Post Updated: Feedback from Adam Boettiger showed me that my initial post wasn’t clear. I’ve now clarified the paragraph with the asterisk, below, to make my point pointier.
I’m becoming more and more fond of Evernote, but I also like having a printed-out copy of my multitudinous To Do lists so that I have an easy way of scanning through them all at one glance.
* Unfortunately, Evernote doesn’t seem able to merge and then print a collection of To Do lists natively– while still keeping those lists separate in digital form for dynamic updating. In other words, at the start of the day I want to smash my lists together, print on one piece of paper to have on my desk (for convenience and to save trees), but then still have the separate lists digitally.
Here’s a workaround (note– I use the Mac OS version of Evernote):
Background: I have all my To Do lists in a separate notebook called “To Do” (natch) to distinguish these pressing items from the other things I do with Evernote.
Step #1: Create a new notebook called “Copy, Print & then Dump.”
Step #2: Select-All the notes in “To Do”
Step #3: Control-Click, then select “Copy to Notebook,” then select the “Copy, Print & then Dump” notebook you just created.
Step #4: Go to the “Copy, Print & then Dump” notebook; Select All; Control-Click, then select “Merge Notes.”
Step #5: Print! Depending on your level of anal-retentivity and OCD, you can either simply hit the button or engage in some quick formatting. In my case, I upped the font size a bit and chose the “print four pages on one page” option on my printer. It came out a bit wonky but 20 seconds with a highlighter made the printout more useful.
Step #6: Go back and delete the merged note so that you don’t suffer version mitosis on your notes.
Is this a stupid workaround until Evernote gets its act together and stops acting like paper — the world’s oldest display technology after the rock wall — is the enemy? Yes.
Is it handy if you find paper useful as a reminder in the physical world that does not require electronics to see? Yes.
Thoughts? Comments?
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