mind.Depositor by Scription

Dec 1, 2008 at 2:03 AM
55 comments

As an advocate of David Allen's GTD practice, I constantly look for ways to improve my productivity and organize the million things around me. Inspired by Merlin Mann's hipster pda, I set out to create my very own version I called mind.Depositor.

mind.Depositor

The index cards I use have to be 4x6 in. since anything smaller will increase my writing pressure and makes me feel confined. The cover has to be leather because of the love of my Midori Traveler's Notebook. The index cards have to be secured and removed very easily, thanks to a paper clip I found last year in Japan, now I can make it happen.

mind.Depositor - ready to organize

To make it shot for this post, I uploaded the instructions to a Flickr set here. It is pretty easy provided you found the right tools and parts.

mind.Depositor - dividing work and personal

mind.Depositor - Office Work tab, Next Actions

Instead of just inserting plain index cards for random note taking, I created a GTD template to print 4 tabs on these 4x6 index cards: Next Actions, Projects, Wait for, Someday/maybe. The tabs are highly useful to classify index cards into groups, just check the box and start writing to-dos. I also used plastic index cards from KOLO's Havana box to divide "Office Work" and "Personal" index cards (labeling done with Dymo's embossers). I wish I can find better quality index cards in cream color but it is difficult, so for now I'm settled with these ugly blue lined index cards.

mind.Depositor - opened clips

mind.Depositor - clip to hold index cards

The most magical part of mind.Depositor is the clips I found in Japan. They open up wide to accept index cards. When you push a stack of index cards in them, they close and hold them in place pretty tight.

mind.Depositor - with pen inserted

How to close the cover securely I learned from Takeo Paper in Japan. They have a bookmark with elastic band, when inserted to a notebook you use the elastic band just like how you do with a Moleskine. The brilliance of this bookmark is that the elastic band is not a part of the cover, it is in the content! Thanks to Keita san who brought me these notebooks/bookmarks as a gift when I first met him last year.

mind.Depositor

mind.Depositor - another way to close the cover

Why the name mind.Depositor? I treated my Moleskine as a place to store all my notes and actions but it is just a notebook afterall. I named my Moleskine mind.deposits in numbers and now it is time to move on and make a GTD/hipster pda version to start organizing better.

Material used in this project: KOLO's Havana box plastic index cards, Midori Traveler's Notebook's name card holder, CIAK notebook's elastic band, Cavallini's paper, Jointex's paper clip, Lihit Lab's plastic folder, Dymo's embosser tapes.

Blog responses: GTDTimes, Moleskinerie, Koloist, David Allen Co., Lifehacking.jp, Geeks Guide To Productivity

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Brilliant! One thing I love about the mind.Depositor is that by using index cards instead of pages (as in a bound notebook) you can move things around and keep related items together. My Moleskine saved me from yellow-sticky-note hell and got me better organized, but much as I love it, I find myself often frustrated bc I use it in a very practical way to jot down information and notes and to-do lists that I'll need to refer back to in the future. But the order of the info is chronological bc I write on the pages in order each day, and chronological order is not practical. I need to order information by topic. Your system solves that problem. Way to GTD!

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Very, very cool.

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Patrick, this looks fantastic. I love using index cards, but find that having them loose or with just a binder clip (a la HipsterPDA) just doesn't work for me.

This looks like the perfect solution!

Thanks All. Ugo, I've always wonder what "system" other people are using. GTD or not, we just have to find our own ways. Stress/Guilt free is really important. I enjoy flipping through my old notebooks once in a while, they are like treasures, I can find a lot of things there to revisit.

dakegra, I had similar experience. My index cards were so worn out in my bag, I would rather not seeing them as often as I should. A pleasing cover helped.

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Very nice Patrick! I love using index cards for notes abd reminders. I wonder where the M. goes though?

haha I figured M. and mind.Depositor works in very different ways so I did not combine them together. I need to shuffle my cards very easily so it's better to keep it simple.

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So coo!!

Where did you buy your traveler's notebook?

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Thanks all. mparish, I bought mine in Hong Kong city'super :)

If you are interested to get one, check this Flickr group discussion: http://www.flickr.com/groups/travelernotebook/

Meant to ask, where on Jointex's site did you find the paperclips? I don't see an english site version, and am having trouble navigating around. =P

check out levenger's site: HTTP://www.levenger.com/PAGETEMPLATES/PRODUCT/Product.asp?Params=Category=17-194|Level=2-3|PageID=5865

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Wonderfully done. My "system" is a Filofax Personal Slimline organizer that is held closed with an elastic bento box closure I found at the local Mitsua complex here in Chicago. I keep open pages in the front for new notes, and an index of separate sections in the back for major projects. As each "project" gets big, or as pages "get old", they get archived off to a filofax "archive" binder.

That said, your system here is Much More Cool Looking - the Dymo labels give it a truly exotic feel.

bob

Thanks Patrick, I've been trying to get one of these for a year now....hopefully it will actually happen now

bob, I used filofax before, even though you can choose what you put inside, still my A5 was filled with tons of things I don't need. I found that all I need are just 3 things: diary, notebook, GTD index cards. They are now 3 things in my bag. Yeah, they Dymo tabs are a nice touch, without them the whole thing looks dull :)

mparish, are you in the states? If so Maido stationery is the place to get it, they do mail order too.

