Need to remember everything? Evernote is the answer. If you are plagued by sticky notes and scraps of paper or would love one electronic system for notes but haven’t found a good one, then check out Evernote. This is a seriously simple but powerful tool. It should be the first thing they show you how to use when you get a smartphone, but it is just as easy to use on your desktop. PC, Mac, whatever. Go check it out.

If you think is is just a geek tool, check out this Evernote for Knitting post and see how real people can stay more organized even with hobbies. Very cool.

It was simple to set up. Click, click, done. Every single client of mine can do it, no problem.

The very cool thing is that all of your notes, wherever they are created, can be viewed from all of your other devices without jumping through hoops. I thought about doing screen shots here, but you should really just go watch the video .

One way to use it? I can set up a shopping list on my iPad over breakfast, noting stops to make and items to buy at Target, Staples, Lowes and the grocery store. I work at my desktop a bit later and add some things to the list from there, and then quickly reference the list from my smartphone or iPhone while I’m actually in the store. I spent less money on my recent trips because I had all of my lists right there with me!

But this app isn’t just limited to lists. I draft entire articles, add links, clip graphics from the web, record easy-peasy VOICE memos (!!!) and generally organize my thoughts in one place. You can send notes directly to Facebook and Twitter, if you are into that sort of thing. And there are even apps and upgrades to jazz up the look of it, accessed through the trunk (remember, it’s an elephant motif). The how-to videos are good quality, if you want to learn how to really use it.

Is this really useful or just cool? Really useful. Use Evernote on your phone to snap a photo of a whiteboard, business card, or wine label. Evernote automatically makes printed text in your snapshots searchable! How I could have used this in college.

Oh, and it’s FREE!!!!!

On the downside, sometimes the notes I’ve created have to be appended if they are complex, but I still love being able to capture ideas on the fly within a single note. I can live with this until they improve the software, which I’m sure they will. (Update 10/2013, this has been fixed for a long time now. You can simply update notes whenever needed. Very rarely, a note can’t be reconciled with an older version, so the two versions tag along with each other until you clean it up manually, but that’s not often.)

I’ve only been using this for a couple of weeks, but it is seriously easy! I’m not getting compensated for telling you this, but I think this is one tool all of my peeps should know about and use.

By the way, don’t get confused by similar sounding apps. Onenote, a Microsoft product, is different. There’s something called SimpleNote. And here’s a list of others that might work for you. But Evernote consistently gets high marks from reviewers.

If you use or start using this, please comment here and let us know how you are using it. I find that Evernote users are always asking other Evernote users how to use it better and more creatively.

(Update 10/13: There is a paid version, which is very affordable, but as of yet, I personally have not needed to upgrade. I’m still using the free version. If you pay for it, please comment on why you love it.)