Record Your Ideas Throughout the Day

It’s confession time. I’m a notebook-a-holic. I have a lot of ideas and thoughts throughout the day and I use a wide variety of notebooks in order to capture those ideas. Today I’d like to share three of my favorite notebooks. I realize that with PDAs and cell phone it’s also possible to capture your thoughts electronically, but in my view nothing beats the simplicity of the simple pen and paper.

If you’re looking for a notebook to carry with you during the day in case a brilliant idea strikes you, consider trying out one more more of these:

Moleskin

Moleskin notebooks have been around forever, but I think they’ve been popularized by large chain bookstores that place them near checkout counters. They come in a variety of styles and sized, and also include an elastic band that hold them together when not being used.

The only downside to the moleskin is the price. At $10.00 or more I found myself looking for less expensive option.

Rhodia Pads

Rhodia pads (I believe) were originally designed for architects and engineers, and most still come with the standard grid lines on each page.

They have a distinctive orange exterior made of cardboard, and these little pads can definitely withstand a beating. The thing I like best about these pads is that they come in a variety of sizes. They’re also less expensive than some other products on the market. My favorite is the 3″ x 4″ that sells for $3.00 at Amazon.com. I carry one of these around with me all the time during the day, and I’ve found that gluing on an elastic band to make it more moleskin-esque is a huge help.

Myndology Notebooks

Myndology offers ring and disc-bound notebooks that can also be useful in a variety of situations. I like the 2″ x 3″ size for quick note taking, and this size of notebook would also be great for anyone in school that needed to make flashcards.

“Disc-bound” refers to a european binding system that uses little circular rings to hold pages together. This system allows users to remove, add, and reorder pages in a notebook very easy.

On a related note…I have an excellent memory (for everything but driving directions), but I find myself drained and sometimes even worried when I think of something important and yet don’t write it down. This is one of the key pillars of the Getting Things Done approach to productivity, and I am a big fan and user of GTD. If you fall into this category you might consider picking up a copy of Getting Things Done and giving it a try.

Bonus question: Just out of curiosity, do you ever leave yourself a voicemail as a reminder? I do this for work-related things sometimes as I’m leaving the office. That way I know what I need to do the next morning. I’m just curious if I’m the only oddball that does this.

Do you have a good way to capture your ideas and thoughts throughout the day?

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