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Setting up a Moleskine

by Joe Thorn on March 11, 2008

Another Moleskine has been filled up, and I started breaking in a new one yesterday. Enough people have asked how I use mine, so I thought I would share exactly how I set up and use my Moleskine journal. With each one I have found better ways to make it work, so here is the latest.

In terms of use, my Moleskine is where I catch all my thoughts and ideas related to ministry, develop sermons, brainstorm, work on current projects and more. I need as much freedom as possible for it to work for me, so it’s the Large Plain (blank pages) Journal.

Here’s how I set it up…

1. Name and Reward.
Don’t forget to put your name and contact information inside the front cover. Include a “Reward if returned” statement. If you wind up using it and lose it, you’ll want someone motivated to get it back to you.

2. Number every other page, bottom right hand corner.
Numbering allows for easier reference (see below). There are 240 pages in my journal, my first numbered page is 3. Odd pages only because I’m too lazy to write on every page, and numbering the even pages as well is unnecessary.

3. Index in the back.
Take the last 10-20 pages to create an index. There are some things you will want to reference again, and some projects will wind up in more than one place in your journal. You can list the content you’ll want to access quickly in a variety of ways. I have my index set up on pages 230-240 with a “Sermon index” separate from the general index.

4. Tape a calendar inside the back cover.
Print out a small, year at a glance calendar and tape/glue it inside the back cover. It will come in handy.

5. Use the accordion pocket in the back.
Some people keep an extra $20 in there. If I had an extra $20 maybe I would do the same, but I’m not even sure what an “extra $20″ is. I keep a few 3×5 cards in that pocket for scratch paper, writing directions for people, etc. and a few business cards.

6. Get a good pen/pencil.
By “good” I do not mean expensive. I mean get a pen that wont smudge, or use a pencil. I prefer a thick pencil lead (0.9 Pentel Twist-Erase). It just feels right, and I need to erase.

I am always looking for other ideas and would love to hear what you do with a Moleskine. I saw a number of men using them at the Chicago A29 Bootcamp, so if you use ‘em, let’s hear about it.

Relevant Moleskine links:
Moleskine US
Moleskinerie
Engrave your Moleskine
Moleskine hacks

About Joe Thorn

I am the Lead Pastor of Redeemer Fellowship in Saint Charles, IL, and author of Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself. Jen is my wife, and Katherine, Elias, Madeline and Kilian are my kids.

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  • http://www.byfarthersteps.com Tim Etherington

    Thanks for sharing this Joe. I know I could use a journal, I forget some cool stuff, or at least I think it was cool, I can’t remember! Anyway, I know I need one but could never use one effectively and so never consistently used one. This sounds like it will help!

  • http://www.thecrossingsblog.cc Matt Powell

    I am a moleskin nut as well… But it sounds like you have a bit better left brain function than I do… I number the odd pages as you mentioned so that I can mark things “continued.” I do use the plain pages so that I can do things that are more image oriented. However, I have never tried doing the indexing. I can see how this would be helpful though – I have spent significant time flipping through old journals to find something.

    I’m not sure what it is about them but the moleskins just work. Maybe durability… aesthetic appeal? nope. Maybe it is just the simplicity. I don’t know what I would do without mine.

  • http://www.bjnotbk.com bjnotbk

    Thanks for the tips Joe. I too use these for lessons, brainstorming, ideas, etc. but not to the extent of what you shared here. These are some very good tips.

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  • Jeff

    I discovered Moleskine while a church planter in France. My first was a small journal with blank pages. Inspired by my reading of a biography of John Adams, I call this (now one of four different journals for reflection, reading notes, etc.) my “commonplace book.” I have a small pencil banded to the journal and I note Bible passages, book quotes, some sermon notes, and, most importantly, great things my kids say. Once a month or so, I go back through to be reminded of items that touched me. The format is perfect because it fits in a coat pocket, etc.

  • Jeff

    By the way, your “circle/triangle/square” is not in that commonplace book…

  • http://www.joethorn.net Joe Thorn

    Jeff – what do you mean? My circle, triangle, square is all over the place in my “commonplace book.”

  • Jeff

    Sorry — that “not” should have been “now.” Oh the danger of typos!

    I think your illustration is outstanding, so I wanted to keep it handy.

    Thanks for asking!

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  • http://teampyro.blogspot.com Frank Turk

    Joe –

    Inventors use a moleskin blank journal that comes with pre-numbered pages. They do that to demonstrate that they didn’t somehow omit or re-position the pages of a journal for the sake of patent rights. I used them in Grad school because, well, see your reasoning for numbering your pages, above.

