Rocketbook Evernote



I recently got a Rocketbook - it's an erasable and reusable notebook that you scan to send your notes to cloud services (like Evernote, OneNote, Gmail, Gdrive, Dropbox, etc.). I am wondering how I could integrate it with Notion - probably through an indirect 'hack' as there's no official integration.

I’ve been using the Bullet Journal System (Bujo) and Getting Things Done (GTD) for awhile now. This year’s review of my merging of these methodologies have resulted in a few new opportunities now that I’ve included Rockebooks into the mix.

  • The Ever last Executive notebook provides a classic pen and paper experience, yet is built for the digital age. Although it feels like a traditional notebook, the Ever last is endlessly reusable and connected to all of your favorite cloud services.
  • No more wasting paper - this environmentally-friendly 32 page dotted grid notebook can be used endlessly by wiping clean with a damp cloth; Blast your handwritten notes to popular cloud services like Google drive, Dropbox, Evernote, box, OneNote, Slack, iCloud, email and more using the free Rocketbook application for iOS and Android.
  • It used to be in a standard notebook that I’d then snap pictures of and upload into Evernote, but now I’m all about doing it digitally first via a tablet and stylus. If you’re looking for a less investment-heavy option, but want the ease of getting your notes digitally, the just-launched Rocketbook Axis is something worth checking out.
  • The first 500 people to use this link will get a 2-month free trial with unlimited learning on Skillshare: I launched my first co.

GTD and The Bullet Journal System

I adhere precisely to The Bullet Journal Systemwith no creative variations. No habit tracking, no elaborate designs or meticulously designed spreads. Does this make me a minimalist? No, I just use the system as it was intended. While social media loves artfully laid out spreads I use the system exactly as described in the website. Pencil to paper, usually in a basic notebook.

Evernote

Getting Things Done is the methodology I use to process everything. Capture, Clarify, Organize, Reflect and Engage with what I need to do.

The capturing process is where they differ. I mostly prefer Rapid Logging. GTD is flexible and adaptable with loose sheets of paper ready to be processed as non-linear actions. BuJo works best in a linear notebook. Merging the two has become personal process and here’s how I’ve evolved the two.

My Combined Methodology

Capture and Collect Everything as I discover what needs to be done.

  • Inbox tray, everything analog
  • Email, text messages, Basecamp, Twitter, everything digital
  • Next Actions Lists & Project Lists
  • Calendar items and deadlines

Clarify what comes next, I clear my inboxes once a day or as often as needed to keep current.

  • GTD’s Two Minute Rule, if it takes two minutes do it now.
  • Gather everything into a single place. This varies. Sometimes it’s my Bullet Journal’s Daily Log, or a Rocketbook spread.
  • Not actionable yet? I’ll trash it, place it on a Projects List or archive it as reference.

I don’t stare at my inbox constantly, I process the items or perform the action. Ideally, I’ll let the inbox sit and gather several unprocessed items before it needs my attention.

Organize

  • Update Projects Lists with new information or to-do items, keep them current and when possible in one place.
  • Migrate a single next task for each project to a Next Action List, anything that could be done right now but only one!

Weekly Review

  • Every week I review all my projects
  • I review my Bullet Journal’s Daily Log
  • Review what I’ve finished
  • Verify there are no open loops or unfinished actions.
  • If I need to follow up on something I’ll place a note in the Bujo’s Daily Log or a sheet of paper placed into the in tray, Often I jot it on a single Rocketbook page then place that in my In-Tray for clarifying later.

Engage by moving each project forward by it’s next action

  • Perform the next action for each project on the list
  • Update that action’s Project list, add that projects next task to the Next actions list.
  • Decide to keep working on that project or move onto another next action from the list.

My method is to engage with My Next Actions Lists in such a way that I review all that needs to be done often enough maintain a big picture outlook on all my projects. I may dive further into a project and tackle a few more items or simply do the one action. By looping though the process I am able to keep non-linear lists current and drill down into any one of them at a time of my choosing.

What’s Best? A Rocketbook, a Journal, Evernote?

The short answer is all of them. While re-reading Getting Things Done and reflecting on the last few months of this pandemic I realized that there is no single system that does everything perfectly for my needs. Chances are you feel the same way.

