I did these 'scribbles' posts for a couple of days, then nothing. I didn't stop typing them up - I just didn't write any in the first place. Now that I am scribbling again, I'm doing it in a different place. I'm experimenting with using my Mini Filofax again. It's a bit of a trade-off, as these things so often are. The area of paper to write on is quite a bit smaller than in a Moleskine, so I'm using a lot more pages. On the other hand, though, the paper is better, and I can have separate sections for other things. I'm not keeping a real GTD system at the moment, but it's still useful to have some lists, like a wish list and a shopping list.

It's quite possible I'll be back to the Moleskine within a day or two, or that I'll try to stretch my jeans pocket to cram in my Pocket Filofax. I have a worrying amount of fun trying them, though, and that's the important thing.

Latest Update: Added a link to a Moleskine Hard Drive.

Moleskine? Little black notebooks, with a bookmark, elastic closure, and a storage compartment in the back. Useful little things on their own, but some people feel the need to trick them out further.

• Moleskine Notebooks

Marking Up

Most people just use their Moleskines freeform, scribbling whatever and wherever they like. Some people prefer a little structure...

Much like Nan recently, I have had a wobble. Not physically wobbling - I do plenty of that every day. I stopped using my A5 Filofax for a while.

The way I'd been using it had one little hole in my system. I made notes, mixing in ideas, bits of writing, doodles, and tasks, all at random. I just worked forwards through a stack of pages. The idea was to then process those pages, into my GTD system, and archive pages off as they'd been processed.

Latest Update: Linked up a couple more systems under Mixing with Other Ideas. If you like the PigPogPDA idea, it's well worth visiting some of these sites to see what other people have built with some similar ideas.

See Also

• nowMap - my latest simple system - a quick overview of what you're doing now, on a single sheet.

(Click on any pics to see them bigger in Flickr, with any comments and notes.)

Introduction

What Is It?

• A Moleskine hack.
• An extreme Moleskine hack.
• A simplified GTD system (What system? See our GTD Introduction), with relatively little actual organising. May be useful if you fancy Doing GTD Without Doing GTD.
• A complete personal management system for those who's needs aren't too complicated.
• A rather over-the-top system for dealing with just the capturing and processing end of GTD.

Viki - likes her notebooks. It's ok, Viki, we love them too. And you don't even mention Ciak. Probably best not to get started in that direction. Good reading, though.

>I have them in many different colors and designs and I have a hard time picking which to use next. That’s because I’m a fucking whack-job.

Yeah, but this is the Interweb - everyone is a whack-job.

Latest Update: Added a link to a history of yellow legal pads, and a link to Notebooksim. We may be doing a bit more on notebooks soon - we've got a few more to play with here.

There's lots of different types of paper out there. At the moment, though, our Moleskine obsession is colouring our judgement badly. We'll try to get through it, but until we do, it's mostly about the black books...

On a visit to Newark this afternoon I found myself spending an unusual amount of time in WH Smith drooling over the "fashion stationery" section. This area is usually occupied by cutesy fluff stationery designed for schoolgirls and the odd faux leather or suede book filled with the usual stuff you can pick up by the ream at your local Staples.

Josh at Paper Bits has the story that Moleskine's makers are responding to recent quality concerns. They're handling this very well - they seem to accept that there's a problem, and they're trying to track down how it's happening, and to put it right. One thing they started doing a while ago is including a code number on the paper slips inside the notebook. If you get quality problems with your notebooks, you can give them the number, and they can track where exactly it was made, to track where problems are occurring. They even ask you to email them about any problems, and if possible, to include a photo of the defects.

Good stuff - it would be a real shame to see the brand end up failing due to poor quality products, so I'm glad to see they're trying to improve things.

With quality concerns over Moleskines, and some people upset to discover that they're made in China, it's a good time for Ciak to be stepping in. Their response looks pretty good. It has the expandable pocket, a bookmark, and elastic closure. It also bundles in a world map and a pen, and the cover is real leather. And for those who don't want their notebooks to be made in China, these are handmade in Florence. There are only two little problems - it's £10.50 (around $20), and it only has 60 pages. I think they'll still have a few takers, though...

• Story at Notebookism
• Available from The Journal Shop in the UK.

We've not tried a Ciak, but people who have seem to like them.