Merlins Tower

How I Use, Sort, and Store My Index cards

Posted on December 21st, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, GTD, Hack, Journaling, Search Engine, Tutorial.

Today I was viewing my favorite blogs and I wrote the following as a comment on Searching4Arcadia: He was talking about using 3×5 cards as a capture tool and how to organize and store them. This got me writing down How I do my system. I wanted to share this with my readers as well. 

So Here is what I wrote in that comment: ( a few things added as I could not do linking in the comments)

Greeting - Great article By the way - as usual good information. I too use 3×5 quite a bit in my daily activities. I have the leather version of the shirt pocket briefcase from Levengers but I always have on hand is the International Shirt Pocket Briefcase.

I like this version better in some instances because it has a pocket to fit my daily use fountain pen inside and protect it and a place for my drivers license and money (When I have any).

I also bought the Levenger Index Cards - I find them better quality then he dime store variety But they work just as well also.

I too had a hard time organizing them. I use a old wooden cigar box for my "Current" cards and have a longer storage box from Office Depot/Max that I use for Long Term Storage.

When I am placing my cards away I will mark the card with a Topic and Number. I then store them alphabetically in the trays by the Topic & Number. Any really important facts or info I know I might need to remember  I write it down on the index card index cards :-) that I have stored in the front of the tray - Thus I can quickly (Well sorta) find a past topic. Plus this gives me a way to place the card back into it correct spot when the time comes. I will usually do this once every week or so as not to get too many cards out of place but they are fairly easy to put back into order no matter what.

My local Big Lots store has the plastic dividers I use in the boxes for about $1.50 I like these better then the ones from Office Depot as the are all the same color and the letter is easier to read. Actually I bought sever sets - I put my own TAGS or labels on them (I have one for each of my clients or major projects that I am working on) That way when I mark the card I can put it in that Tagged section and make it the next number. For cards that don't have a "Divider" I put them into the alphabet dividers by letter. So notes I took about a particular pipe tobacco would be under P and the number would be then next number in the P section ex. P112. And If I thought this was something important as mentioned above I would put:

Pipe Tobacco (Haddo's Delight)   - P112

This is just an example inde Taken from some objects I have in sight when I was writing this topic. Ok I was enjoying my pipe at the time.

On the index card index. I use one card for each letter in index. This helps keep my index cards in order Right now I have Several cards for each letter. Plus if I happen to have multiple topics on a card I can still find this information as well. These are easier to go thru then going though each and every card all the time. But I have to admit there are times like you mentioned that I just flip and scan though all the cards just to get some inspiration.

Depending on what I am writing and/or note taking - I will either use the index cards or my notebook. The notebook for me is more for info that I want to store long term (I use my notebook more as a common book) and want to have easy access to as when I leave to go to a job or client I have that with me in my backpack / work kit. And I alway in the front of my notebook carry a few extra index cards. That way if the info in not as important I write it on the cards. I also keep a couple with my Name and Email/phone number printed on to give notes to a client. I find this quite effective as it keeps my info with them.

One additional note not in the comment I posted was that I have a nice Card Holder that I bought from Ikea several years back that keeps my current projects close at hand.

Thanks A11en for sparking the writing bug today.

Merlin

TAGS: Index Card Storage Index+Card Notetaking GTD how to

4 comments.

Free Printable Rulers

Posted on December 4th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Craft, GTD, Gadgets, Hack, Journaling, Miquelrius, Moleskine, Toy, Web Service, Weird Stuff.

How many times have you been out and don't have a Ruler to measure something you saw at the store or to see if it will fit an application you are working on at home.

Well I have found an easy solution for you. What you need to do is to keep with you is a paper ruler in your wallet/organizer. And Mitchell Charity's Site he has placed several different versions that you can print out on your printer (as long as you don't allow the printer software to resize it) that you can cut out and keep with you in your organizer.

I printed out the Metric and Inch Ruler. Hey you really never know when you need an exact measurement (well a pretty darn close measurement). I put these up against my nice metal ruler that I keep on my desk and these are really close.

This is a nice cheap  inexpensive way to add a measurement device to your organizer.

TAGS: Analog paper ruler organizer hack gtd

15 comments.

