Never Lose a Thought Again – Carry a Moleskine

Most developers have thoughts racing through their minds at break-neck speeds. I am no different, but it was only this year I learned to capture those thoughts as they occur – I started carrying a moleskine.

You are probably thinking, “What a schmuck, he is telling me to write down my ideas”. You are partially correct, but more importantly I am suggesting form the habit of carrying a notebook everywhere.

You can have ideas anywhere, and it is important you that you get them down as quickly as possible. Everywhere I go, I carry my mini-moleskine. I have stopped in my tracks to write down ideas:

• Sketched out The New Consultant at a red light
• Stopped reading Alan Watts (on a boat) to write the core of Why Linguists Are True Code Artists
• Stopped mowing the lawn 4 times in one day to add items to 101 Ways To Know Your Software Project Is Doomed
• Invented the Cereal To-Go cup while eating breakfast in a rush (to bad someone already had the same idea first…)

You don’t have to exclusively carry a moleskine. Plain notepads or PDAs can act as digital moleskines. For extra fun, there are plenty of moleskine hacks such as dream journals, stashing extra cash, or even a hard drive case.

So what is in my moleskine for future posts? Here is a sneak peek into the future of codesqueeze. Whats in your moleskine?