Moleskine Hacks for GTD

Several months back I was turned on to the idea of using a Moleskine notebook to enhance productivity. It became the perfect solution for me to jot down spur-of-the-moment thoughts and ideas, and now it goes with me everywhere. What I like best is the curved corners and elastic closure, the combination of which gives it the ability to withstand being constantly shoved around in my bag, and hold scraps of paper or business cards without the worry of losing them.

Because it’s blank, you can modify your Moleskine to fit your GTD style, instead of modifying your style to fit a templated planner. (I don’t buy in entirely to the GTD system, but I admit some concepts are valid and extremely useful.) I even devised a set of symbols that I can add to lists or scribbled notes, which help me remember specifics without resorting to longhand. Quirky maybe, but great for at-a-glance reviewing. :)

Moleskines make for a great archiving system as well. Once you’ve filled it, just label the edge of the pages with a date or name, and shelve it in case you ever need to refer back to it! Your notebook can be whatever you want to make it… sketch pad, expense log, phone book, journal, appointment book, mileage tracker. Some dead-simple hacks I use for getting the most out of my Moleskine include:

• Corner Tagging - Section off an upper corner of your pages with a keyword that will help you categorize the information you enter there, so that when you need to refer back to it, you can find it quicker. (My garage is my dev environment).
  
• Page Linking - One of the things I use my notebook for is jotting down post ideas. Many times, I’ll run out of room on a page, or need to add to the list later after having used several pages for something else. So, I “link” the two. As in, …continued on pg X. (Obviously you’d have to number your pages for this to be useful.)
• Icon Tagging - My legend only consists of 5 symbols, each representing a category of sorts. When I make lists or jot down notes, I’ll add a symbol (if applicable). One look later tells me exactly what the list item refers to, and/or its status.
  

There are so many more ways (both creative, productive and extreme) to use a Moleskine, it’s amazing. Some are a bit fanatical but obviously quite popular. (By they way, you don’t need a $150 pen when a $5 one will do just fine. After all it’s about being productive not keeping up with the Joneses). More useful hacks include:

• Multi-tab Hack
• Writing template

If you found this article interesting, you might also want to read about Moleskine’s history. It’s actually pretty cool. :)

Tags: getting-things-done | life-hacks