How do you plan a day, week, year . . . a life - with Moleskine at your side?

[Mike]

As Moleskine has moved into agenda formats (I started using Moleskine
when they were just simple notebooks!) it has raised the issue of how
they are best used for "life" planning. Many "hack" the old Moleskine
into an agenda/planning system, while others simply use the new
calendar formats.

So, what do those in this Google Group do? Are you a Moleskine
Hacker? Straight up agenda user? A combo personality? Share your
insights, neuroses, hacks, questions, photos, . . . etc.

We'd love to see how your life is managed in Moleskine!

Cheers,
Mike

[John Mayson]

I have a medium-sized square-ruled Moleskine.

I spent about an hour pimping my Moleskine. The first 25% or so of
the pages is my calendar. Each pair of facing pages represents a
week. The weekdays get five large boxes while Saturday and Sunday are
half-sized. I used an orange highlighter to mark these pages along
the edge. I record my daily to do lists, meeting notes, and other
information here. Most days I can fit everything in the boxes I have
drawn.

I have other color coded (with highlighters) sections for personal
thoughts, work-related notes, to do lists that don't belong on my
calendar, wish lists, want to read, want to watch (movies), and about
the last 20% of the pages just undecided. So far it works very well
for me.

John

--
John Mayson <jo...@mayson.us>
Austin, Texas, USA

[Mike]

Love your solution! "Pimp My Write!" Sounds simple, clean,
straightforward - very "Moleskine!"

> John Mayson <j...@mayson.us>
> Austin, Texas, USA

[John Mayson]

On Thu, Jul 17, 2008 at 11:25 AM, Mike <mhmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Love your solution! "Pimp My Write!" Sounds simple, clean,
> straightforward - very "Moleskine!"

I hope my description helps. There's so much you can do with a
Moleskine it's hard to know just how to use it, so you have to
experiment.

[daveterry]

Here's a hack that's worked for me:
<a href="http://daveterry.blogspot.com/search/label/moleskine
%20hack">self-drawn Moleskine datebook</a>

...dave

[Erisraven]

My version of 'pimping my Write' is much less time comprehensive than
yours. I have few daily events to record, since my job doesn't much
have 'appointments' in the classic sense. I did try that version, but
for me it was a lot of wasted space. I spend most of my time capturing
information, not appointments.

So, I got a medium sized square ruled, and did something most folks
think is... odd.
Instead of ruling it off into weekly sets, I just squared off the top
of the left-hand page into a monthly calendar, with each day being 4
squares. I penned in the dates tiny in each corner, added holidays,
and then I have the remainder of the left page and all of the right-
hand page for notes. This works perfectly for me, since it's not too
structured, but gives me a vague structure that makes it all easier to
reference later. I also set aside 4 pages at the end of this section,
the first facing pair are 2009 advance planning, the second two are
2010 advance planning. This gives me a space to drop things that I
might need later without taking up a huge chunk of pages to do it in.

The rest of the notebook is then free for data capture, with sections
for each of my major projects tabbed off with adhesive tabs and the
largest part simply open. I started this back in March, and I've
absolutely adored it.

I also did a few other things that I've figured out are good tricks
over the years. Since the sections are permananetly tabbed, I've
numbered each page. The first four page sof my Moleskine are left
blank. The first two are sticky-note capture, the second two are
indexed using the page numbers above. The last ten pages of the
Moleskine are set aside for important specific or repeating
information. I went thru the pages of my last moleskine before I
archived it, typed in all the bits I needed to keep, and printed that
on labels, which I pasted inside that section. So not only do I still
have it on computer and at hand, I can add to it and paste it in the
next.
The page numbering is also useful to refer to other pages simply by
number, to advance tasks from one page to the next without recopying
(by for example listing 12A
as a task, and the unfinished tasks on my lists are given letter
designations, so the first undone task in page 12 is the one I would
refer to as 12A), and for indicating preceding and following pages
when things get scattered (14|23|71 - 14 is the last page I've used
for this, 23 is the current page, and 71 is the next page).

