Hacking a GTD Moleskine
[Treo650 vs moleskine?????]
I’ve always been apprehensive to join the almost-fanatical cult of Getting Things Done. I’ve heard more about it from the blogosphere (as well as non-blogger co-workers) for the greater part of a year and a half now, with massive blogs dedicated to bringing the GTD gospel to the masses of unenlightened IT workers and friends alike. Something about the GTD system seemed more than organised: it tiptoed the line of absolute obsessive-compulsive disorder. It seemed like the kind of thing my super-organised mother would use.
I had tried to convert to the GTD discipline before, using my Treo 650, Shadow Plan and the built-in To Do system, but it felt clunky and hacked-together. I then tried the Kinkless GTD system that so many übergeeks have raved about only to find it equally complex. Half of the actions that GTD was tailored to had little to no relevance to my life, but I was stuck with them anyway. I found myself trying to process tasks into increasingly weirder Projects. My Someday/Maybe list was almost nonexistent.
felt as if I was missing something; if GTD was so spectacular, why did it seem to be so awful? After a bit of research and a bit of creativity, I decided that I’d just build my own GTD-based system from scratch using a Moleskine Ruled Pocket Notebook and inspired by the Hipster, the PigPog, and a bit of my own interaction design to make it as intuitive as possible for me to use. Considering there’s such a huge GTD community, I decided to publish my own Moleskine Hack for people to use. And, with that, I present the official hyalineskies GTD System.
Building the Base
It doesn’t take a lot to build this system; it cost me under $20 for everything. Here’s what you’ll need:
- One (1) Moleskine Ruled Pocket Notebook
- Seven (7) Post-It® Tabs, at least three different colours (I used the tabs because they’re easier to grab onto in a rush as well as large.)
- One (1) Extra Fine point Sanford Sharpie or other permanent marker
- A pen of some sort to use with the Moleskine. This is a pen that you’ll need to keep around with the system all the time — I constantly carry a Lamy Vista fountain pen, so that’s what I’m using.
Once you’ve rustled up the necessary materials, it’s time to start hacking.
