I've always loved the PocketMod for its simplicity and unparalleled portability. But it has always seemed something of a "light-weight" solution--great for easy-to-carry lists, but not robust enough to support an entire GTD system. So I opted for index cards instead...

But I just had one of those no-duh ideas. Why not combine 2 or 3 "modular paper units" for a more robust GTD system? And if you don't snip the paper, you can use both sides of the sheet, for a total of 16 distinct writing areas on a single 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper. The disadvantage is that you don't get one of those endless 8 sided flip books... But I could see several advantages as well. You still can focus on a single panel (e.g., a particular context), but you also can open up the booklet to see the entire sheet of paper at once (for a big view of your work). In fact, the folds allow each of the mods to stand up for easy viewing. Wow.

So just one day after getting all excited about Moleskine Cahiers, I'm think of switching to 3 "modular paper units": one for calendar items, one for projects and actions, and one for capture and daily to-dos. (How's that for GTD meta-fidgeting!--hey, it's my holiday break and the traditional time of life-reassessment!) Held together by a paper clip, the pocket mods would take up much less space than my stack of index cards (indeed, they would be virtually weightless), but they would have a very similar functionality. And it would be easy to archive old sheets of paper in good old manilla folders, rather than having to fuss with all those mini index card boxes.

Any advice on how one might set this up? For the calendar card, I'm thinking of using two panels per week. (Mo, Tu, We on the left hand side, Th, Fr, Sa, Su on the right hand side)--similar to the Moleskine set up here. That way I can have my calendar pocket mod open to one week (2 panels), two weeks (4 panels), or four weeks (8 panels). And a single sheet of paper would thus be able to hold eight weeks of calendar items -- pretty impressive.

For the actions sheet, I'm thinking of having project lists, someday maybe items, and project reference on one side of the sheet of paper and actions lists on the other. Here's where I'm having a little bit of trouble. Should actions be divided by context (i.e., one per panel of the pocket mod)? Or should actions be listed chronologically (in order of appearance)? The major problem I could see here is that action lists tend to become outdated a lot faster than projects. So I could end up having to transfer my project list every time I have to create a new action pocket mod.

I suppose that I could create a separate project pocket mod, which would allow more room for project planning and reference, but I somehow liked the idea of limiting the system to three sheets of paper. The other option would be to move the actions to the collection pocket mod. The problem there is that the collection would likely fill up faster than I can complete the actions.

But I digress... I'm just brainstorming at the moment. I'd be interested in hearing any input (but only if you, like me, don't have any work to do at the moment! Yipeee!)