10 Great Moleskine Hacks
Photo courtesy DeaPeaJayIn honor of Lifehack’s partnership with Moleskine, I’ve decided to post all Moleskine-related posts this week. Today, I’ll describe 10 cool ways to get a little more out of your Moleskine. While most of these hacks are aimed at the pocket-sized, hardbound Moleskine (what I think of as the “traditional” Moleskine), they can easily be adapted to the medium and large-sized notebooks as well.
So, without any further ado, here they are: 10 great Moleskine hacks!
1. Divide sections with tabs.
Perhaps the most useful product to complement your Moleskine – besides a fine pen, of course – is the Post-It divider tab. Usually sold in sets of three colors – often with funky patterns – these dividers can be used to create sections in your Moleskine, giving you easily-accessible spaces for several separate uses.
The very first thing I do when I get a new Moleskine is add some dividers. My standard Moleskine setup has three sections: “Tasks” up front, a small “Projects” section in the middle, and “Notes” for the last 1/2 to 1/2 of the pages. But you can divide your Moleskine up however you like – maybe you want a “Reference” section for often-used information, or a “Books” section to record books you’d like to check out next time you’re at the library or bookstore. These tabs are a great way to instantly customize your Moleskine to your exact needs.
2. Work back-to-front.
For people who use their Moleskine as an always-on-you “inbox” to capture whatever thoughts might cross your mind in the course of the day, with the intention of transferring them into a trusted system on return to your desk, try working from the back forwards. Use the bookmark to mark your current page, and use a Post-It tab or flag to mark the pages you’ve already processed into your system. The closer the bookmark and flag are, the more on-the-ball your system is!
3. Number the pages.
The first mark a lot of people make in their Moleskines is to number all the pages. This provides a couple of benefits. First, if you are reviewing something you wrote several days ago and think of something you want to add, you can add a “Cont’d on page xx” note and skip ahead to the next blank page. Second, you can index your Moleskine, recording page numbers and contents on the last few pages or on a card stuck in the back pocket. Third, it helps overcome “Blank Moleskine Syndrome”, that near-pathological reluctance to make the first mark on the crisp new pages of your brand new Moleskine.
4. Tab the pages.
If you’d rather not have tabs sticking out of your Moleskine, you can still create sections with a little patience and a steady hand. Use an X-Acto knife or other sharp, easily-controlled knife to carefully cut tabs, several pages at a time, along the outside edge of your Moleskine. Cut a template from card stock to guide you and help make your tabs consistent.
5. Carry Post-Its.
Are you getting the picture here? Dustin loves him some Post-Its! I use them all the time, so I never want to be without them. Moleskines offer two options for carrying a stash of sticky notes: first, you can tear off a few from the pad and stick them to the inside cover or blank end-papers; second, you can stick a bunch (in several sizes!) to an index card and stick it in the back pocket.
6. Use templates.
Blank Moleskines can get kind of messy, but it doesn’t have to be like that! Cut a Moleskine-sized piece of gridded index card (or graph paper for larger Moleskines) and stick it behind the page you’re working on – the lines will show through enough to act as a decent guide. But it gets better – with a little tweaking, you can easily print templates, such as the ones at D*I*Y Planner (or create your own using your word processor), to serve the same function, allowing you to have specialized pages for different purposes. Keep your templates in the back pocket when you’re not using them.
7. Add a pen.
You can, of course, clip a pen to the cover, but… eh. They come off way too easily, or they end up warping the cover. And what’s the point? Using a little duct tape or electrical tape you can easily add a pen holder to the spine. Simply place your favorite Moleskine pen against the back cover, cut a piece of tape wide enough to wrap around the pen and just onto both covers of your Moleskine (with electrical tape, you may need to attach several strips side-by-side), and place the tape sticky-side-out around your pen. Then place a full-width piece of duct tape – or several strips of electrical tape – sticky-side-in to hold your pen in place. The end result is a tape “sleeve” that your pen can easily slide into and out of. Make sure to make it long enough to hold your pen securely.
8. Label the spine.
Use a label-maker, or print out a tiny tag and tape it using clear packing tape. Depending on the use, you can label it with the start date, the function of the notebook, or the name of the project whose plans are inside. Be creative – lots of folks have come up with color-coded tags that look lovely when you’ve amassed a dozen or so full notebooks on the shelf above your desk.
9. Add checklists or reference info.
Print out sheets with information you’ll need over and over, cut it to fit your Moleskine’s pages, and tape it down with packing tape. You can attach it to the front cover or either (or both) of the blank endpapers, creating a set of references that will always be right where you need it.
10. Mount photos – or a business card.
Wouldn’t it be nice to open your Moleskine and have an inspirational photo of me (or, I suppose, a loved one) to cheer you on? Use photo mounting corners to add a small photo inside the front cover, or onto the front endpaper. Or you can mount a business card, in case it gets lost – a lot neater than writing your address in the space provided.
Well, those are my ten favorite Moleskine hacks. What about you – what are your favorites? How do you get the most out of your Moleskines?