Stikkit - A New Way to Organize Online

Posted on December 3rd, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, Computing, Consulting, Email, Freeware, GTD, Hack, Notetaking, Web Service.

Stikkit.com - A new online organizer in Beta testing.

First a little Blurb from Stikkit:

Stikkit gives you the digital equivalent of a sticky note: the easiest thing you can grab to jot down an idea or reminder. As you type, Stikkit watches for appointments, to-dos, people, bookmarks and more, magically extracting and organizing the important details. It's like having a personal assistant following along after you.

What does this mean to you? Well after taking the 2 mins that it took to signup and activate your account you can start using it right away - Press the Shift-ALT-N and you get a nice blank note to type something in?

Meeting with Vet for Java for Shots on Jan 22 2007 3pm @VET @JAVA @APPOINTMENT

This created a Appointment (1-22-2007 @ 3pm) And Tagged the note with 3 different TAGS VET, JAVA, Appointment  

Whats nice it that it integrated the Notes with Appointments and  Tagging System

BOB SMITH 212-555-1212 bobsmith@yeahright.com 

This Created a Peep (Contact) with his contact info in there.

You can also visit the setting page for your Stikkit Account and they will give you a Secret Email address that you can add to your cellphone and then when out on the road you can Text an Apointment, Note, etc to your account.

Plus say you are visiting a webpage and wanted to jot a note about something you saw? Well if you already created a shortcut on your bookmark toolbar  you can press it and it will automatically note the page/time and Whatever notes you want to store on stikkit page.

Each Section of your stikkit has its own RSS feed. So you can read your contacts, appointments or general Notes in your RSS Reader.

Plus if you turned on the SMS feature of Stikkit it can sent you an SMS message when you have an appointment. 

TAGS: STIKKIT stickit note todo calendar organizer online sms email organization

0 comments.

New Levengers Product - Wallet Writers

Posted on November 19th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, GTD, Gadgets, Journaling, Leather, Notetaking.

They have done it again - Another innovative product from Levengers. The Wallet Writer - It gives your wallet a place for you to write on. Basically it look like it is a mini version of the International Shirt Pocket Briefcase that now fits in your back pocket.

I really like this idea as there are times I don't carry my International Shirt Pocket Briefcase with me. It is rare but there are times that it is just not necessary to have with me. But then I need to take a few notes - Too hard to do on a napkin and way too easy to loose, Can't write on my business card as they are double sided and full color glossy. Now this products comes to the rescue. You are now guaranteed a place and means to write down the notes you needed to remember - Such as a book you wanted to read, a persons name and email, a street address or what ever strikes you at the moment of revelation. I know I find it much easier to use this analog way - Pencil / Pen and paper then taking notes or tidbits of info and putting it into an electronic device.

From what I read the cards are the same stock as their cards for the Shirt Pocket Briefcase - Which in my humble opinion are really nice quality and I use them all the time. These cards have a grid design on one side and rule lines on the other. I would prefer they were grid design on both sides. - The wallet comes with 50 cards and the refills are 300 cards for $18 dollars - again not a bad price for the quality of the cards.

Levenger's makes the wallet in three different styles - Billfod style for men, a compact snap style for women, and a business card holder for unisex. Of course these are made of their high quality soft full-grain leather in a range of different colors (Black, Red and Toffee). The prices for these range from $42 to $58 - $42 for the Card Wallet Writer, and $58 for either of the men's or women's wallet version. The Photo above is of the Card Wallet Writer.

If anyone is using one of these please use the comment section as I would love to hear what you think of yours.  Or if you have any other suggestions or ideas on this let me know.

Merlin

Tags:  Levenger wallet briefcase business+card Index+Card index card business note notetaking portable analog

0 comments.

Taking Notes - A Few NON Analog Suggestions

Posted on October 25th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, Computing, Consulting, GTD, Hack, Web Service.

As most of you know I like using analog tools for most of my notetaking. I am constantly writing notes and Ideas for things I am currently working on. Even though analog (Pencil and Paper Journals) are good, there definately is a time and place for all technologies even online digital ones.

But which ones are the best to use? This started a small quest to see how many online notetaking services there are. Well let me tell you there are quite a few out there to choose from. Let me start this by asking everyone to please post in the comments section your favorite to use and I will take a look and write up some reviews on them. But more importantly I would like to see your take on some of these services. Why do you use the ones that you use - Ease of Use - Storage space? - Pretty Looking? Tell me I would like to know.

