Here’s an interesting post on notebook usage at a blog called Always Learning. I have to admit that the thought of ripping out lots of Moleskine pages did make me cringe a bit. I think I tore a page out of one of mine for the first time the other day, but it was just the back notes page from one of the Color-a-Month booklets, and it was to give a 5-year-old a drawing of a unicorn named Fred that she’d requested I create for her! But here’s someone who tears out lots of pages– perhaps even ALL the pages?!? He doesn’t specify, but he may even throw the whole notebook away when it’s finished!

I’ve been conducting an experiment that may seem like heresy to those who swear by the Moleskine brand of pocket notebooks.

I rip the pages out.

Now before you organize an angry mob of townspeople with torches and pitchforks, let me explain why I’m doing such a thing, and how I use my Mokeskine 3.5″ x 5.5″ ruled pocket notebook with my GTD system.

As I wrote in my previous post on Capture and Focus, it’s important to have a notePAD not a noteBOOK as a capture tool, so you can toss loose sheets, 1 per idea, into your In Box for later processing. I don’t use the Moleskine as a journal; I have another solution for that, so permanence is not an issue as it would be if I were using the sketchbook like my son does. (Yes, he keeps them.)

The durability of the Mokeskine stitched binding actually put me off from buying it for a while. I looked in all the office supply stores for a nice cover with a refillable notepad and a pocket for loose papers, without success. Finally, I decided to try the Moleskine — and I’m glad I did. It’s just the right size, and the unfolding pocket in the back is perfect for collecting ATM and debit card receipts.

I was mesmerized by the beautiful binding at first, so I just wrote my notes and checked them off as I processed them into my GTD system. Except that it was too easy to forget.

Then one day I figured what the heck, and the next time I got back home I grabbed hold of the three sheets I had used that day, and slowly ripped them asunder from that oh-so-perfect binding. I was surprised to find that the skies did not open and smite me with lightning, the earth didn’t shake, and most important, the book seemed unfazed by it all.

Read more Tear Up Your Moleskine – Always Learning.