The Poor Man's PDA

The Pocketmod

I am a walking paradox. My dream house is a cabin in the north Maine woods, yet I live 10 minutes from Philadelphia and my apartment looks out over I-95. I am a song leader at our church, yet I thrive on electronica. And here's the kicker: I am professional web designer with three computers and I don't have a PDA. I carry around a clipboard with a legal pad I've divided up into two columns and put little checks next to the todo items I've completed.

So when I came across this life hack, I was hooked. PocketMod is a lo-tech solution to our crazy, hi-tech life. It's basically this: a piece of paper printed with whatever template you need. Musician? Select the stave template. Housewife or househusband? Select the grocery list template. I used the daily list for 7 of the pages and a general week template for the front cover.

Anybody else find this thing useful? How do you organize your life?

  • posted on 27 February 2007
  • by Jesse

InterAction:

28 February 20071. Ariah Fine:

I tried the pocket mod for a little while. Then I decided even that was too much work. Now I just use a notecard. blank on both sides. That's it.

28 February 20072. Shawn Blanc:

Computer PDA's never cut it for me. But I was recently introduced to the "Moleskine PDA". It's my new best friend.

Wess Daniels put together a great comprehensive post on it here.

28 February 20073. Jesse Gardner:

Shawn: Wow... nice ideas, though I think I'd probably lean towards Ariah's thinking. Even cutting up this PocketMod took too long for me (though forcing myself to organize my to do list into days was really beneficial).

28 February 20074. ren:

I have a PDA.

I don't use it as much as I should. And be forewarned: don't let the battery run out...

28 February 20075. ren:

I should add that the reason I finally sprung for the PDA was that my previous organizational system consisted of post-it notes randomly placed around my desk and on my books. Yeah.

28 February 20076. kinsey:

i can't even use a day planner. i tried once in college, and i think it lasted about a day.

28 February 20077. Jill:

Yeah, I couldn't handle a PDA. I tend to just file things mentally and not even write them down.

Yet I long to have a dogeared day planner, messy and loved.

1 March 20078. Ben G.:

I had forgotten about the pocket mod. I'm with you, I don't have much use for a PDA but the pocket mod is a great lo tech solution. On a side note, I love electronica too ;).

YourThoughts?


(Minutia)

This entry was written by Jesse on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 at 11:04 PM and appears in the Miscellany chapter. The previous article was entitled, "Heroes vs. 24, Part 2: Television Makes Me Cry", and the next entry is called, "Your Church on a Scale from 1 to 4". Bookmark the permalink, save it to del.icio.us or Digg it.

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  • Jesse said, "INBOX: 0 — HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!" Jesse said, “INBOX: 0 — HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!” 2008-07-04T07:16:07Z 2008-07-04T07:16:07Z
  • Jesse said, "@tdhedengren » Mark all, archive. Makes me somehow feel like a better person." Jesse said, “@tdhedengren » Mark all, archive. Makes me somehow feel like a better person.” 2008-07-04T06:34:09Z 2008-07-04T06:34:09Z
  • Jesse said, "54 messages left in my inbox. Can I make it?" Jesse said, “54 messages left in my inbox. Can I make it?” 2008-07-04T06:22:25Z 2008-07-04T06:22:25Z
  • Jesse said, "@snookca » For the same reason I read Digg comments. Which is also the same reason I flip through the Daily Sun in the checkout aisle." Jesse said, “@snookca » For the same reason I read Digg comments. Which is also the same reason I flip through the Daily Sun in the checkout aisle.” 2008-07-04T04:48:58Z 2008-07-04T04:48:58Z
  • Jesse said, "Hooray! @KathySierra is on Twitter!" Jesse said, “Hooray! @KathySierra is on Twitter!” 2008-07-04T04:16:50Z 2008-07-04T04:16:50Z
  • Jesse said, "Wayyyyy too much energy for a midnight." Jesse said, “Wayyyyy too much energy for a midnight.” 2008-07-04T04:01:10Z 2008-07-04T04:01:10Z
  • Jesse said, "Hancock was better than I thought it was going to be." Jesse said, “Hancock was better than I thought it was going to be.” 2008-07-04T03:32:05Z 2008-07-04T03:32:05Z
  • Jesse said, "@sugeneris » We got our signals crossed. My "here here" was for @nathansmith's previous tweet about Aug 15th. Forcible redirection = :(" Jesse said, “@sugeneris » We got our signals crossed. My "here here" was for @nathansmith’s previous tweet about Aug 15th. Forcible redirection = :(“ 2008-07-03T22:06:10Z 2008-07-03T22:06:10Z
  • Jesse said, "@sugeneris » Follow-up question: At what point would *you* stop supporting a browser?" Jesse said, “@sugeneris » Follow-up question: At what point would *you* stop supporting a browser?” 2008-07-03T21:59:56Z 2008-07-03T21:59:56Z
  • Jesse said, "@sugeneris » Or perhaps sarcasm? You'll never know..." Jesse said, “@sugeneris » Or perhaps sarcasm? You’ll never know…” 2008-07-03T21:54:13Z 2008-07-03T21:54:13Z