Searching for Accurate Maps

We're all pilgrims on the same journey – but some pilgrims have better road maps – Nelson DeMille

Posts Tagged DocumentSnap

10 Awesome OneNote Tips You Should Be Using All The Time [Windows]

Aug 29

Posted by sheffner in lifehacks + cooltools | 4 Comments

My posts on One Note vs Evernote are the most popular posts on this blog. So here’s another for y’all.

Brooks Duncan of Documentsnap.com tweets about the following 10 Awesome OneNote Tips article. Here’s a snippet:

I am going to ruffle a few feathers here by saying that Microsoft OneNote is just as good as Evernote. Evernote is probably more barebones and easier to handle, while OneNote is the digital equivalent of a binder, giving you more organizational control.

The showdown will continue, so for the sake of productivity and peace, let’s say that both are great note-taking apps with their pros and cons. I use both, as and when the purpose dictates it. And I have come to love both because they have made me more organized with my note-taking.

We have covered a bit of OneNote’s capabilities with:

But effective note-taking requires as many tips and tricks you can pull together. So, here for your productive pleasure are ten more.

Read more at  10 Awesome OneNote Tips You Should Be Using All The Time [Windows].

“I use both”! Man, I used both a while back and it was Confusion City when it came time to finding something: did I note it in Evernote on OneNote? I still have some notes in OneNote; they’re probably the ones’ I’ve been looking for in Evernote and thinking, Maybe I dreamed it.

I no longer use OneNote, so I haven’t tested the tips myself, but the article includes lots of screenshots which are vital in any explanation of how to do something, especially for a non-geek computer user like me. Video is even better, but screenshots usually do the trick.

Just glancing thru the list of tips, I can’t see anything Evernote can’t do, but they are all useful things to know, such as encrypting notes with private info, OCR capability, and iPhone apps to capture notes when away from your computer.

Evernote Smart Notebook by Moleskine

By the way, Brooks Duncan is my go-to man for going paperless. I recommend his variously priced guides to going paperless, but if you’re interested in going paperless and still testing the waters, I strongly suggest you take Brooks’ free 7-part email course on the subject, which you can ssign up for at www.DocumentSnap.com.

You can also subscribe to his blog (which today introduces the amazing Evernote Smart Notebook by Moleskine)

and his YouTube channel (latest video is storing handwritten notes in Evernote).

A very useful tip in one of Brooks’ recent videos is on how to find all the PDF files in Evernote (Answer – type resource:application/pdf into Evernote’s search bar).

I couldn’t find this in Brett Kelly’s Evernote Essentials (which I also recommend, and you can read Brooks’ review of it here), but I did find this one which was equally helpful: how to find all your Evernote audio notes (Answer – type resource:audio/* into Evernote’s search bar).

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn-pQ1caROU’]

Tags: , , , , ,

Evernote Stacks – How To Use Them – YouTube

Jul 19

Posted by sheffner in lifehacks + cooltools | Comments off

http://www.documentsnap.com – Evernote Stacks are a way to have subfolders in Evernote, or sub notebooks. This video shows you how stacks work.

via Evernote Stacks – How To Use Them – YouTube.

A useful video on the basics of Evernote’s stacks – what they are, how to use them – from paperless guru Brooks Duncan of DocumentSnap.com

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1CVWdiuEKI’]

Go to www.DocumentSnap.com to sign up for DocumentSnap’s free 7-part email course on going paperless. Then, if you’re still looking for guidance, check out his Paperless Document Organization Guides (from $47) for both Windows and Mac users. (Click-thru and buy one and I get a few bucks from Brooks.)

 

Tags: ,

Introducing the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i – and Win One! | Tips To Learn How To Go Paperless | DocumentSnap Paperless Blog

Jun 30

Posted by sheffner in lifehacks + cooltools | Comments off

Brooks Duncan of DocumentSnap.com is giving away the latest Fujitsu scanner. At least, if you live on the North American continent; I don’t suppose he’ll be shipping one to me here in Japan.

But even if, like me, you don’t live in North America, check this out – you’ll learn about some interesting improvements to the Fujitsu ScanSnap.  Fujitsu Japan’s product page is here.

Here’s a clip. Read more on DocumentSnap.

