Moleskine Hipster PDA Case

Do you ever wonder what would happen if you combine the productivity power of the Hipster PDA with the awesomeness of a Moleskine? Well, I did and the result was the Moleskine Hipster PDA Case!

I am a long time reader of David Seah and I have been inspired by many of his actions on productivity. One of his solutions was to use a check rail as a way to keep tasks organized and visible. I tried setting up one in the corner of my room but I ran into a few problems:

Not In My Face: The point of the check rail was to have the things that I needed to do constantly in my face, so I’ll remember to do them. Since I placed the check rail in the corner of my room, I never bothered to look at it.
Too Cluttered: When I actually took the time to look at the check rail, it was helpful if I only had a few things on the rail. If I had more than 5 different items, then it started to become overwhelming and demotivating.
Not Mobile: I am hardly ever in my room during the work day, which makes it difficult to look at my check rail. If I am not around, then the check rail becomes useless.

The Solution: The Moleskine Hipster PDA

Originally, I was just looking for something that would fit in my pocket and was sturdy enough to protect the various 3×5 cards that I used. After several revisions, I ended up with a pretty cool Moleskine Hipster PDA case.

Here is the outside of what started life as a Moleskine Cahier. I would have rather used a Moleskine Memo Pocket, but it was too fat for my pocket. Instead I used the cahier and reinforced it with very thin Birch plywood. I also added my own elastic band. The outside is coated with two layers of clear nail polish, which created a very nice texture after using fine grit sandpaper.

Here is the backside with the trademark Moleskine insignia:

Inside are folders, which has a section for my daily schedule, an inbox, an outbox, and a folder for support materials. The inbox/outbox system was my solution to a portable check rail. Since the cards are stacked while in the PDA case, I can only view one card at a time. When I am done with the task on the card, I place it in my outbox.

Finally, here is my schedule section, which easily allows me to see the important things that I need to do today (left side) and when I plan on doing them (right side). They are held in place by plastic corners used to hold photos in scrapbooks, so the schedules easily pop out and in when they are replaced daily.

Overall, I am very happy with the result. I get the portability and ease of a Hipster PDA and the luxuriousness of a Moleskine notebook. Simply carrying it around in my pocket makes me feel like a much more productive person.