Other lists I keep are things like gift ideas (both to give and
receive - I'm a terrible person to ask what I want. I stare at you and
stammer, and give no useful ideas if I haven't sat down and thought
about it.), movies I want to see, cool ideas on how to spend time,
pretty much anything you'd think of as a good list. Maybe we should
start a thread on lists?

I also use page darts on important pages to make them easy to find.

I add an adhesive CD holder in the back cover, and inside the front
cover I have a small self-adhesive pack of dispensing post-its, a self-
adhesive pack of page flags, and two business card holders. The
business card holders function as catchalls for the random loose bits
that I need to keep around. On the facing page under the reward blank,
there is a note that in the back pocket there is a shipping label with
postage enough to get my 'secondary brain' home should it ever get
lost. (My reward offer is a dozen homemade cookies of any type you
choose.) The front usually gets a cool sticker of some kind, and I
sometimes have to reinforce the spine with back duct tape. Works like
a charm.

SInce as you can guess by all this, I keep my used 'skines close at
hand for refernce, I also spine and front label them, with a code for
type (Blank is an open box, lined is a box with lines, etc), and a
Color. That way if I really need to refer to something in a prior
'skine that I don't photocopy and stick in the pocket :) I can refer
to the book and page as yellow 13.

I'm diabetic, so I also have to be concerned with my medications. Part
of the capture section in the back catches prescription labels off the
bottles as they're finished, and I note any changes beneath. My family
and friends know where this is in the event of an emergency, so they
can hand it to a doctor. Other important health info here are recent
test results, and of course the contact information for my doctor,
nutritionist, etc.

I sat down one day when a friend's apartment caught fire, and realized
how heartbroken I'd be if they all disappeared. So I have a new
fidget. When I travel for work, my portable scanner (Canon N1240U -
thin, portable, powers off its USB cable, works like a breeze) goes in
my suitcase, and an older Moleskine or two go in my briefcase. When
I'm bored and surfing the web in the hotel, I scan them in and zip
them. I burn all the files, zipped and unzipped, to DVD and vault it,
and upload the zips to my backup site on the web. I leave the zips on
my hard drive, passworded just-in-case. This has saved my bacon once
or twice when I needed some obscure bit from a few years back (like
the VIN of a car I no longer have... )

All right, that's enough nattering on. I've picked up these ideas all
over the web, so most aren't original. I'm pretty sure the calandaring
system and the health info tracking are my bits. Hope you've enjoyed
this edition of Pimp my Write! :D

erisraven
-who puts too much thought into simple stuff. :)

[put...@gmail.com]

I created a double Moleskine. I took the covers off a soft cover 18-
month planner and soft cover lined notebook and glued the endpapers
together. Then I gutted a sketchbook, slit the spine open, and widened
it using material from the leftover softcovers. Then I placed the
"double" inside that cover. I'll put some photos up on my blog soon,
but it's working out great so far.

-MP
http://www.writedamnnow.com

[Mike McG]

Wow! Like Super-modified Mole! Sounds like the "Muscle Car
Moleskine!"

On Jul 18, 4:11 pm, "putn...@gmail.com" <putn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I created a double Moleskine. I took the covers off a soft cover 18-
> month planner and soft cover lined notebook and glued the endpapers
> together. Then I gutted a sketchbook, slit the spine open, and widened
> it using material from the leftover softcovers. Then I placed the
> "double" inside that cover. I'll put some photos up on my blog soon,
> but it's working out great so far.
>

> -MPhttp://www.writedamnnow.com

[Mike McG]

Oh Yeah - much less comprehensive !(?) - RIGHT!

Man, are you kidding? That's an awesome rundown!

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the thread so far. It looks
like it's got legs now. This should be s good repository for lots of
good "calendaring" ideas, which constitutes a whole "Moleskine sub-
set."

