Evernote Update: The System

A week or so ago I laid out my plans for Evernote, and I'm happy to report that I have it all set up exactly how I always dreamed I would. I installed the software for our HP Deskjet F4280 onto Dean's XP desktop and was able to set the default scanning action to scan a document with the built-in OCR for character recognition and then save the scanned document to a folder on our shared hard drive. I then went into Evernote and used the 'monitor' function to have it automatically add any documents saved into the scan folder as a new note.
The way this works is a tremendous help to me. Every piece of mail I receive now immediately gets scanned and then shredded. Then, when I have a moment, I can go into the Evernote software from my desktop, laptop, netbook or iPhone to name and tag the note then route it into the appropriate notebook.
For the existing filing cabinet of paperwork that I've stored (including gems like paycheck stubs from 10 years ago and my first cellphone bill) I have been going folder by folder to scan all the papers in and then shred the originals. Its going to be a long time before I get it all done- especially as its a flatbed scanner- but at least I feel confident that I'll eventually get it all done.
For those tiny (gas) receipts that I forever seem to have in my wallet, or the dark recesses of my handbag, I've taken to taking a quick snapshot using my iPhone and immediately throwing them away. In fact, its become such a habit that last week I had lunch with a co-worker at Subway and I whipped out my iPhone (which has a better camera than the Blackberry Bold) and took a shot of my receipt before tossing it into the trash. She had a million questions to ask about my process and I was glad to share. I think I made a new Evernote convert!

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