2 posts tagged “getting things done”
After creating the original mind.Depositor with clips and used it for a while, I found a small problem but it bugs me on regular basis. To insert and pull out the cards, it requires force, no matter how small it is, it creates stress. That's why superior Japanese stationery designs often put into considerations how to reduce user efforts. They call the practice "Universal Design".
So I set out to do a simpler version by using two pieces of leather only. I also have a practice to carry a small notepad or Field Notes to capture to-do inputs temporarily before transferring them to GTD index cards. So I'm adding a slit for the notepad and a slit to store extra blank index cards.
On the left hand side of the cover, I can put a notepad by inserting it to a slit, put blank GTD index cards in the pocket and insert a Field Notes.
On the right hand side I can put two categories of index cards (Personal and Work) into different pockets.
There is also a flap used as a bookmark or enclosure.
The whole thing becomes more compact and functional. It requires less effort to use, it is a simpler design with pleasant leather as the only material, I'm so happy with it. I especially like the color contrast of the outer white and inner brown. So check out the sections below and learn how to create your own.
- Original mind.Depositor
- Download mind.Depositor Index Card Templates
- How to create the original mind.Depositor
- How to create mind.Depositor 2
Previous cover of mind.Depositor: Lifehacker.com (followup, and Japanese version of it), GTDTimes, Moleskinerie, Koloist, David Allen Co., Lifehacking.jp, Geeks Guide To Productivity
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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