Evernote is interrupting things. Maybe not for you (yet), but, most certainly for me.

I had coffee with a friend yesterday and started to tell him how I was using Evernote. His initial response, like most of you, I’m sure, was: “I have Evernote, but I really don’t know what I would use it for.” Not uncommon.

I’ve had an Evernote account since December 4th, 2008. Only now, almost 4 years later, am I seeing exactly how heavily Evernote can be used and relied upon. It is definitely one of those applications that is so bothersome to some because of its “freeform” interface, and to others it is the best thing to happen to them since sliced bread because of its “freeform” interface (I’ll explain this in a future post).

Ok, so enough introduction. Content. Bullet point is probably best for this:

I am beginning to use Evernote (Premium) for:

• my CMS (contact management system)
• my PMS (project management system. Yes, I just did that)
• my RIT (read it later tool)
• my ENB (electronic notebook)
• my FCC (filing cabinet of choice)
• my DVC (digital voice recorder)

I think that’s it.

Yes. All of that. Using Evernote. Today I was supposed to write about how I am using Highrise (a CMS product by the great folks at 37signals), but, well, I haven’t used it all week due to Evernote. And I don’t think I’ll use it next week either.

What about Basecamp? Yeah, I know. Awkward, huh? Lucky for them, and me, and my clients, I still have active client project there. I have moved all of my internal projects to my Evernote PMS (see above for translation) to test how well it will work for project management (also rely on Dropbox for this system). I will probably make a decision on this matter in the next few weeks.

Ok, so what does this mean? Well, for the sake of your time, and mine, this post is going to wrap up after one final thought (below). Subsequent posts relating to Evernote will follow so that I can adequately explain to you, and the world, how I am using Evernote for the above items.

What started me down this path filled with elephants?

Access to my tasks and calendar, to be extremely specific. Or, actually, the lack of access. As you are probably beginning to learn, when I start using a product I tend to use any other products by the same company. I enjoy immersing myself in one company, on suite of products, one point of contact, etc. So, what happened was next, Basecamp Next.

I started to use the awesome calendar for not just projects, but sales meetings, personal appointments, and other such things. I was also using their todo lists heavily (which would put todo items assigned a due date on that specific day of the calendar). Then, one day last week, this friend who I had coffee with yesterday, asked me what day would work best to grab a cup of GoGo Juice. I looked at my phone hopelessly. I had no clue.

Sure, I could have gone to my Basecamp Next account on my phone, heck I could have pulled out my iPad, or gone up to my office and logged in on my MacBook. But. No. That’s ridiculous. I shouldn’t have to pinch and zoom, or go up a set of stairs, just to check my availability for a certain day. From that moment on I started to look extremely hard at how I manage my life and schedule.

I thought about this process for a few hours, no joke, drew a bunch of lines on a whiteboard, and leaned back in my chair in a thoughtful manner, last weekend. Here are the tools that I came up with, and already own:

• Evernote (accessible wherever I need it)
• Dropbox (accessible wherever I need it)
• Things (accessible wherever I need it)
• Postbox – email (accessible wherever I need it)

These four applications are becoming my “system,” and so far so good. I will get into specifics later, but mark it in your calendars, I might not renew my product accounts with 37signals but I’ll be dancing with elephants.

This is an aside; not related to design, technology, or even my business (although…it actually is).

With the 2012 Presidential Election almost here, and almost over, the economy is an issue for a lot of voters, and understandably so. Our dollar’s value continues to sink, but prices continue to go up for things like gas, food, and heating and cooling our homes. People are looking to the next President, whoever he may be, to have a fix for the economy. Like a magic wand: just wave that wand over here, Mr. President, and fix our economy.

Not gonna happen. Sorry to disappoint.

No single person can do anything to fix the economy, no matter what he may promise. It is going to take a combined effort to help our economy recover, an effort that starts local.

I’m sure this has been said before (actually, yes, it has), but, if you want to help the economy, start in your local community first. Chances are pretty good that your local economy is just like “everyone” else’s: bad. Next time you complain about how bad the economy is, go into a local shop and buy something.

At the most basic level, when you buy local more money stays in the community. The New Economics Foundation, an independent economic think tank based in London, compared what happens when people buy produce at a supermarket vs. a local farmer’s market or community supported agriculture (CSA) program and found that twice the money stayed in the community when folks bought locally. (source)

Let’s bring this around to websites, web hosting, photography, business cards, etc. The things that businesses need to get business and do business. Buy it local! Use a local web designer instead of a designer in another town, state, country, etc. Buy your web hosting local! Don’t give it to the names you see the most, but do a search or ask around for local web hosts, you might be surprised what you find. Need photographs for your site? Talk to a local photographer before going to a stock photography website. And business cards. Don’t go cheap (big company). Spend the cash to have a local shop print you a set of nice, quality, durable, custom, business cards (a business card is like a handshake…).

