TRANSFORM YOUR MOLESKINE INTO A MACHINE

Somewhere, in a crowded library or aboard an empty bus, a guy is numbering the pages of his brand new Moleskine notebook. Maybe that sounds like a load of unnecessary work, but some Moleskine users are convinced it’s the only way to maximize the potential of their notebooks.

They’ve uncovered a slew of hacks – another name for super cool, super practical modifications – that make navigating their notebooks easier. So whether you’re hoping to boost your productivity, or establish calm in a sea of swirling notes, sketches and storyboards, here are some things to consider:

Label the spine. Whether you’re cracking open your first notebook, or filling up your 32nd, check the date on the calendar when you start taking notes. If Oct. 21, 2013, marks the first time you’re using your Moleskine journal, hold the notebook closed and print that date on the spine with a silver marker, or write along one edge of a closed notebook. When you have a dozen black Moleskines on a shelf, you’ll be able to tell one from another.

Build a pen holder. Grab your favorite writing utensil, along with duct tape. Holding the pen against the notebook, unroll enough tape to go around the pen – sticky side out. Cut a second piece of tape slightly longer than the first, and attach it – sticky side in – to the first strip. This creates a sort of loop that can be attached to the notebook, and used as a holster for the pen.
If duct tape isn’t your thing, try this simple trick: with the notebook open, slip the ribbon around your pen. Close the notebook with the loose end of the ribbon tucked between the pages, and the pen pressed flush against the spine of the notebook. Use the stretchy band to hold the pen in place.

Add sticky tabs. Once you’ve decided what you’ll be using your notebook for, create sections. Numbering pages comes in handy here, if you’re hoping to divide the pages evenly.

Set aside a certain number of pages for to-do lists, or specific freelance projects, for example. A section at the back of the notebook could be devoted to titles of books, magazines and documentaries that you’d like to look up later, for example.

If you’re feeling courageous, then get familiar with GTD, an acronym that’s become quite popular among Moleskine users online. The letters stand for Getting Things Done, and refer to a workflow system designed by productivity expert and author David Allen. Moleskine users have adopted the processes, modified them and applied them to their notebooks. Here’s a link for a few of the most popular GTD systems.

Revisit the back pocket. It’s easy to forget that convenient little pouch, tucked into the back of every Moleskine notebook. Make better use of it! Some users suggest tucking spare Post-It notes or sticky tabs inside. Along with stowing your student ID, slide $5 inside, and consider that money an advance on whatever reward you’re offering should your precious Moleskine ever get lost.

Before your next big trip, make a homemade travel guide. Create a profile on the Moleskine website, and take advantage of some really cool printable city maps. Paste the material inside your notebook, then jot down the names, addresses and telephone numbers of places you’ll be visiting.

Luckily, the hacks don’t stop there. Share your ideas, tips and tricks in the comments section below. Or if you’re searching for a solution, post your query down there, as well.

Corp #2

To-mole-skin, To-moley-skin

“Mol-ey-skine,” said Francois, pointing to the neatly bound notebook. “It’s pronounced, Mol-ey-skine.”

“No! It’s Mole-skin. IT’S MOLE-SKIN, YOU IDIOT!” shouted back his writing partner.

Oh, if only Francois and that other dude had known the truth: there is no right way to say Moleskine. The brand name, which is embossed on each of the company’s signature sketchbooks, journals and planners, has been pronounced a variety of ways. Fortunately, that’s precisely how Moleskine CEO Arrigo Berni likes it.

He tells Marketplace, “‘Moleskine as a word is originally an English word. So the English pronunciation is ‘Mole-skin.’ But then you know, [the operation] was moved to France and over there, an ‘e’ was added and the French pronunciation is ‘mol-ey-skine.’”

Berni insists, though, that people should “feel free to say the name the way they want.” Freedom is the Moleskine way. Since the beginning, authors, doodlers and ideas people around the globe have been filling the pages of their Moleskine notebooks with sketches, prose and notes. Now, though, folks are scanning their work, and uploading the images to the Web for Moleskine fans everywhere to enjoy.

That’s just one high-tech way of showing off the very low-tech Moleskine tradition. Founded in 1997, Milan-based Moleskine traces its origins back more than two centuries. Sure, you might find a graphic designer in Brooklyn scribbling his latest logo idea in a Moleskine, or happen across an aspiring designer in Japan, sketching away inside a limited edition notebook designed by Maison Margiela. But long before contemporary fans put pen to paper, greats like Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway were sketching their ideas across notebooks that would inspire today’s Moleskine collections.

In fact, the Moleskine design can be credited in part to descriptions of little black notebooks that the late British author Bruce Chatwin writes about in his book “The Songlines.” The beloved travel writer Chatwin reveals that he’d find himself time and time again returning to a family-owned stationery shop in France, where he’d stock up on the blank notebooks that became an integral part of his creative process. Referring to the the oilcloth-covered items as “moleskines,” Chatwin writes, “To lose a passport was the least of one’s worries: to lose a notebook was a catastrophe.”

Certainly, Chatwin was disappointed when he learned that the maker of the notebooks had discontinued production after the operation’s owner had died. That was in the mid-1980s. Less than a decade later, a Milan-based manufacturer would pick up where the story of Chatwin’s favorite notebooks had left off, and the Moleskine brand was born.