One of the ones I use is Google Notebook - www.Google.com/notebook - I like this one as I can clip interesting notes to it by using the add-on for firefox also available for IE as well. Or you can just start typing in a note on that page. Google Notebook also alows for sections in the notebook and the ability to use google search to search the notes that you wrote. A pretty plain jane easy to use notebook.

See you next time with another online notebook selection. - And The Previous link is now fixed. - Thanks Sunkman

TAGS:

1 comment.

Top 5 of Merlin Mann’s Ways to Improve Your Life

Posted on October 12th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Anything Else, GTD, Hack, Health.

Merlin Mann of 43Folders was interviewed for an article in the National Post.

He was asked what are the Top Ways to Improve Your Life. This really is a great list of "Hints" that makes you go Hmm. As the post states these are the Super Obvious - No-Duh list of great ways to improve your life.

I recommend that you take a few moments out of your busy schedule to read thru this article and see where you can improve.

I will only shortly describe these as I recommend you heading to 43Folders to Read the full thing. And note I added my own 2 cents to this list as well.

1) Reduce Noise - Not hearing noise but the little things that are calling out for your attention. Do you really need all the messages from all the google or yahoo groups emailed to you daily. Keep the ones you read - get rid of the ones that you delete most of the time. You can also reduce noise and distractions by using your email and voicemail wisely.(see #3) If you are in the middle of a project you don't have to answer that phone. Then let the person go to voicemail - you can check them when you set time aside for it.

2) Write Things Down - I stress this one everyday - If you know you will forget why not take out that nice pen or bic pen and jot a little note to yourself that will remind you. As Merlin puts it quite well - the mind is not a very good whiteboard. So use those Moleskines, use that new Miquelrius Journal, Or use that nice new leather notepad from Levenger. If you are like me write it down to remember it. Why "Try" to remember when it only takes a few seconds to jot a note. I know I used to waste more time trying to remember then it did to write it down.

3) Focus on Action - Use the books you bought like Getting Things Done and convert your life to a nice list of actions instead of trying to "what should I be doing" Everything you do is a physical action - so focus on it.

4) Get out of your INBOX: Be it the physical Inbox on your desk, or the virtual inbox of email. Set some time aside to go thru it but don't become slave to it.

5) Get Pickier with Your Time: This I feel should have been #1 on the list. You and you alone are responsible for how you spend your time. Do you waist time doing "junk items", You know what is important to your heart but do you make time for it?  As Merlin Put it - Do you look at your blackberry more then you hug your child? What really is more important? Do you set time aside to fill your soul? Did you make an appointment to pray? Basically are you putting enough into the things that really matter?

Great Article Merlin -

Resource Links - Merlin Mann's Top 5 List of Super-Obvious "no-duhs" ways to improve your life. 

Tags: Life, Hack,  GTD, organization, Working

0 comments.

Tiny - Extreemly Small 1 GB USB Drive

Posted on September 24th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Computing, GTD, Gadgets, USB.

This drive really is pretty tiny and will easily fit on a keychain for EDC (Every Day Carry) - Even though I like my PQI drive this might be a better option as it has a better cover to protect it from damage. That black cover is just that a cover - The full drive fits inside the usb plug so opening and closing it will not break any wires etc with use like some folding devices do after many uses (ie. Cell Phones) This drive is USB 2.0 and is Plug-and-Play Ready. It will hold 1 gb of data. The price seems to be around $35 from a few places on the net. So I can not wait to possibly pick up one of these to add to my collection. I love using portable tools and apps and I have found these drive a nice addtion to my GTD by always having at hand or keychain all my personal info that I don’t want to loose or have written down in plain ink. Even though I use alot of paper planners there are still somethings that need to be stored on a memory device to carry around. This way I can alway have my backup of all my Contacts, Passwords, etc… and still have plenty of room for the portable apps or items I carry to consulting jobs.

Addtional Resources: OCZ Website

Tags: OCZ, Roadster, Flash, Drive, Flash Drive, USB, Gadget, Portable, EDC, Every, Day, Carry, Digital

0 comments.

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