Recently, I have been developing the best method to manage myself and my multitude of personal and client projects. I’ve tried dozens of Mac software and Web apps and even bought and listened to David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) audiobook. I have read tons of blog posts about GTD. None of the methods I have found successfully work for me, and I think the reason is that I like to draw. As much as I want to be a hardcore, computer savvy guru, I just can not seem to get away from pencil and paper.

In the course of my GTD surfing, I discovered that Jon Hick tried using “Moleskine” at one point to organize himself. I had never heard of “Moleskine” and thought I would check out this piece of software. Boy was I wrong. It was not software at all. It’s a unique and high quality notebook. Being an artist all of my life I wondered why I have never heard of Moleskine. Heck, it was the sketch pad of choice for Mr. Van Gogh. A little bit of research on the trusty old Internet and I found out that a couple of national book stores carry Moleskines. Good. So I picked myself up and headed out to one of these book stores and bought me a Moleskine.

How Does This Help Me Get Organized?
The Moleskine allows me to write down my notes and tasks AND sketch at the same time, ANYWHERE. Something my Mac (or a PC) would NOT let me do without bulky equipment. My next task was figuring out how to organize my sketching and my task listing. Easy enough. I turned to the Internet again and found the below sites.

Lifehacker.com: Getting Things Done moleskine hacked
Lifehacker.com: Moleskine lessons learned and tips
PigPogPDA - A Moleskine Hacked into a Complete System
Moleskine Adaptation for DIY Planner

Pretty cool stuff. In the end I decided to start sketching in the front half of the Moleskine and started my task lists on the last page working backwards. When the two meet in the middle I’ll get a new Moleskine.

Cool Links
The people that brought the Moleskine to the United States:
http://www.kikkerland.com/

If you are a big Moleskine lover like myself then you definitely need one of these:
http://www.innskines.com/pages/about-innskines