I've always thought the PocketMod was the coolest thing. It's a little 8-page pocket booklet that you make with a single sheet of paper. You can even use paper that's already been used on one side! This is how I recycle the old papers that have gone through the printer ~ the misprints, the papers I don't need anymore, and the flyers that end up in my mailbox at work ~ ~ any old sheet of paper that is still blank on one side.
I have the folding and cutting instructions down pat, so it is really easy to do.
I started by using the templates that are already available on a couple of different websites, here and here. You can create calendar pages, various lined pages, graph paper, music staves, guitar tab, even games like Sudoku. You configure your PocketMod with whatever you want on each page, print it out with your printer, and fold & snip, and you're good to go.
But you don't have to print any pre-designed forms. You can just use blank paper, if you know how to fold it. (When I do this, I first make an extra fold in the paper, lengthwise, and then unfold it ~ then I know where to make the cut.) I recently had a bunch of stuff printed on one side of some 11x17 paper that I didn't need anymore, and rather than throw the paper away, I made up a bunch of "Super PocketMods" ~ little folded booklets of blank pages, but twice as large as the regular PocketMod. These will be handy to use taking notes while reading, and I can use the Super PocketMod as a bookmark.
Recently I read this webpage, which listed the top 10 cool (and hopefully, productive) things you can do with paper. That led me to read about how one clever person made her own custom-designed pages into a PocketMod, for logging her travel information and workout routine while on the road. That inspired me to figure out how to make my own calendar pages, with my appointments already printed, so I don't have to write them out by hand each week. I never like the one-kind-fits-all kind of planner page. I want mine to say "Dance Card."
So I finally figured out how to do it.
Now I am no longer limited to the pre-designed templates I've found on the web! I have mastered the ability to print up whatever I want, and make it into a PocketMod.
If I could shrink my entire life into eight pages, I could use this as my planner, and not have to use an Amish PDA. This would be great! Life would be so simple. I'd just have to be careful not to lose it! Unfortunately, I can't shrink my world that much, but I thought maybe I could still use a PocketMod in conjunction with my PDA.
So I made up a PocketMod with a week of daily planner pages ( my "Dance Cards"). I did it as an 8-page Word Document. I discovered that you have to use a pretty large font (over 20-pt), or it will shrink so small you can't read it.
On the "cover" of the PocketMod, I printed up a chart of my "SuperFoods" covering the entire week. I am not sure how well this will work, because there isn't room to keep a food log, as I've been doing, but maybe all I need is a checklist. We'll see how it goes.
The rest of the pages are "dance cards" ~ one for each day of the week. Since many of my appointments remain invariant each week, I do not have to keep editing this document a whole lot. Each weekend, when I do what passes for a "Weekly Review," I can open up the last week's Word Document, change the dates, and make any necessary adjustments in the schedule.
My work has me in two different locations, mostly, so I color-coded my appointments. The things I do at the college are in blue, the ones at the church are in lime green, and everything else is in pink.
I also printed some times in pale pink, to indicate that there is a window of time available during which I might get something else done.
At the bottom of the Dance Card pages, I have printed my "runs this week." In the one shown above, I am planning to do four runs ~ 5, 8, 5, and 16 miles. When I have done one of those runs, I cross it off, on all the remaining pages for that week. ( Probably on Monday, I will run five miles, so I will cross one of the fives off on each page, leaving me with 8, 5, and 16.)
Converting the 8-page Word document into a PocketMod is an easy procedure. First, it has to be converted into a .pdf document. (I use "ClickToConvert.") I guess if I were really advanced, I would compose the document as a .pdf to begin with, and I think there is some free software for that, but I haven't explored it yet.)
Once it is in a .pdf format, you can run it through the "PDF to Pocketmod" program, available here. This automatically shrinks it down to one page and puts it in the right configuration to print for your booklet.
Once it is printed, you do the folding, make one little cut, and you're done!
Any appointments you make after you have printed it can be added using a pen or pencil. And I figure that if I have too many things to fit on a schedule this size, I am just too busy. It keeps me realistic.
To use the PocketMod with my PDA, I get the hole-puncher out, and punch a hole in the lower left corner. Then I apply a durable tab labeled "Next Week" so I don't get confused. The PocketMod for this week has a yellow durable tab labeled "TODAY," which I stick on today's dance card page. I keep two PocketMods in the planner at one time ~ this week's, and next week's.
As I go through the day, I usually make little journal notations of what I did that day. Then I can archive my old calendar pages in a 3x5 box ~ having a journal like this can come in handy sometimes.
I have also made two PocketMods for the "monthly calendar" section of my PDA. For that, the pre-designed templates were good enough, although someday I might find a reason to go to the trouble of making my own.
I am sure I will continue tweaking this ~ I am a tweakaholic, and the danger is that I spend too much time tweaking, and not enough time doing ~ which defeats the purpose of having a system in the first place. I am aware of that, but I allow myself to have fun with the tools on the weekends, and the tools help me get stuff done the rest of the week.
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