heard of the phrase: “Study smart, not hard.” Evernote offers several ways to cut wasted time and give your brain less to think about. Evernote is a brilliant productivity tool to aid your studying. Try it out to be more efficient as a student and create more free time.