WRITER'S BIOGRAPHY
Dustin Wax
Dustin M. Wax is a freelance writer and project manager at Stepcase Lifehack. He is also the creator of The Writer's Technology Companion, a site devoted to the tools of the writing trade. When he's not writing, he teaches anthropology and gender studies in Las Vegas, NV. He is the author of Don't Be Stupid: A Guide to Learning, Studying, and Succeeding at College.
Follow him on Twitter: @dwax.
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Comments
Ed says on April 22nd, 2009 at 12:19 pm
The first think I do with a new Moleskine is to attach a business card holder on the cover and put my card (personal or company, depending on the intended use) in the holder.
Avery Self-adhesive business card holders (73720) work very well; they are clear and protect the card.
Enrique S says on April 22nd, 2009 at 1:11 pm
While I don’t use a Moleskine, I do use a small, cheap, spiral notebook at work. The first thing that I do is tape a copy of our accounting calendar inside the back cover. It’s nice to be able to flip to it in a meeting and have the entire year laid out.
VitaminCM says on April 22nd, 2009 at 1:47 pm
I usually take a stack of Post its and break them apart. Then I stick them all the way across the back, inside cover. I it allows me to spread them evenly. This way, I have a bunch of them handy without creating an awkward bulge in on place.
Catherine Cantieri, Sorted says on April 22nd, 2009 at 2:41 pm
I hope this doesn’t get me kicked out of the creative-kids klatch, but I just don’t get Moleskines. I carry around a Levenger Pocket Briefcase and that seems to meet all my needs. Am I missing something? Could Moleskines change my life?
Dustin Wax says on April 22nd, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Catherine: You’re out! :-) Seriously, not everyone will “click” with a Moleskine (or similar-sized notebook). I find them useful because a) they don’t get destroyed in my ever-crowded bag, b) I can line them up on a bookshelf for different projects, and c) there’s something about a “fancy” notebook that makes ideas flow — I *want* to use it, so I *do*. I’m obviously a big fan of index cards too!
Bacarli says on April 22nd, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Nice post. Do you have anything on Outlook hacks? I switched over to a gmail/outlook combination. I found Outlook Track-It which is a great Outlook plugin for follow-up email reminders. I want to add more things like Track-It, if I can and if it’s even possible.
Tim says on April 22nd, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Excellent tips. I always have a small stack of post its in the back of the Moleskines and some post it index tabs accompanying them.
I use a small elastic band to hold the non current task pages together so I can get straight to the first page of the current tasks. It worked better than the index tabs for me.
I have to admit the Moleskine is the only notebook that can withstand more than a couple of weeks use in my bags and pockets.
DK says on April 22nd, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Some good stuff here – if anyone is interested, here’s a pen holder (free downloadable how-to pdf) which my Mam created for me :
http://gnatgnat.com/2009/01/molekine-pen-holder/
:-)
pashers says on April 22nd, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Why are you destroying such beautiful books? Write in them, draw in them, don’t cover them with sticky tape and nonsense! These are volumes for ideas, don’t try to Blue Peter them into PDAs.
SteveAx says on April 22nd, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I have become a Moleskin convert in the last year. I use the stick on divider tabs, have a couple of business cards, index cards and post-its in the pocket… a colabsable pen cliped to the spine (no need to modify the Moleskin) and I like to use a little binder clip on teh back cover to hold my important stuff (my diet chart for now)… My best mod is really an addition… I use PocketMod.com and repocketmod.com to create little booklets that I clip to the back cover. I have one booklet that is my weekly diet food log (first page is a graph of my progress, then a page for each day with chart to fill out for my health, mood, energy level, etc. and my allowed ‘exchanges’ for food that day) I print a new one every Sunday and clip it to the inside back. I also use http://davidseah.com/page/compact-calendar to print a long, narrow year calendar that, if you fold it in half, fits perfectly around the last page of my pocket sized Moleskin… this is my exercise planner where I circle my planned days to workout and then ‘X’ them out when (if) I do them.. helps with the ‘break the chain’ theory of achieving building good habits. Inside front cover has my 2009 goals (printed) taped to it… this Moleskin is always in my pocket when I am not accessing it… I have tabbed pages for my ‘wish list’ when I think of something I want to buy in the future… another for iTunes songs I want to purchase… one for blog subjects to write about abd one for things I want to learn.
Vie Lewis says on April 22nd, 2009 at 10:45 pm
wow ok no be kind I have never seen or heard of Moleskin till I was surfing the net a few weeks ago, what am I missing? Be nice now
Sarah K. says on April 23rd, 2009 at 3:22 pm
I’m a writer, so I use my Moleskines for pretty standard stuff — exploratory writing, jotting down ideas, quotes, notes about stories and projects I’m working on, maps of fictitious places I’m writing about, diagrams of rooms for blocking where my characters are and what they are doing, character sketches — pretty much everything, including sometimes early drafts of chapters and short stories. When they fill up, I label the spine and first page with start and end date (very useful, and they look very official there on the shelf).
