Using Evernote for ministry

I am not an organized person by nature. My clothes sit in piles on my dresser. Books and papers stack up until they defy the laws of physics. My garage…we won’t get into that. And my computer files are such a jumbled mess that I probably need to devote a solid week to organizing, naming, and filing things to be easily found. The sad thing is that I have a pretty good system, at least for the computer files. I just have not stuck to it because its just easier to save things to the desktop.

If you struggle like me to keep yourself organized, especially your computer, the program Evernote would be a great addition to your organizational system. Evernote is a cloud-based program that is capable of syncing files from the webt to your computer to your smart phone. As I have continued to use it, I have found that it has been exceptionally helpful to me in ministry, and I want to lay out a few ways that you can use it to help you as well. This is just a tool. It won’t magically make you a more organized person.

WHAT IS EVERNOTE?

If you’re not familiar with Evernote, it can seem either daunting or useless at first. You can access it through the internet, by a downloaded program on your computer, or through your phone. It is, in essence, a web clipping and note taking program, but it is so much more. You can store notes, pictures, or voice files. You can also clip web pages to be stored as a note. The note is then stored and is searchable. You can organize your notes into notebooks (think file folders on your computer). You can tag each note with as many tags as you want, similar to a blog post. It helps make it more searchable. It is an extremely lightweight but powerful program. The best thing – it is free! Well, it comes in both a free and premium version. The free version gives you 40mb a month of uploading (unless you upload a lot of voice/pictures you won’t come close to that), while the premium gives you 500mb. The premium service also offers a bunch of other additional features, all for only $5 a month (or $45 a year). I have not seen the need personally to go to the premium service, but if you really use the service alot it could be worth your money.

**UPDATE** In the initial post of this, I forgot the link to the Evernote website. Check it out at http://www.evernote.com.

HOW TO USE IT IN MINISTRY

So, whats the big deal about a computer program? How can it help you and me in ministry? There are a ton of ways, but here are some of the ones that I have used for myself.

Lessons – If you’ve been doing youth ministry for any length of time, you’ve got dozens, maybe hundreds of lessons. You can load them into evernote, and “Voila!” you have a searchable lesson database. You can also write lessons in Evernote, with a simple text editor. You can’t do much in the way of fancy formatting, but if you’re just looking to get the lesson done and organized, this program will work great for you.

Games – Maybe you’re looking for an outdoor game using water balloons, but you can’t remember the name. You can spend 20 minutes looking all over various websites or doing different google searches, or you can build your own tag-able database on Evernote. Every time you find a great game online, simply clip it into your Evernote notebook, tagging it with as many keywords that would be relevant.

Illustrations – Like games, sometimes its hard to find that perfect illustration for a lesson or sermon. And just like the games, you can build a database with keywords that you can search. If you stumble across something online or hear something in real life, you can clip it or type it out and save it for later. Also, you can write down your own real life stories to save when they might come in handy for a lesson.

Receipts – Ever struggle keeping those receipts for the end of the month? I am TERRIBLE at it! I crumple them up in my pocket, and have to hope I didn’t wash them. With evernote, I can just take a picture of the receipt with my cell phone, and it is stored. You can even print it out at the end of the month or end of the year, or whenever someone asks, “So, why did you spend $50 at Chick-fil-et?”

Remembering – Have a great idea at 3 am? Saw a cool product that you can’t buy now but maybe later? Ran across an inspirational quote online that you want to remember later? Whatever it is, you can use this as your brain that won’t forget.

Research – There have been many times I’ve run across something awesome online and have saved to a file on my computer, never to read it again. If you’re doing some research for a lesson, sermon, or just reading and come across something you’ll want to save for later, you can just clip it and store it.

Student Database – This will not replace a full fledged student database that you have. But, if you have a note for each student, you now have a “file” on them where you can record any info on them that you have. Lets say you go to lunch with a student, and you learn that he plays soccer, struggles with his parents divorce, and loves Halo. When you’re done with the lunch, you record the info (don’t type it WHILE you’re with them!) and you can remember it for later. It is just a great way to keep all the facts from getting lost, and to show students how much you care.

These are just a few of the ways you can use Evernote to help you and your ministry. It is about making your information easier to find and easier to use, which means you’ll be more efficient and have better stuff to work with. For those of you who have used Evernote, what other ways have you found to use Evernote for your ministry?