I’ve found that a Bullet Journal excels at linear organization by Rapid Logging everything that is on my mind. However, it fails in keeping all the non-linear and digital items from slipping by. I’ll create a two page spread for a new project only to discover a few hours later that the project has concluded leaving me with nearly two empty pages. It’s a bit of a waste. It takes up physical space in the book between other ongoing projects.

My Rocketbooks excel at non-linear and temporary collections or Project Lists. Over the course of the last couple weeks I’ve create a spread in any one of them and upon review a project discover it’s not longer needed. I’ll archive the pages in Evernote and during a weekly review decide if there are any next actions.

What Is A Rocketbook Notebook

However, If the project was particularly important or insightful I’ll migrate key information back to my Bullet Journal.

The failures of Rocketbooks are also the features that make them invaluable. While fantastic for capturing notes and daily activities they are temporary and never intended to be used as an archive. Evernote allows me to archive their contents but once erased from the page are not as easily accessed as flipping through my Bullet Journal.

Monthly Future Logs, Someday Lists, and other long term information won’t work well in a Rocketbook as they need to be completely erased within a few weeks or risk the ink permanently staining the page.

While Evernote is invaluable as an archive reference, it really sucks for casual reading. That’s where the Bullet Journal takes over.

Yearly Reviews

Every December I review everything I did and didn’t do that year. I’ve found that a Bullet Journal is ideal for this task a single A5 notebook if maintained properly takes me from 12 to 14 months to fill up making it ideal to browse my life page by page, project by project.

My process has become a funnel of sorts. I collect tasks from a dozen or so sources daily and organize them onto a page and refining them into a single place where the actions are precisely organized.

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  • Listening to: 'Tenderness (Live)' by 'General Public' on 'Hand To Mouth'
TagsBullet Journal, Getting Things Done, Rocketbook

Joseph Dickson is a web developer in higher education and an avid proponent of using WordPress’ core features to create flexible and manageable design solutions.

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We talk a lot about digital tools here at College Info Geek. Whether it’s the best habit tracking apps or the best apps for taking notes, digital tools make it easy to keep all of your information organized and accessible from anywhere.

However, we also know that physical tools have their place. This is especially true when you’re taking notes, as taking notes by hand can actually improve retention compared to typing.

But traditional paper notebooks don’t offer the ease of organization as digital note-taking systems. Plus, if you lose the notebook (or forget to bring it with you), you can’t access the information. And once you fill up a notebook, you have to go out and buy a new one.

Luckily, we’ve discovered a tool that offers the best of both physical and digital note-taking. It’s called the Rocketbook Everlast, and it lets you take physical notes, quickly digitize them, and then erase the notebook when you’re done.

Sound too good to be true? Read on for our full review of the Rocketbook Everlast.

What Is the Rocketbook Everlast?

Ever since Thomas discovered it, the Rocketbook Everlast has become his everyday notebook. He’s put it through its paces and found it superior to competing notebooks. But what makes it so useful?

The Rocketbook has three main features that make it stand out from the competition:

  • The Rocketbook is erasable
  • You can easily digitize Rocketbook notes
  • The Rocketbook offers a quality writing experience

Let’s take a closer look at each of these features.

The Rocketbook Is Erasable

This is one of the main selling points of the Rocketbook Everlast. After you’re done writing on a page, you can erase the ink using a damp cloth. This lets you reuse the notebook an effectively infinite number of times.

So what makes the Rocketbook erasable? To erase your notes, you need to write with a special pen called the Frixion pen. The pen’s ink, combined with the Rocketbook’s surface, lets you erase your writing.

Rocketbook Calendar Evernote Planner

Note: Don’t confuse the Rocketbook Everlast with the Rocketbook Wave. While the Everlast lets you erase your notes with a damp cloth, the Wave lets you erase notes by putting the entire notebook in the microwave.

This is a cool gimmick, but you can only erase the Wave around 5 times. After that, you’ll need to get a new one. For this reason, we recommend the Rocketbook Everlast. Any time from now on, we’re talking about the Rocketbook Everlast when we say “Rocketbook.”

How to Digitize Rocketbook Notes

While it’s cool that the Rocketbook is erasable, this doesn’t make it unique. There are plenty of other erasable notebooks on the market. What sets the Rocketbook apart is how easy it makes it to digitize your notes.

