Going back to a Moleskine PDA

For a guy who is pretty wired into technology it’s amazing how drawn I am to certain antiquated items such as fountain pens, straight razors, pocket watches, and pipes. Sometimes putting pen to paper can be much more conducive to creative thought than my computer with a million distractions.

I bought a large ruled Moleskine. I actually don’t like the thinness of the paper and would prefer to buy an alternative with slightly thicker paper. Moleskines are mostly sold on marketing (the notebook of Hemingway, Van Gogh, and Picasso) but I like that the marketing has made them available in any Barnes and Noble.

Since each page has 31 ruled lines I am setting up the first 12 pages to be monthly overviews. After this I am devoting two pages for each week. My goal with this is have a setup where I can put brief notes on the monthly overview (meet Jack for coffee 4pm) and I can put the full details on that day’s section in the weekly view (Coffee w/ Jack 4:00pm @ Coffee Underground, bring the book Shantaram to loan, remind him to return other borrowed books).

That section takes up roughly half the book. The rest will be divided into Tasks, Lists, and brainstorming. I will use the pocket as a mini-inbox and to contain a few business cards. I’m hoping to use the weekly section to track progress in many of the areas I’m trying to improve (daily posts on my project blog, staying within my daily calorie limits, exercise, daily prayers, etc.) similar to how Ben Franklin kept track of his effort to live 13 virtues in his notebook.

If you’re interested in creating a similar type of notebook here is a huge page of resources that will get you started.