ScanSnapS1300i

Today Fujitsu is announcing the ScanSnap S1300i which (obviously) replaces the ScanSnap S1300, and you can win one from DocumentSnap. Read on for details on that.

I am hoping to get my hands on a review copy for you, but in the meantime here are the key new details.

Hardware

The ScanSnap S1300i hardware is cross-platform and is basically the same as the S1300, with one key difference: it is 1.5x faster. So, instead of 8 pages per minute, it is now 12 ppm. Nice speed bump.

Software

Fujitsu is also announcing some software updates that will come along with the S1300i:

via Introducing the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i – and Win One! | Tips To Learn How To Go Paperless | DocumentSnap Paperless Blog.

Don’t forget to check out Brooks’ 7-part free email course on going paperless. Sign up for this free course at DocumentSnap.com.

If you decide to go paperless, you’ll want to consider buying Brooks’ excellent cross-platform, multimedia guide to going paperless – Paperless Document Organization Guide. Buy one from here and you’ll be buying me a meal. Thanks!

Tags: ,

How To Choose A Scanner – YouTube

Jun 9

Posted by sheffner in lifehacks + cooltools | Comments off

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTkZpdYqXKg’]

Brooks Duncan of DocumentSnap.com has a short video on the key factors to consider when choosing a scanner. Brooks Duncan is author of the Paperless Document Organization Guide, a series of detailed, multimedia guides on going paperless. Check it out (buy it from here and I get a commission).

If you’re interested in going paperless but have not yet taken the plunge, I recommend first subscribing to his free 7-part email course on going paperless. You can sign up for it at www.DocumentSnap.com

Need some help deciding which scanner to get? Here are 5 key factors to look at when deciding.

via How To Choose A Scanner – YouTube.

Brooks recommends the Fujitsu ScanSnap. If you have this already, you might be interested in this video in which Brooks shows how to use ScanSnap’s software to distribute multiple documents by keywords.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDhXM62Yntw’]

 

Tags: , , ,

Brooks Duncan: Make use of OneNote

May 31

Posted by sheffner in lifehacks + cooltools | Comments off

Brooks Duncan of DocumentSnap.com has a(nother) post about OneNote. This might be of interest to you, as my posts on OneNote vs Evernote are the most popular posts by far.

Disclosure: I’m an affiliate of DocumentSnap.com. I promote Brooks’ products because I have found them to be very useful in my attempt to “go paperless”. Brooks’ free 7-part email course on going paperless was what prompted me to stop dithering and take the plunge. Then, once I’d bought a Fujitsu ScanSnap and started scanning, and thought, “Now, what? How do I sort and store my scans so that I can find them again?”, that’s when I bought one of Brooks’ Guides to going paperless, and I recommend checking them out.

More on that later, but first, here’s Brooks’ post about OneNote.

Tip: Make Use Of OneNote

Microsoft OneNote is a tool that many Microsoft Office users have, but I’ll bet many aren’t sure what to do with.

It is one of those products that has many raving fans, and I have written about it more than once on DocumentSnap.

If you want to get more out of OneNote, Vivian Manning over at the great Small City Law Firm Tech blog has started a helpful series about how she uses OneNote. Here are the first few entries:

Even if you are not a lawyer, you will find the entries helpful. She really knows her stuff.

Any other OneNote fans out there?

While I’m at it, here’s a plug for a couple of other recent DocumentSnap blog posts which might interest you productivity mavens out there:

After playing with OneNote, I decided to stick to Evernote,  and here’s a recent tip on how to web-clip to Evernote from your iPhone, from the Elephant Channel.  On my computer, I use Evernote’s web-clipper all the time, and the lack of this function on the iPhone limited my iPhone use of Evernote. Now, if there’s a similar function for the iPad Evernote app…

Back to Brooks Duncan’s paperless guides. The main reason I rave about these is that, they taught me the importance of workflows. Going paperless means scanning then filing large amounts of documents. Where should they go? Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , ,

Brooks Duncan of DocumentSnap’s latest video tip

May 7

Posted by sheffner in lifehacks + cooltools | Comments off

DocumentSnapper Brooks Duncan is my guru for matters related to going paperless. And one reason I subscribe to his blog is for videos like this one. Brooks is constantly learning new technologies and playing around with them and learning their little tricks, then creating short and simple videos like this one on Dropbox (a popular online storage site) for the non-geeks like me. (If you’re not yet a signed up Dropbox member – it’s free! – , consider signing up here: http://db.tt/ZsMVfdVi; you’ll be giving me some free Dropbox storage space as well as yourself. Did I tell you it was free?)

