Perhaps you buy into Tim Ferris’ Four-Hour Work Week. Perhaps you believe in the 60-hour work week. Or perhaps you’re someone who falls in between. No matter where you fall, there is something to be said about working smarter rather than harder.

I have slowly been evolving from someone who keeps everything to someone who only keeps a few things, important mementos and reminders. Now, my desk would say different to you as I do have a stack of notes and magazine pages to type up, scan and recycle.

Flickr photo via http://flickr.com/photos/socialeurope/

I have spent a lot of time over the past two years learning about lifestyles and how we can all get out of our way and find clarity. Because at the end of the day, or week, or month, or year, or at the end of our lives, it is going to be about two things:

Did you love?
Did you live?

It is time for us to come alive!

One tool I recommend is Evernote. It is free for the rest of your life (but there is a paid version which pays for all the free accounts!). Seriously … you need to check it out!

As a writer, I use it manage notes on anything from ideas to research to meeting notes. They are searchable and you can add tags to any note you make. Even more powerful is the fact that with the paid version, you can add images! So that whiteboard where you ideated – yup – you can save it!

One of the coolest things about Evernote – aside from the fact that it lives in the cloud – is that it also lives on you desktop if you download the application! It is amazing to use and I have sometimes left it open all day! And even if I can not connect to the Internet, I am able to search all my notes since my last sync.

I use Evernote for a lot of purposes:

• Quotes
• Stock Information
• Statistics
• Book Notes
• Blog Post Ideas
• Book Club

I am all about simplifying life.

We all should be able to work smarter and apps like Evernote can do that for you.

How can you simplify by using technology?