** ROUGH DRAFT **

My current process of tracking day-to-day items when not by my computer(s) is a three step "theoretical" process:

1. Capture and work-off on a daily basis a single 3 x 5 note card (some days multiple cards)
2. If something doesn’t get scratched off the note card(s) by the end of the day, it goes into my Moleskine
3. On a weekly basis I put all the ‘new’ data from the Moleskine into Microsoft Outlook for Work (Toshiba Tecra M4 TabletPC) or into an OmniOutliner file for Personal stuff (Apple iBook G4)

This is theoretical because I practically can do #1 consistently, and I manage to make #2 work most of the time, but I’m pretty bad about #3 (but getting better). [NOTE: As of November 07, I have everything just in Microsoft Outlook for all task mgmt.  I do have personal projects on my Mac using MindManager, but not Next Actions.]

So, after one year of using my Moleskine (and getting ready for a new Moleskine for year #2), what have I learned and used it for:

• Reference Material (very front – first three pages)
• Task/Item Tracking (in the front)
• Project Tracking & Notes (in the middle)
• Contact Tracking (in the back)

When something is "processed" (completed or put into Outlook), I use a highlighter to go over it to mark it done.  Note I also use the MOLESKINE POCKET SQUARED NOTEBOOK (192 pages) graph paper version so I can draw diagrams if necessary, or boxes around items in different color pens.

With Contacts … I got some alaphabet stickers from my wife’s scrapbook material and put them on the top right edge.  This worked out great in general, but it did end up bending up the pages. As I noted earlier, I’m getting ready to start a new book so I’m thinking this year I’ll just write the main letters at the top of the corners

With Projects … I have three main ones, and I gave each of them about 10 pages.  For two of them, this wasn’t enough, and I had to do some jumping around. Anything to do with a specific project went in to those areas.  I’m still not 100% I’m going to do that again.  I might consider using Tasks/Projects together and use symbols to highlight a Project specific item.

Printing out some References and then taping them in the book was pretty helpful in several situations.  It let me condense a ton of information using small fonts.  I just noticed that at the very back of the Moleskine that there is a pouch that this could be done with 3×5 note cards, so I’m thinking that references might be done this way in the new Moleskine for this year.

Some other things I did that were helpful:

• I put every single personal contact method for myself at the very front of the unit including how to send my cellphone and pager email.  This was good for sharing with others who need the information.  This was also great for getting my Moleskine back after I recently lost it.
• Writing the date of items was great for reference as I was collecting Tasks or Projects.
• Putting lines between major items captured makes scanning for something faster for me.
• Printing stuff on Dymo labels and then sticking them in the Moleskine for Reference material looks promising (I’ve only been doing this for a month).
• Determining what is Reference and what is a Task can be a challenge.  I ended up not worrying about it, and at times just put in duplicate data (moved something in Tasks both to my computer and into Reference, and then marking it complete with the highlighter).
• At the very end of the Moleskine I made a single page called "Calendar" and put Calendar items there for quick reference. One page (both front and back) was enough for me.
• I uses stickers in the corner of the pages to mark off Project areas.  This worked great for quickly getting to a Project area to make notes.  But then I ran out of room with the allocated 10 pages for two of the Projects and then had to make more in the the third Project area.

Some things to do: research more of the Moleskine Hacks out there, and consider using color pens for different items.