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.

Notetaking and Organization - How I got sucked in.

Posted on August 29th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, GTD, Hack, Journaling, Miquelrius, Moleskine, Search Engine, Tutorial, working.

You can read and read many different blogs and forums and there are many different ways to take notes and organize yourself.

I have read them - in fact many of the blogs are in RSS reader and I take a peak at them when I have a few moments of time. - I don’t know why but I enjoy learning new hints and tips to help me organize myself better.

A few years back I discovered writing in small journals and notebooks. I started out writing in Steno Pads that we had at work. These are great for taking quick notes and organizing myself for the day when ever I would receive a phone call or work on a issue - In the notebook it went - I was going through quite a few notebooks as you can guess. I then would take the info that was relative to an issue and the rewrite it into my permanent notebook (This is after I gave up using a PDA - Great for searching out data but hard to input and harder to always sync and keep the battery fresh. Basically a pain in the rear end.) My permanent notebook was a journal I picked up the local bookstore in Downtown Pittsburgh near my bus stop. I loved the small size and the quad ruled paper that it had it in. This was my first Miquelrius Journal. I actually first saw this at the computer help desk where I saw one of the techs using one while on the phone easily looking up past issues and their resolution she made organization look so easy. I asked her about it and this I believe was the down fall of me purchasing notebooks and pens. She showed me a few of the ways she organized it and followed her lead. She always numbered each page. (Which I also read on quite a few blogs) She used alot of sticky notes to lead her to the correct area of her notebook to help her solve one of her cases. She was always faster then trying to find the info in the database that was given to them to try and do what she was doing in her notebook.

It was hard for me to start writing in the notebook journal as it was so pristine and I guess I felt intimidated looking at all those blank pages staring back at me. To make my process of writing in the journal one step closer was to number all the pages - Well not all but in the bottom right hand corner I would number ever other page. 1 - 3 - 5 - 7 - 9 - 11 ……….

Then I would draw and comment on the inside flap what I was using this journal for. (I read this somewhere and it really does help get over the new notebook jitters) I now no longer had a pristine journal but a personalized organization system. (Ok Ok the start of one)

The next step was to keep a hard copy of all the number I had in my cell phone. Since I was no longer syncing my pda or carrying it with me I needed a way to have all my numbers with me where I could find them. So, What I did was to divide my notebook up into smaller sections. First Section was for Business - Second section was for Personal Notes - and Third was General Info. The Phone number went into the third section. I took and wrote out all my phone numbers and that was the start of my notebook. After I finished writing out all my numbers I then took several high liters and highlited the names of the people I just wrote down. Pink was Personal - Blue was Business - Yellow was the important numbers. This little step helped me look over the list of over 300 numbers and spot the frequently called numbers that much easier.

Next I did a step similar to my friends - I made an index section - I marked about 10 pages in the back of the notebook to just be cross reference data / Index of what I wrote. Say I wote in my personal section all the birthdays of all my friends and family - something I don’t use on a daily basis - I wrote it down in the index - Birthdays and Anniversaries - p105 - List of Past Christmas Presents - p157 (Whew no more embarrassing buying the same gift 2 years in a row)

This was the basic startup of how I started the analog way. This did take me some time getting used to writing in my notebook and once I got used to finding the data. I believe I was faster and more organized as I didn’t mind jotting a quick note down in my journal. But turning on the PDA removing the stylus getting to the right program - creating a new note - naming it and then finally being able to use graffiti to jot the note down. Since it was that much easier I was writing and documenting more instead of trying to remember it all. I didn’t always jot the notes down into the index so I would do a weekly round up that out remembered from one of the organization meetings I got to go to. I would go through my notes and it I thought it was worth noting I wrote it down in the index and noted the page. This also allowed me to cross reference some of the info. So, if I ran out of room on a page and needed to write more I would just make a note of the page I had additional info on and highlight it. I believe this is what started me reading more about organization and note taking. I wanted to be better at it then I was. And I am pretty sure that is the same reason you read so far in this long winded entry. In the next few days I will write about my modified Cornell Note Taking system. So be sure to stop back and comment here and let me know some of the tips you are using. Or if you think you might have a better way to do something I wrote about Please let me know I love to learn some more tricks and hacks. I know these hint and hacks really did work for me  - I still use this daily in my own business working on websites and in my computer services. My clients are amazed that I am so low tech with my fountain pen and little black journal.
Thanks for Reading.
Digital Alan - Merlins Tower

Technorati Tags: analog, note taking, notebooks, journal, journals, journalling, organization, fountain pen, fountain, pen, quad, ruled, quad ruled, GTD, PDA

2 comments.

PDA - Back to Basics or Going from Digital to Analog

Posted on June 29th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, GTD, Hack, Miquelrius, Moleskine, Tutorial, Uncategorized, Web Service.

Look at all the interesting people going back to digital and what they are using. This past week The Boston Globe had an article entitled PDA Buffs go back to basics. The article is quite interesting and would recommend taking a look at it if you have a few moments to spare. The report that Mike Rohde (Certifiable Palm Fanatic) has gone analog. He was fed up with all the years of cracked screens, battery outages and many glitches that come from owning a PDA and went back to an old comfort zone. The PEN and PAPER. Mikes Blog shows his digital to analog ways and is documenting it. His system is called the “Analog Task Management System” or Notebook Here is a link to his resource. Which I have been reading for quite sometime as it really is a good information resource.
The Boston Globe article is 2 pages and list a few good resources that I have mentioned before and a few I will look at in more depth. They mention the PocketMod (as seen in the photo above). They also mention Merlin Mann (one of the creators of the Hipster PDA and creator of 43 Folders.com ) And Douglas Johnston of DIYPlanner.com. All Great Resources if you plan on going from Digital to Analog - or if you are already doing analog and have a few hints to provide or want to pick up a few interesting helpful hints.