Brooks’ explanations are free of technical jargon (tho he’s assuming a certain familiarity with the basics of a pc and the Internet), short and to the point.

If you’re thinking of going paperless, or just started, and feel in need of some experienced advice, I recommend Brooks Duncan’s 7-part free email course. Sign up on his home page.

And if you like that, and are already on the paperless road, check out his Document Organization Guides. He has three at 3 different prices. There’s sure to be one that fits your needs and your wallet. (Disclosure: I’m an affiliate, so if you buy one from this site, I get a commission.)

If you want to see which files have changed in your Dropbox account at a point in time, or if you want to undelete a file that you may have accidentally deleted, you can do both of these things through the web interface.View the video below, or click here to watch it on YouTube. If you are able to, I recommend that you watch it with HD turned on.

via Video: View Dropbox Changes And Undelete Files | Tips To Learn How To Go Paperless | DocumentSnap Paperless Blog.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHpfE9tC95c’]

 

Tags: , ,

Springpad Smarter Notebooks Smarter Sharing A Smarter Way to Get Things Done Review | Tips To Learn How To Go Paperless | DocumentSnap Paperless Blog

Apr 19

Posted by sheffner in lifehacks + cooltools | Comments off

Springpad Smarter Notebooks Smarter Sharing A Smarter Way to Get Things Done Review | Tips To Learn How To Go Paperless | DocumentSnap Paperless Blog.

Dan Gold has produced another $5 eBook, this time on Springpad. If, like me, you’re not sure what Springpad is, then check out their homepage first.

I haven’t checked out either Springpad or Dan’s new book, but alert Brooks Duncan has, and what’s more, he’s written a very useful review.

Personally, I don’t feel tempted to try out something that sounds like Evernote but why change?

Dan’s eBooks seem popular. I just sold another today from this site, and I’m only getting barely 150 visitors/day. That’s half-a-dozen sold in just 10 days.

Be sure to check out Brooks’ own excellent Paperless Document Organization Guide while you’re there.

If you’re just thinking about going paperless, tho, don’t buy the guide just yet, but start off with Brooks’ free 7-part email course which you can sign up for on his homepage. This will give you a good idea of what’s involved, and help you decide if you want to go for it or not.

Believe me, going paperless is a major, long-term project; but it’s also do-able and with good advice like you get from Brooks’ course, it can be less stressful than you think and actually more enjoyable than you imagine.

Now, ready for Springpad? Read Brooks’ review of Dan’s eBook before you leap.

Tags: , ,

Dan Gold’s popular eBook “Evernote®: The unofficial eBook” is selling like hot cakes

Apr 6

Posted by sheffner in announcement, lifehacks + cooltools | 4 Comments

Mouth-watering mini white chocolate cheesecakes! Yum

Mouth-watering mini white chocolate cheesecakes! Yum

Dan Gold’s e-book Evernote®: The unofficial eBook to capturing everything and getting things done! is selling like hot cakes.

"Evernote: How to capture everything and Get Things Done" by Dan Gold

"Evernote: How to capture everything and Get Things Done" by Dan Gold

It’s just $5, and it gives you a brief but useful guide to setting up Evernote to work as a Getting Things Done (GTD) tool, for both capturing ideas and “next-action” items, and for keeping track of projects and complete items, how to use tags and avoid over-tagging, tips on notebooks, etc., all with a GTD focus. Click the  link or the image on the left to read more about it.

Evernote Logo

I use Evernote, rather than OneNote. I tried OneNote for a while when my  Evernote account froze up, due to the dastardly reason that I was too cheap to cough up the 450 yen/month (4,000 yen/year) for the Premium account. I tried OneNote and I liked the pretty colours and tabs, but I missed the cloud functionality of Evernote. I use Evernote on both work and home desktops and on my iPad (and more recently on my iPhone, too), and all my notes are automatically updated in the cloud. I found OneNote less satisfactory in that regard, as I wrote in an earlier blog-post: “OneNote vs Evernote

OneNote logo

Dan Gold’s eBook is not an introduction to how to Evernote. For that, you need THE Evernote guide, Bret Kelly’s Evernote Essentials, 2nd edition.