Sure, you can digitize notes from any notebook using a scanner app and your phone camera. But the process is generally cumbersome. The Rocketbook solves this problem using QR codes and 7 special icons, which you’ll find at the bottom of each page:

When you download the Rocketbook app, you can set different destinations for each of these icons. You can choose anything from Dropbox to Google Drive to Evernote.

If you want to get even more specific, you can also choose a particular folder or notebook based on the icon. For instance, you could set each icon to refer to a different Evernote notebook. This lets you digitize the note and put it in the right location without extra steps.

Once you have everything set up and are ready to digitize the page, all you have to do is mark the icon of the destination and scan the page with the Rocketbook app.

Your notes will then be automatically be saved to the folder you’ve chosen, no additional apps or steps required!

The Rocketbook also lets you choose to save notes as either a PDF or JPEG. The PDF option even lets you bundle multiple pages of notes into one document that you can easily refer to later.

The Rocketbook Everlast Writing Experience

The Rocketbook excels at digitization and easy erasing of your notes. But what about the writing experience? After all, this is still a notebook, and the quality of the writing experience matters a lot.

Overall, the Rocketbook offers a “pretty good” writing experience. It’s much better than writing on an iPad with the Apple Pencil or writing on just about any kind of tablet using a stylus. We rate it as about 90% as good as writing on normal notebook paper.

There are three main things that keep the writing experience from being as good as regular paper:

  1. The Frixion pen won’t give you the same consistently dark line as a high-quality pen on regular paper. However, you can produce a line that’s almost as good with a bit of practice.
  2. The paper’s glossy texture makes it possible to erase the ink, which is great. But as a result, it lacks the same grip and precision that you get when writing on regular paper.
  3. The ink from the Frixion pens takes around 10 seconds to dry. This isn’t a huge issue, but there is a risk of smudging the ink if you brush your arm or hand over the page before the ink dries.

We should also note that the Frixion pens don’t last as long as normal pens. How long they last depends on how much you use them and what you’re writing (shading large areas of solid color will, of course, wear out the pen faster). But a 3-pack of Frixion pens is around $5, so replacing them isn’t a big deal.

Rocketbook Everlast Specs

Rocketbook Evernote Google Sign In

Aside from being erasable, what is the Rocketbook Everlast like? How does it look and feel?

The Everlast comes in 3 sizes:

  • Executive — 6 in x 8.8 in (15.2 cm x 22.3 cm), 36 pages
  • Mini — 3.5 in x 5.5 in (8.9 cm x 12.7 cm), 48 pages
  • Letter — 8.5 in x 11 in (21.6 cm x 27.9 cm), 32 pages

If you’re a student, then the letter-size Rocketbook will be best. It offers the most space for taking notes and drawing diagrams.

In addition to choosing the notebook size, you also have two paper options: dot grid or lined.

We’re big fans of the dot grid, as it makes it easy to draw diagrams and figures. The dots are pretty subtle, so you can also ignore them if you don’t need the grid. If you prefer a more “traditional” notebook, then you may want to get the lined paper.

All of the sizes will also fit easily into your backpack. And since you can erase the notes after you scan them, you can replace your stack of class notebooks with just one notebook to rule them all.

Rocketbook Everlast Price

Rocketbook To Evernote

The final thing to consider when purchasing the Rocketbook is the price. We won’t deny it — the Rocketbook costs more than most notebooks on the market. So if you’re used to buying $2 notebooks from Walmart or Target, then you’re in for a bit of sticker shock.

Rocketbook Evernote Review

Here’s how the pricing breaks down for the Rocketbook Everlast:

  • Mini — $16
  • Executive and Letter — $30 – $35 (depending on where you buy them)

While it’s more expensive than a basic notebook from the discount store, the Everlast is comparable in price to other premium notebooks such as the Moleskine. And considering that you can use the Rocketbook an essentially infinite number of times, we think it’s a worthwhile investment.

Is the Rocketbook Everlast Worth It?

Overall, the Rocketbook Everlast is our top notebook recommendation for anyone who likes the experience of writing in a notebook but still wants to keep their notes digitally organized.

The writing experience leaves a bit to be desired compared to regular notebook paper, but it’s easy to adjust to with some practice. And it’s worth it for the convenience of being able to reuse your notebook while also effortlessly digitizing your notes.

Does Rocketbook Work With Evernote

Want to learn about the best ways to take notes in your new Rocketbook Everlast? Check out our guide to the best note-taking systems.