    I did a 30 second Google of the web to find them, and all I found were the hard-bound lab journals, but I’ll bet one of your industrious readers can find a place to find cheaper numbered journals — even with blank pages for the non-linear ones which jesus apparently loves. :-)

  • http://teampyro.blogspot.com Frank Turk

    Yah, OK — I clicked your Moleskine links above, and I didn’t actually use ‘Moleskine’. The ones I used cost me about $3 each in 1988, but they were really stitched, really did have page numbers, and had that rubber band on them which kept all my junk in them.

    FYI. :)

  • http://www.joshbrage.com Josh Brage

    Joe, great post. Man, I love my Moleskine too! Recently, I went to a non-Moleskine, large size spiral bound. Nothing too exciting, i just do about everything in it. . .

    OH and, EVERY Moleskine should know about this hack… http://www.instructables.com/id/moleskine-notebook-mods/

  • http://www.byfarthersteps.com Tim Etherington

    If you want a free yearly calendar, check the link below. I had to do a page set up and scale the calendar to fit in the front of my journal but it was free and it works fine. :)

    http://www.printfree.com/CalendarsPrintableYearly.htm

  • http://www.inlightofthegospel.org James Grant

    Thanks for the help Joe.

  • http://www.theplacebeneath.blogspot.com Saralyn

    Hip and useful. If I had an extra $20 I’d buy a Moleskine. But for now, Mead will do.

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  • http://bjoern.amherd.net Bjoern

    The last thing I do: attach my pen clip (by Stefan Diez): http://www.flickr.com/photos/amherd/520109340/

  • http://amateureconblog.blogspot.com/ Speedmaster

    Good stuff. I’m a day away from finishing a Moleskine and starting a new one myself. I’ve never numbered the pages before, I might just start. ;-)

  • http://www.lennartgroetzbach.de/blog Lennart

    In addition to an index, I cross-reference the pages. On the bottom of a page I have a little box where I keep the page number of the previous and the next related entry. So I can quickly follow up the topic…

    There is picture of it here

  • Courtney Joseph

    Joey – thank you soooo much for sharing this. I don’t use a “moleskin” but I use a 5 subject notebook for my journaling and the pockets to hold stuff. I have been journaling in these for 17 years! Over the years my writings have evolved from just prayer requests and devotional insights to writing out my entire Bible study lessons or writing down golden nuggets from the books I am reading through.

    I have a terrible time finding the info I am looking for years later – I never thought to number the pages and make an index! Thank you for sharing this – it was extremely helpful!

  • http://www.neoathanasius.blogspot.com Robert Campbell

    Thanks. This has openned up a whole new world for me.

    How about a snapshot of how to set up your index?

    Thanks

  • http://www.toddsmindbloggler.wordpress.com Todd Bumgarner

    I too would love some more information on how you set up your index.

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  • http://www.toddhiestand.com Todd

    Joe, you inspire me…

    http://www.toddhiestand.com/my-moleskines/03/

    Thanks!

  • John

    Joe,

    This is the best compact calendar that I’ve found. I merely cut the width of my paper. Next I tape the top of the calendar in the back of my Moleskine. Then I fold it accordion style, and I’m finished. You can download it here – http://davidseah.com/page/compact-calendar

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  • http://gatheringinlight.com wess daniels

    great post, I found this through my buddy rhett’s site. You may be interested in my “Moleskine Student Hack” post — http://gatheringinlight.com/2007/02/06/create-a-moleskine-pda-the-student-gtd-hack/

  • gen

    I use a Moleskin telephone book A-Z where i cut A in two weeks and so on, makes 52 weeks total. Mark upper right corner in your Moleskine with the week number. Then i use simple Post-it® Portable Flags, one for CurrentWeek, one for ImportantStuff and the third one for NextThing. use whatever colors that suit your brain the best. You can keep the rest of the markers inside the Moleskine accordion.

    CurrentWeek Post-It Marker is the broad type used as a flip pager, put it over week number so it gets highlighted, the others are the thin type.

    URL
    http://www.3m.com/us/office/postit/products/prod_ft_port.html

  • http://prophetsandpopstars.com chris

    immensely helpful. I always brainstorm forward and write prayer requests backwards until they meet. I’ve got some new ideas to work with now…Thanks.

  • Bruce

    Hey, Joe, I live in Lake in the Hills and drive through St. Charles on my way to work M – F.

    There is s link above for engraving your Moleskine, but it doesn’t lead to a site that talks about engraving. Anyone know who does the engraving? Can you use an embosser?

    Bruce

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  • Chelsea

    A great resource for small calendars, math formulas & conversions, emergency card and even a tic-tac-toe is:

    http://www.pocketmod.com

    I found that a few weeks ago, and find it’s a great little thing to tuck inside a Moleskine.

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