Tags: analog, Blog, DIYPlanner, GTD, Hacks, HipsterPDA, Indexcard, IndexCards, Lifehack, Moleskine, notebook, Notecard, Online Reference, Organization, Organizer, paper, Reference

0 comments.

Fountain Pen - Care and Feeding - Part 1 - How to fill a fountain pen

Posted on June 25th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Art, GTD, Gadgets, Journaling, Tutorial.

Today, I was doing some research on the web to help me anticipate the care and feeding some some new fountain pens I just ordered. Well not me personally but I placed an order for a few pens and new inks for my brother. It will be his first time using a fountain pen and in anticipation and to get him to read my blog {Wink, Wink} I wanted to jot down a few notes about how to best take care of the pens he ordered. Todays article is how to fill them. The pens he ordered are from HisNibs.com - One of my favorite pen sites. {Great Service - Great Pens and all around nice guy}

My brother asked me to order him the Hero ‘329′ in burgandy color as shown here.

He also purchased some Private Reserve Ink - Sonic Blue - I personally have not used this ink - But from what I have read on the Fountain Pen Forums this is a nice ink. He also had me order a Hero ‘367′ Series Blue Pen.

These are two entirely different pens - Both beautiful looking. The major differences are that that Hero ‘329′ is an aerometric style or pump fill. To fill one of these pens you MUST has bottled ink to fill them they will not take any of the prefilled ink cartridges.

Here is an excerpt from RickConner.net’s Site about filling pens:

The Aerometric filler (a Parker term which has since become somewhat generic) is actually a variation on the old-style sleeve filler that was used early in the century. It usually consists of a rubber or rubber-like sac (some are transparent plastic) inside a metal sheath; there’s an opening in the sheath through which you can see a pressure bar. To fill the pen, simply dip the point all the way into the ink bottle, mash the pressure bar, let go and allow the sac to expand and draw in ink. If the pen is new or nearly empty, you might repeat this maneuver a couple of times to make sure you get as much ink as you can.

Now to fill the other pen - You have to either only use ink cartridge or purchase a converter to fill it up. This pen comes with one ink cartridge. To use a standard cartridge it is quite easy to fill. Again Directions taken from RickConner.net Site:

Make sure you have a cartridge that will work in your pen. You’re usually safe buying the cartridges made by the same company that made the pen, but many pens (generally European) use a standard design making these cartridges more or less interchangeable.

Unscrew the barrel from the pen; pull out the old cartridge (might want to do this with the pen pointing up so you won’t drip any of the remaining ink from the cartridge). Put the new cartridge in its place and push; usually, you have to break a membrane or dislodge a small bead in order to start the ink flow (you should be able to feel a nice “thunk” when you’ve accomplished this). Reassemble the pen and you’re back on the trail. If the pen was dead empty or dried out, it will take a bit of scribbling before the proper ink flow starts up. If the new cartridge is a different color, it may take some time for the new color to appear (the pen must use all the ink stashed away in the feed before taking on new ink from the cartridge). You really shouldn’t have to pinch or squeeze the cartridge to get the flow started.

If you use cartridge pens, you should consider switching to a bottle fill converter; not only is this more economical (not to mention more environmentally sound), but you’re flushing out the feed every time you fill, so it will stay cleaner and will be less likely to clog).

I recommend purchasing a converter for this type of pen for the reasons mentioned above. First I like using a better grade of ink and having the ability to flush the pen out with water to keep them clean that really is one of the best reasons. And this allows you to change the colors when you want. But if you don’t want to purchase a converter and want to clean your pen - check out my next article in the next few days about cleaning a fountain pen.

After purchasing a new pen I have read that it is a good idea to just sit and write and write with it on a sheet of paper what ever you want to “Break” in the pen. This will help the nib get a nice smooth flow going and help give the nib a nice smooth writing experience.

Tags: analog, Fountain, Pen, fountain pen, Gadget, Gadgets, GTD, Ink, Office Supply Porn, paper

6 comments.

$8 Network Rack - Cleaning up the Computer Desk

Posted on June 15th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Computing, GTD, Gadgets, Tutorial.

OK here is one project I am putting on my GTD list right away. A quick and easy way to help me keep my desk a little neater.

This is such a wonderful Idea. He took 2 (2 Packs) of Rubbermaid Letter trays (Model 74095) and build a nice looking network rack. Keeping all the wires and wall warts placed neatly on his desk.
Such a simple Idea. I wish I had thought of this. The complete description and plans are found on Flickr.

Now, seeing this Idea. I can think of a few other Ideas to use these trays for. Like adding 2 more trays to the bottom to actually use for Paper or items I need to use on a daily basis. Would be nice to find a small plastic container like a craft organizer to put in all my small parts etc and just slide it into one of the trays.

Nice Job.

Tags: Network, GTD, Desk, Organizer, MAKE, Clutter, Organization

0 comments.

Tracing An Email

Posted on January 26th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Email, Tutorial, Web Service.

Tracing An Email

The purpose of this guide is to show the process involved in tracing an email. The first step required to tracing an email is finding out the headers of the email.

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