Re. the @Projects and To Do checkboxes: reason I have it setup like that is that some project note entries will have a list of subprojects or next actions in them. Sometimes when these are done as standalone next actions I delete them from the note but for projects I need to track, I check the [] in the project note itself too. This way I can see “I did A and B, now I have to do C”. Once all checkboxes are done … the project is finished and will (automatically) no longer show up in the searches.

@Jeracah You can either use the Created and Updated/Modified dates (you can set each one manually) although these are unreliable as they can change (back). Advantage is that you can use all date search functionality… Another option would be to [tab] to the Author field and use that. Enter your dates as yy-mm-dd so they sort correctly, put EN in List View and you can sort by that column by clicking on the column header.

A tip for iPhone users: You cannot create check boxes in the iPhone version of Evernote, so I purchased the FastEver app which is a great way to VERY QUICKLY add next actions to Evernote on the go.

The only part of your setup that isn’t working for me is the lack of start/end dates. Almost everything I do has some sort of due date, and I find the constant reminders of a calendar interrupt my workflow and usually don’t work for me (have to stop what I am doing and decide what to do on that task that I am being reminded of which is usually to ask to be reminded again which leads to lost time). Any suggestions? The @MIT sorta gets to this, but not quite. I realize this goes against your philosophy, however, from the standpoint of creating this flexible system, what do you suggest?

The @* is a wild card search. The asterisks means “anything” in such a search. So searching for @* will find anything that starts with @.

thanks for your answer,

Clear notes to yourself (“call Robert to check if the wireframes are done” vs. “call Robert”) + Weekly Review = can’t go wrong :)

ps: use what you have to. Maybe you’re more comfortable keeping projects in front of you visually, using MindManager or similar.

I’ve been searching for a system like this and I’m testing this out with high hopes. One question I don’t have a good answer for is projects have many parts – how do you handle these?

For instance I have client X; there are 5 projects; so if I make these 5 separate projects that solves one part, but when a project has lots of moving parts and the details and status change fast, how granular do you go in tracking?

My problem is that my projects can be untouched for a week or three and I totally forget where I am, but I don’t necessarily know when that week or three begins.

For agenda I’ve used @name_of_person : @anthony for example

The iPad/iPod/iPhone lack of checkboxes has to do with the editor that is available to Evernote through those devices. EN can’t implement it for Apple.