I significantly improved the speed of Evernote 5 for Windows 8.1 by turning off 'Related Notes'. I never really understood this feature anyway. To turn it off - goto the View Menu and uncheck 'Show Related Notes'. This will allow your notes to load immediately. Also on the View Menu, goto 'Left-Panel' and turn off the Atlas, Market and Announcements. I follow them in Feedly, so I don't need it here. Sent from Evernote
Director of Business Development at Passio Technologies