How I actually use Evernote mobile (+ your best ideas)

 

September 15 2025 | Issue 61 | Link to this issue | Subscribe

Hi Reader –

We've reached the end of our mobile series!

Over the past 16 weeks, we've covered everything from basic capture techniques to power user shortcuts, from conference workflows to the latest feature updates.

But as I've been hearing from many of you via email, the real magic happens when you find your own unique ways to make Evernote mobile work for your specific life and workflow.

Today, I want to share my personal most-used mobile workflows, plus some of the smart ideas you've sent me.

My Top 6 Mobile Use Cases

After using Evernote mobile for over a decade, these are the workflows I rely on most:

1. Getting Things Off My Brain

This is David Allen's core GTD principle in action — capture everything the moment it occurs to you, then organize later.

My Evernote capture toolkit:

  • Scratch pad for quick thoughts

  • New notes for longer ideas

  • Tasks for actionable items

  • Camera for photos and digitizing paper

  • Share to Evernote from browsers and other apps

  • Screenshots sent directly to Evernote

The key: Capture now, organize later when I'm back at my computer and am using Evernote’s desktop app.

🧠 Academy Members: Master all Evernote's mobile capture options in the new ​Masterclass: Mobile Capture​ training.

2. Receipt Capture and Centralization

Every receipt gets photographed and sent to Evernote immediately. No more digging through wallets or losing important purchase records. My accountant loves me for this one.

3. Travel and Offline Access

Whether it's flight confirmations, hotel details, or restaurant recommendations, everything goes into a dedicated travel notebook that I download for offline access. No WiFi? No problem.

4. Grocery and Errands List

This is my most-accessed note — it sits at the very top of my shortcuts list. I'm constantly adding items throughout the week, then reference it while out running errands.

5. Doctor's Office Workflow

Before appointments, I prep my questions in a note. During the visit, I take notes (sometimes even audio recordings) and link everything to the calendar event. This makes it easy to access during the appointment and reference later.

6. Photo and Screenshot Centralization

Any image from my phone that contains information I want to remember or act on gets shared to Evernote immediately. This keeps my camera roll clean while ensuring nothing important gets buried.

And Some of Your Smart Ideas

The use cases you’ve shared are great too! Here are some standout mobile workflows from readers:

  • Diana's Travel System: Creates detailed itinerary notes with collapsible headers for each day, making it easy to focus on just what she needs while keeping everything else collapsed. (​Learn how to do this in Issue #54​.)

  • Claudia's Shopping Strategy: Uses one errands note with collapsible headers for different stores (Publix, Trader Joe's, Amazon), then accesses it via shortcuts while shopping. (Also in Issue #54.)

  • Mary's Conference Method: Links all session notes to calendar events, so tapping the calendar gives instant access to presentation materials and follow-up tasks. (​Read more about this in Issue #51​.)

  • Sandra's Project Management: Uses collapsible headers to organize large project notes, saying it's moved into her "top 5 Evernote features." (​Check it out in Issue #44​.)

Reflecting on the Past 16 Weeks

Looking back at this series, we've covered an incredible amount of ground over the past 16 weeks as it relates to using Evernote on mobile, including:

  • Performance improvements and new features

  • Capture techniques and voice transcription

  • Organization tips and power user shortcuts

  • Conference and travel use cases

  • Settings customization and security options

  • Hidden features most users never discover

That's 16 weeks of ready-to-implement, practical Evernote training — and it's all sitting in your inbox archive, ready to reference anytime.

Thanks for joining me on this deep dive into mobile productivity. These have been some of my favorite emails to write this year.

And, there's been some big news from Evernote over the past week (like v11 is coming!). I'll be shifting into education here on what's expected and what's new in the weeks ahead. I'm looking forward to a big Q4 in terms of new Evernote features, and I'll give you the highlights right here.

Cheers to your productivity, from every device you access Evernote on!

Stacey

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Stacey Harmon