I wish the pages came pre-numbered, because that would be handy for cross-referencing, but I think I wouldn’t like to do it by hand!
Personally, I don’t use it for tasks at all – I mostly text those to my email inbox and process them from there.
Pat says on April 23rd, 2009 at 4:12 pm
I’ve found a much easier way to attach a pen a Moleskine: http://www.embracethegodlife.c.....ck-journal
Also, using a Sliver Sharpie to label Moleskines looks AMAZING!
Daryl [WhiteHatBlackBox] says on April 24th, 2009 at 3:42 am
I turned mine into a Hipster PDA Case:
http://whitehatblackbox.com/20.....-pda-case/
Chung Nguyen-Le says on April 26th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Thanks for the great post Dustin.
I love moleskine and the moleskine paper but find the larger ones a bit too inconvenient but have found that the small credit-sized notepad is perfect.
I don’t like carrying too much around with me so it is ideal and fits nicely into my wallet.
Thought I would also share what I have found to be the best pen – the Zebra TS-3 (which is tiny) and also fits comfortably into my wallet/ pockets.
Martien de Jong says on May 17th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
I cannot wait to get those tips into practice. What a really nice post!
danielm says on May 31st, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Ohh! very nice post, thank you 4 this :)
The number 9 ” Add checklists or reference info. ” is good for me.
メル友 says on June 2nd, 2009 at 6:31 am
「公式メル友探し無料サイト」では優良メル友サイトを最新版でご紹介しております♪
Mehmet says on June 10th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Thanks for your the great post Dustin
Samantha Bell says on June 13th, 2009 at 2:11 am
for the small moleskins, the ’spacepen’ is perfect – it’s as long as the moleskin is wide and it hooks perfectly onto the elastic and is the same size… and… the spacepen writes on anything – including postcards that have had gelati spilled on them…
メル友 says on June 17th, 2009 at 2:36 am
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出会い系サイト says on June 22nd, 2009 at 3:16 am
「出会い系サイトFantasia」では安心して遊べる優良出会い系サイトを利用者参加型のRanking方式でご紹介。
【恋人･メル友】素敵な出逢いが無料 says on June 29th, 2009 at 3:13 am
【恋人･メル友】との出逢いが無料で楽しめるオススメの優良出逢いコミュニティをご紹介します。
Jennifer says on June 29th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Wow, this is really cool. I love your ideas and cant wait to get a Moleskin too!! Thank you very much!
無料出会い系サイト says on July 14th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
素敵な出会いが見つかるオススメ出会いサイト紹介。
cu says on July 16th, 2009 at 3:21 am
Thanks for yours tip
DANTEL says on July 17th, 2009 at 10:25 am
I love your ideas and cant wait to get a Moleskin too!! Thank you very much!
techno says on July 23rd, 2009 at 5:47 am
I have become a Moleskin convert in the last year. I use the stick on divider tabs, have a couple of business cards, index cards and post-its in the pocket… a colabsable pen cliped to the spine (no need to modify the Moleskin) and I like to use a little binder clip on teh back cover to hold my important stuff (my diet chart for now)… My best mod is really an addition… I use PocketMod.com and repocketmod.com to create little booklets that I clip to the back cover. I have one booklet that is my weekly diet food log (first page is a graph of my progress, then a page for each day with chart to fill out for my health, mood, energy level, etc. and my allowed ‘exchanges’ for food that day) I print a new one every Sunday and clip it to the inside back. I also use http://www.porno-liseli.com/ to print a long, narrow year calendar that, if you fold it in half, fits perfectly around the last page of my pocket sized Moleskin… this is my exercise planner where I circle my planned days to workout and then ‘X’ them out when (if) I do them.. helps with the ‘break the chain’ theory of achieving building good habits. Inside front cover has my 2009 goals (printed) taped to it… this Moleskin is always in my pocket when I am not accessing it… I have tabbed pages for my ‘wish list’ when I think of something I want to buy in the future… another for iTunes songs I want to purchase… one for blog subjects to write about abd one for things I want to learn.
pass says on August 6th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
What is it Moleskin?
loving seem says on August 28th, 2009 at 2:04 am
Implementing this hack on a pocket Moleskine is great because you can then have your Inbox and entire GTD system with you all the time
Müzik dinle says on September 1st, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Thanks for your the great post Dustin
About all health says on September 3rd, 2009 at 7:31 am
Good,i like
出会い系サイト says on October 13th, 2009 at 2:47 am
出会い探しが簡単に出来る
出会い系サイト says on October 13th, 2009 at 2:48 am
出会いを楽しもう
出会い系サイト says on October 13th, 2009 at 2:49 am
無料出会い系サイトを紹介しています
Toronto Gourmet Bakery says on October 20th, 2009 at 10:53 am
thx dustin great post
Roy Murad says on October 31st, 2009 at 12:28 pm
My best mod is really an addition… I use PocketMod.com and repocketmod.com to create little booklets that I clip to the back cover.
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shane
Roy Murad
Karl says on November 7th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Neu-, Jahres-, und Gebrauchtwagen