Wasn't this called a Filofax in the 1980s?

;-)

What a coincidence -- or was it? I heard David Allen interviewed today about his book Getting Things Done on National Public Radio. I think the show was “Humankind” or “Human Kind.” Really intriguing!

Yeah, that was a great interview called "relaxed focus" I listen to repeatedly once in a while. Amazing story about David's transformation, being homeless. When you give it all up, you are truly stress free. Steve Jobs also did something similar in India.

fezntpluckr, I think GTD and the usage of index cards is totally different from filofax. Filofax was an invention from war, trying to organize everything. GTD was invented to ease your mind (and on the way to get things done). Motivation totally different at least.

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what calculator is that?

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This is very much like a system I still use called scanplan. http://web.archive.org/web/20061022153646/http://www.scanplan.com/

erik, that's Amadana's calculator. This Japanese brand has a lot of great products with amazing designs.

Maxmike, too bad it is no longer available. Wonder how all those index cards are secured on the cover.

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I am absolutely in love with this.
how many index cards does it hold?

would you think of doing a detailed How To?

Stefan, 30pcs is sort of maximum for the clips to hold. However, there are rooms between the covers to store some extra blank ones. You don't need to store that many cards anyway, otherwise things won't be *done* :)

Detail How To already exist in this Flickr Set.

Looks really great.

Just wondering what kind of pen that is?

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I was having a difficult time finding the Havana Box index cards.

el, Recife Baby Press roller ball pen. Lovely ivory color.

Allison, they are included in the Havana box (medium size) KOLO is selling: http://www.kolo.com/shop/albums/?pl=4

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Thanks a mil for sharing this.

What a relief to find that I am not alone in my persuit of the optimal configuration of such a tool. Yours is a great evolution

My current challenge is the analogue/digital integration piece, minimising repitition or duplication of administration/maintenance activities. I am thinking along the lines of adding an ultra-portable handheld scanner for digitising/storing on-the-go. Anyone else already looked into this?

Lawrence

Thx Lawrence. If you like the tool, I bet you will find a hard time to find this digital/analog integration. Can't say I've been there before but I did try to organize my contacts by scanning all name cards with a small name card scanner. It didn't work coz all OCR didn't really work well even for today. To make it simple I just classify my biz contacts by domains and it works well, as long as I keep organizing, which as a bonus helps to memorize my contacts' faces. So go on have your search and let us know what you found!

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8 medium clips for ~$2.89

Where from? im still strugging to get 2 clips in the UK to make one of these for myself!

try www.amazon.com. I don't know about shipping, but the cheapest I have found in the US is $1.94 but with shipping it becomes about $9.00 (at http://www.officequarters.com/product.php?co=GEM&number=90000 )
Search for item "GEM 90000" or ask at a office supply store, probably better to phone in to several different stores.

try http://planon.com/docupen_rc800.php a portable scanner for full pages in full color. Kinda expensive (~$300), but it gets the job done.

Lawrence - For portable scanning, you should look at qipit (www.qipit.com). I believe it turns a regular cell phone camera into a portable scanner.

Thanks Patrick, I've been trying to get one of these for a year now....hopefully it will actually happen now

cathos, jmc5h, thanks for the links! bobr512 and those who are going to follow this path to make one for your own, please do share your experience/results. This thread has probably already travelled to Russia, according to a fellow blogger/writer, will be interesting.

Lawrence O'Connor replied to jc’s comment:
Jan 2, 2009
Reply

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I love the lateral-ness of this (www.qipit.com).
Seems so obvious in hindsight! - mobile phone camera-as-portable-scanner/digitiser.
Excellent. I love it.
Thank you for the connection.

yet another spam post ;)

I bought the same clips at ContainerStore in New York city... it doesn't look like they sell them online though.

What kind of folder is this? where did you get it?

folder?

Hi great blog very interesting I use it in a very practical way to jot down information and notes and to-do lists that I'll need to refer back to in the future. But the order of the info is chronological bc I write on the pages in order each day, and chronological order is not practical. I need to order information by topic. Your system solves that problem. Way to GTD! Also let me tell you Generic Levitra is the medication that I'm using to cure ED is excellent like magic

Very very interesting. Nowadays spams becomes so tailored to the blog post, everybody just have to be more careful when clicking on links in emails. The message may look entirely relevant but the intention behind is dubious.

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where did you get the leather material for the

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My comment got cutoff as I was registering my account for vox. Anyway, here's my whole question:

Where did you get the leather materials for the mind.Depositor 3? Where can I buy them online? I was inspired by mind.Depositor to create my own for my Bible & Bible study materials (norebook, pens, etc)

I am following you in Twitter. My Twitter handle is @MarlonRibunal

Hi Marlon,

I bought from some leather shops in Tokyo and Hong Kong. I don't know about online, but after a search I found http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/, or if you know Chinese http://www.leathercraft.cn/

Thanks for following, I've moved my blog to http://scription.typepad.com

I plan to update my findings about mind.Depositor 3 and I'm glad you like the idea, it will be interesting to hear about your Bible study version. Pls do comment on the new blog location coz this vox site is full of spams.

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mind.Depositor by Scription

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