29 November 2010

What's in My Moleskine?

I use my Moleskine almost exclusively for organizational purposes, and I use the "Getting Things Done" system to keep myself organized.  I am not a creative user who journals or sketches.  I have many different lists in my notebook at any given time, but GTD has first dibs on any notebook I use.

The first twenty pages of my Moleskine are always reserved for GTD.  I break them out as follows:  1 - 2 are "Maybe" pages for ideas that might become projects, 3 - 4 are "Professional Project" pages to list projects at my job, 5 - 6 are "Personal Project" pages to list projects at home, 7 - 8 are "Delegated" pages to remind me of what I'm waiting on, and 9 - 20 are "Next Action" pages to list tasks I need to complete.

I will fill up twelve Next Action pages just as I am completing the rest of my notebook, so its just right for me.  I use the ribbon marker to mark the next blank page in my notebook and a Post-it flag to mark the current next actions page.  That is a page I like to jump to quickly.  There is nothing more satisfying than lots of crossed out Next Actions! :)

In addition to reserving GTD pages, the first things I do to a new notebook are to number the odd pages (easier than numbering all of them), reserve ten pages in the back of the notebook for an index, and then add several lists I know I will use.

I always have lists for:
  • A travel checklist to make sure I have packed everything.
  • Books I want to read.
  • Gift ideas for my wife.
  • Food I want to cook.
  • Restaurants I want to try.
  • Agenda items for my next board meeting.
How do you use your Moleskine?  I love to hear what other people do with their notebooks!

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