All of that being said, the local shop owners need to want your business. They need to prove that they are worth going with instead of the big names. Case and point: locally here in Harrisburg is a coffee shop, small town shop, locally owned and staffed. They have two glaring problems that will keep my wife and I spending out money elsewhere for coffee until they get it fixed: terrible customer service and absolutely terrible WiFi. Actually, they advertise the WiFi but do not provide it, which is even worse than advertising a WiFi connection that might be poor. I digress. I refuse to give them my business for the simple reason that they don’t act like they want it. Once I see them turning around their customer service to serve not just the regulars but the un-regulars too, then I’ll give them another try.

If anything at all, buying local will not only increase the health of the local community’s economy, but will also increase the quality of the local businesses!

April was a fairly crazy month both personally and professionally. Word of mouth jobs began to happen all at the same time, and my wife and I moved (locally within the Harrisburg area). Part of the move meant a new office for Aiken Web Solutions. I like to keep cost down where possible, and having a home office is such a beautiful savings! Until I need to expand, home is where the office is.

Anyways, a new office was in order. We had a shopping list put together for things that we needed for the new home, so I made sure to include a few office items in the list.

• 2 new desks
• 2 new office chairs
• 2 hanging lights
• 1 desk light
• 1 area rug
• 2 glass “white” boards
• 2 storage boxes
• 4 pots of faux grass
• 1 bag of pebbles
• 1 ceramic dish (for the two previous items)
• 1 (additional) power-strip
• 1 back of hanging in-boxes
• 1 box of screws
• 1 roll of plastic with holes in it (my favorite project!)
• 1 gallon of paint

We had a few items from the previous office space, so this list was meant to round it out a bit, or actually, re-create it!

Moving up to the trip to Ikea (of course) I spent some time in Paper by fiftythree to try and visualize what I wanted to achieve in the space. See my sketches below, and the final product a little further down to see how close I was able to get to my original ideas.

My favorite part of this project, besides the entire project itself, was achieving an organized office by keeping all cords off of the ground. I thought for a while how to best achieve this, asked a few friends, and ultimately ended up asking someone at Home Depot for a few ideas (which worked!).

I landed on what the gentleman at Home Depot recommended. Plastic strips with holes to screw through, basically. Cut the strips to size, fasten them to the underside of the desk with screws, and there you have it. All three desks have their corresponding wires attached to their underside, all out of sight. Included with the wires is a 1 TB external hard drive, 1 wireless router, and 1 modem. All attached underneath the desk. Off the floor and off the top of the desk!! Makes for a great, organized, clean, look.

Well, I’ve said enough. I hope you enjoy the pictures I snapped. Be sure to say so in the comments or wherever you read this (Twitter, FB, G+, etc).

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Every week I probably browse at least 25 websites that are not related to anything in particular. These could be blogs that I read, the site of a developer whose app I just purchased, or a site that I find through a recommendation from another blogger. Inspired by the Typekit blog, I am going to attempt to remember to publish a post each week featuring at least one website that struck me as awesome. It could be the font they used, a particular design element, or the overall awesomeness of the website. Inspiration is all around us, we just need to find it.

Mysterious Trousers

Incidentally, the font on the Mysterious Trousers website, Clarendon, is that used on National Park road signs. I do not find it overly attractive, but thought that due to the trail-map design of the site, it was appropriate. What I love about this website is the idea, and application, of placing their products along that of a trail map. Every website contains elements that are from the designer, or company of the website, and I suspect that this company enjoys to spend time outside hiking…just a hunch. Regardless, the way that this design was executed is perfect. Not only is it eye-catching [different], but it is also effective. You can’t help but look at everything, and quite possibly click on a few things, and maybe even, GASP!, buy something. Well done, Mysterious Trousers!

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(I came across the Mysterious Trousers website because I purchased their iOS calendar app Calvetica. It really is the best calendar app you’ll ever try).

If you’ve come across a website that struck you as awesome, share it in the comments.

We are already eleven days into the fifth month of the year. Stop looking back and keep looking forward!

This month I am using a desktop wallpaper on my main monitor (1920×1080) that was featured by Smashing Magazine, designed by Lotum in Germany. It is a beautiful expression of the colors we are sure to see this month as Spring arrives, and leads into the warm months of Summer.

Click the image above to download this desktop wallpaper and browse others for the month of May. Enjoy!