Managing projects can be frustrating and stressful. There are many tools out there to help organize project management but which ones actually work?

We think that Evernote and Basecamp can work perfect when you use them together.

Let’s say you are going to start a project. Actually, at this time, it’s still just an idea. You jot down your idea in Evernote and create a notebook to write down any more ideas you have. Your project is already being born.

As an example, let’s say that the project you are considering is to overhaul your firm’s IT setup. There are many things you must do to prepare for this project. Reading articles pertaining to your project or similar projects, bookmarking websites, getting quotes from vendors, taking photos of setups that catch your eye and of course the countless meetings which produce many notes and paperwork.

Start Project in Evernote

So you go back into Evernote and create a notebook called “IT Setup Overhaul” or something similar. This notebook will be used to keep all of your ideas, articles, notes, paperwork, interviews, etc.

So you start your project using Evernote – start collecting your idea, make notes, upload into “IT Setup Overhaul” notebook.

As Project Grows It is Time to start using Basecamp

However, overhauling your firm’s IT setup is no small job. When the main bulk of the project gets underway, it’s time to bring in Basecamp . Basecamp is the perfect project management tool. Basecamp is great because it has exceptional collaboration and organizational features.

Basecamp Calendar is really much more than a calendar. It keeps everything organized by allowing discussions and the attachment of files and documents to each entry. You receive an email for every entry to ensure that you don’t forget or accidentally overlook an important meeting or other event. You can even create calendars within Calendar and organize them by certain projects, functions, events, etc.

Basecamp also has a feature called Single Page Projects. This allows you to have all information, files, documents and discussions about your project right there on one page. There are To-Do lists with checkmarks and every time an entry in the To-Do list is checked off, you can be emailed to let you know. There is also a discussion area for you, your team, clients, contractors and vendors to all get-together and discuss aspects about the project. There is an area for attachments so you don’t misplace that important document or photos. Every note, idea and draft is saved in its own area as well. All of this is on a single page, completely organized and free of clutter. This is why we favor Basecamp as the perfect project management tool.

But how to move and copy notes from Evernote into Basecamp?

But now you have all these notes, photos, documents and other files in Evernote and need to move them to Basecamp for easier organization and collaboration with other team members. With a lot of files, copy/paste and uploading can be a strenuous and time-wasting task. And what if you want the same files on Evernote and Basecamp at the same time?

This is where cloudHQ shines. It knocks out all of these time-wasting barriers and establishes a two-way sync between your Basecamp project and the Evernote notebook. Now, all of your notes and documents will be uploaded directly to Basecamp as discussions and files. You can still use Evernote to add notes and these notes will automatically upload to Basecamp as well; and even better- all new messages and updates from Basecamp will be instantaneously uploaded to Evernote as well. 

By utilizing the great project management features of these two incredible tools, and by using cloudHQ as the glue that holds them together, you will find it much easier to efficiently manage your projects, or soon-to-be projects, even if they are just ideas right now.