Mike

[Mike McG]

Yeh - that's great blog, no?

[Erisraven]

That's a really awesome idea. If I was brave enough to start cutting
them apart, I'd make a three piece one - Square, blank, and lined. I
wish moleskine did, without all the cutting ;) Of all the things I've
done to my 'skines, cutting's not been one. I thought I was clever for
duct tape <lol>.

-Erisraven

On Jul 18, 4:11 pm, "putn...@gmail.com" <putn...@gmail.com> wrote:

> I created a double Moleskine. I took the covers off a soft cover 18-
> month planner and soft cover lined notebook and glued the endpapers
> together. Then I gutted a sketchbook, slit the spine open, and widened
> it using material from the leftover softcovers. Then I placed the
> "double" inside that cover. I'll put some photos up on my blog soon,
> but it's working out great so far.
>

> -MPhttp://www.writedamnnow.com

>
> On Jul 17, 10:52 am, Mike <mhmcgr...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > As Moleskine has moved into agenda formats (I started using Moleskine
> > when they were just simple notebooks!) it has raised the issue of how
> > they are best used for "life" planning.  Many "hack" the old Moleskine
> > into an agenda/planning system, while others simply use the new
> > calendar formats.
>
> > So, what do those in this Google Group do?  Are you a Moleskine
> > Hacker?  Straight up agenda user?  A combo personality?  Share your
> > insights, neuroses, hacks, questions, photos, . . . etc.
>
> > We'd love to see how your life is managed in Moleskine!
>
> > Cheers,

> > Mike- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[brandy]

I use my moleskine just to keep track of what I need to do and and
bills. I have the reporter. My life isn't complicated enough for a
formal agenda. I never thought to pimp it out though. As that would be
more suitable than actually buying an agenda.

[put...@gmail.com]

Sorry for the delay on the double Moleskine. I put up a pic and a
video and a description of how it was made at the blog: http://www.writedamnnow.com.
Enjoy.

-MP

[JimL]

On Jul 17, 10:52 am, Mike <mhmcgr...@gmail.com> wrote:

Planning? Gee, what's that? ;-Q

If by agenda you mean the 5x7 (or about) book, with one week on the
left side, and blank page on the right, that's what I use.

I have very few appt's, mostly set class times and meetings. And the
occasional single appt. So the left side page, a vertical line is
drawn down the center. The rare appts are noted in the left of the
left page. t he right of the left page, per day, records mileage,
cabs, parking exp, etc.

Then the right side blank pages, from the top down, my "TODO" lists.
From the bottom of the page and up, any misc notes -- usually
nothing. Or that web page I should check out,or someone's phone
number to use once but probably not keep,

For notes, drafts of memos when on the road, etc., I use the Cahier's
lined book of the same size. Thinner, bought in three-packs. One at
a time, the three last more than a year. One thin book in the
briefcase next to the planner. This one to break my habit of piles
of slips of paper in my pockets, briefcase, alloverthetwo desks, etc.

These days I only use the old legal pad to doodle at my desk or during
boring meetings.

[David Gonterman]

I use Daily Planners for my planning, and I can use the unused days to
jot down ideas. I've recently got an address book for my phone
numbers and snail mail, and I've gutted an old Pocket Moleskine to use
as a Hipster PDA cover. It's a lot more classy than a binder clip.

If only I could keep to the GTD plan, which is why I gutted that old
'skine in the first place. Oh well.

--
Daveykins Foxfire of FoxFire Studios
http://foxfirestudios.net
-----
This is my VIP E-Mail address. Please refer to my primary E-Mail
address of daveykins (at) foxfirestudios [dot] net for the general
public to use. Thank you :)

[NKS]

I use this neat hack:
http://www.plannerhack.com/
And it's actually what's got me started with Moleskines.

[Erisraven]

I tried that fir a month or two, but it turned into a lot of wasted
space for me. YMMV. I suppose it depends on the number of appts. you
have in a day.
-Eris