ktoddstorch @ business thoughts

Using the Moleskine

I thought I had a great system...

Make sure you check out Fred's detailed plan.

[read] how Fred uses his Moleskine

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tags: moleskine

How to Learn

I love to learn.  I love to consume new ways to stay ahead and challenge my thought.  I thought I would share with you a few ways I do this:

• If I find a term or subject that I want to dive into, I will write it down in the personal ToDo section of my Moleskine
• I use Wikipedia to look up the term/subject to gain an overview of what it is
• Sometimes if I want to learn what people are discussing on the topic, I'll set up a Bloglines search to capture blog postings that contain the word (example, if you do this for "podcasting", you'll get over 200 entries per hour...overload!)
• If I'm really interested in learning more, I'll subscribe to blogs that specialize on the subject or have great things to say
• Sometimes I'll email the blog author and leave comments on their blogs and get engaged in the conversation
• Another great way to gain further insight is to subscribe to a podcast on the subject.  I really like the iPodder client to capture the .mp3 feeds

Good luck and never stop learning!

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tags: podcasting | bloglines | learning | moleskine

Collective work on Moleskine's

Fred On Something... asked me and three others to write a short piece to describe the fascination and passion about the Moleskine.

Why do you love the Moleskine?

[read] the collection

Moleskine Shortage?

I've been to 2 different Barnes and Noble stores in the last 2 days and they had a very limited supply.

I asked when they were getting more in and both store manager's said they didn't think they were getting any new shipments.

Where are the best stores to find them?  Best on-line stores?

Moleskine Passion!

Jeremey Wagstaff has some great Moleskine thoughts!  He linked to my post today along with others that have Moleskine hacks.

43 Folders references Jeremey's writing as well. 

If you are on board with the Moleskine, make sure to check both posts out!

[link] to Jeremey Wagstaff's post
[link] to 43 Folders' post

Moleskine Love!

I first learned of Moleskine's from the 43folders blog.  As much of a organizational freak as I am, I was instantly hooked on this simple, yet very flexible notebook.

If you don't know what they are, follow the 2 links above and then come back to this post.

My current system:

• I currently use 2 colored tabs (blue = business and yellow = personal)
• Pages are numbered so I can cross reference
• Business tabs
  • ToDo:  This is my daily "working document" page.  I categorize the sections on the page as Projects, What People Owe to Me, What I Need/Owe to my Boss, Active To Do, ideas section fo my weekly report, idea section for my sales meetings, phone calls, Fitness, bills.  I have 20 pages dedicated to this section and I need to redo the page about every 2 weeks.
  • Projects:  Each page is label on active projects that I am working on
  • Goals:  self explanitory
  • Ideas:  log ideas by date and follow up action

• Personal tabs
  • ToDo:  active worksheet.  I recently had all of my Christmas lists in this section.  I have sections for my personal and business blogs with ideas for postings, redesigns, etc.
  • Goals:  I have a section for Family, Athletic/Fitness, Personal
  • Ideas:  things I want to remember to explore, etc.
  • Notes:  not a fully developed section yet.  I had down a list of thank you notes I needed to write in this section

I keep a few note cards, a few business cards and extra tabs in the back pocket.

Do you use the Moleskine?  If so, what hacks do you use?

I'm absolutely in love with this notebook and gave them to a few people at work as Christmas gifts!

UPDATE - 1/14/05
Great links and thoughts on the Moleskine from Jeremy Wagstaff
[read]

Boing Boing lists Jeremy's post with a WSJ.com article link
[read]