Brett Kelly's Evernote Essentials. Click image to read more

Brett Kelly's Evernote Essentials. Click image to read more

And if you know little or nothing about GTD, Dan’s guide is probably not the best place to start. The best place would be THE SOURCE: David Allen’s book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity or website.

Brett Kelly’s guide can be used like a manual: read it through before you open the “box” and start using Evernote, or dipped into when you want to know something esoteric, like how to encrypt the text in a note.

If you have read Dave Allen’s book or are familiar with GTD and would like to know how 1 person (Dan Gold) has set up Evernote to work with GTD, then Dan’s eBook is for you. Dan is a very enthusiastic guy, and his positive feeling pervades his book. He writes simply and with humour.

And his eBook is selling very well. I want to promote books or products I use myself and made by people I respect. Click the image below to find out more about Brooks Duncan’s Paperless Document Organization Guide (for Mac- and Windows-users).

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Use ScanSnap Organizer Distribute By Keyword To Automatically File Your Documents | Tips To Learn How To Go Paperless | DocumentSnap Paperless Blog

Feb 12

Posted by sheffner in lifehacks + cooltools | 2 Comments

Another great tip from DocumentSnap Paperless blog. This is for folks who use the Fujitsu ScanSnap and its associated software, ScanSnap Organizer. When Brooks says “use a highlighter”, he means a physical highlighter – this is clear in the video but not in his blog post – and you have to highlight the phrases you want on the document BEFORE you scan it. I don’t know if this works with a digital highlighter, e.g. in Adobe Acrobat.

The ScanSnap Organizer software that comes with all Windows Fujitsu ScanSnap scanners has an interesting feature that I’ll bet not many people have noticed: you can use keywords in a PDF to automatically file your documents.

You can either assign keywords to your PDFs manually, or use a highlighter and have the ScanSnap recognize them, but once you do, you can use Distribute By Keyword to create rules and then have them sort the PDFs into cabinets and folders.

via Use ScanSnap Organizer Distribute By Keyword To Automatically File Your Documents | Tips To Learn How To Go Paperless | DocumentSnap Paperless Blog.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXP6RGnXLaM’]

Tags: , , ,

The “Where the Hell is My Wallet” Hack | Bridging the Nerd Gap

Oct 5

Posted by sheffner in lifehacks + cooltools | 2 Comments

I’ve been using Evernote more than, ahem, ever recently:

  • first, I discovered how it can help me go paperless (thanks to Brooks Duncan’s excellent advice on DocumentSnap – if you’re serious about paperless, do consider getting his Paperless Document Organization Guide);
  • next, I came across Daniel Gold’s “Unofficial Guide to capturing everything & GTD” which reminded me of ways to use Evernote for Getting Things Done, and also gave me tons of neat tips on tagging and searching and how you don’t actually need 52 Notebooks;
  • and finally I updated to version 2 of Brett Kelly’s definitive Evernote guide just to brush up on the basics as well as learn just what the heck is parent/child tagging (a fun game for all the family).

Going paperless is exciting, but it’s also more involved and less intuitive than I’d thought, so I’m grateful to the above guys for paving the way and leaving clues scattered on the info highway.

And this just in from Brett’s blog: some good advice on how to be prepared for when your wallet gets stolen. It just happens to involve Evernote, but that’s not compulsory.

Brett’s not only a fine writer and Evernote expert, but he’s also got a pretty darn good imagination, to be able to put himself in the shoes of some idiot who’s stupid enough to not keep important information together in one place, so that much valuable time is wasted when emergency strikes.

Even the most vigilant among us will occasionally, say, leave our freaking wallets on the table at the restaurant because the kids were losing their minds and getting the hell out of quickly became priority numero uno. Hypothetically, of course.

Losing your wallet doesn’t just mean you’re out whatever dough was inside; you’re also about to make several lovely phone calls to credit card companies asking them to kindly cancel the crap out of your Visa Gold before some jackass decides to use it to fill up his gas tank and the gas tanks of his 20 closest friends.

via The “Where the Hell is My Wallet” Hack | Bridging the Nerd Gap.

Tags: , , , , ,