GTD Week: Moleskine planner
4 comments so far
For those looking for something a little less corporate than formal planner systems, an good alternative is the Moleskine Planner. A self-contained planner (no pages to insert into binders) it has a weekly calendar on the left page with a space on the right page for lists, to-do’s, notes, etc. They come pocket (3.5″x5.5″), large (5.25″x8.25″) and extra large (7.5″x9.75″) sizes.
Each Moleskine has an elastic enclosure, bookmark and pouch on the inside of the back cover for keeping receipts, business cards, etc. Moleskine planners are soft-covered.
Moleskine Planner Pros:
- Inexpensive. You can find the large planner for about $18.
- No zippers or snaps to worry about breaking and you won’t freak out if you scratch the cover (unlike a $100 leather Franklin Planner).
- Nice paper and stitched binding.
- Ample room for notes, even on the small sized notebook.
- Dedicated page to notes/journal validates decision to hang onto it when it’s filled.
- No established “system”. You figure out how to use it.
Moleskine Planner Cons:
- Can be difficult to find. Barnes and Noble carries the notebooks, but getting your hands on a planner can be challenging.
- No built-in pen/pencil holder.
- Fewer accessories/add-ons.
- Soft cover can make writing in it a challenge, at least at the beginning and end.
- Has area codes, time zones, measurement conversion tables, etc. at the beginning.
- No established “system”. You figure out how to use it.
I’ve used Moleskine notebooks as journals and just bought my wife the planner you see above. She’s been very happy with it.
Thoughts? Questions? Leave word in the comments.
LivSimpl
Tuesday, July 31st, 2007 at 8:00 am and is filed under Organization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I don’t use a moleskin planner, but I do use something similar. I have a cheap little spiral-bound planner about the size of a checkbook that breaks a year down by week. It has several lines for each day, which is usually sufficient. I’ve found it especially helpful to keep up with readings for school and appointments or meetings. I don’t use it as much as I should, but when I do put it to use, it’s very helpful.
Thanks for the comment. Out of curiosity, why don’t you “use it as much as [you] should”?
It’s mostly my fault, though not entirely. I sometimes don’t use the planner just out of laziness. During the school year it’s useful to keep on top of readings, lunch meetings, and when I have them, interviews. But during the summer I do the same thing almost every day — I go to work and come home. So I simply don’t need a calendar much. During those times I set up Google Calendar to email me alerts when I have something out of the ordinary scheduled.
Interesting you should mention using Google calendar for that. I have a LivSimpl tip that’s really similar.