Ready-to-print 3×5 index card
After posting the article titled, “The weight of an idea.” I had several people inquire about the index cards I print out for myself.
I used Adobe Pagemaker to lay the card out and I keep a stack of them near me pretty much everywhere I go. A pack of 100 index cards costs about $0.99 and I figure my printer (an HP LaserJet 1000) costs me about $0.02 per card to print. So my total cost to print my own cards is around $0.03 each, or $3.00 per hundred - cheap!
I’ve tried printing these cards with an ink jet printer, but I found that the ink is sucked into the card stock and ends up looking blurry and a bit gray for my tastes. The laser printer gives very crisp lines and text and is dead-on black. It looks very professional when you jot a note on one and hand it to a colleague - they’ll think you had cards custom printed - snazzy!
I’ve created two PDFs of this card if you want to print them at home for your own use.
My printer will feed a 3×5 index card (many printers will), but only in the dead center of the paper tray. The guides close down equally from each side.
If your printer is like this, then you want to download the 3×5 Index Card for a full size page. (
) It’s centered on a 8.5″ x 11″ sheet and will print right onto a 3×5 card fed down the center of a paper tray.
If your printer adjusts to feed index cards down one edge, then you will probably want to download the 3×5 Index Card sized for a 3″ x 5″ page ().
Here’s is what the card looks like (click the image to enlarge).
It has the text “Next Action / ‘To Do’” at the top with room for a date or other small note at the top (maybe an @Context for you GTD fans?).
Below that are three category check-boxes (A, B, & C) and five priority check-boxes (1, 2, 3, 4, & 5). This allows you to classify a task or action with up to 15 different priority codes.
Plenty of blank space follows next, here’s where you’re genius comes in.
At the bottom is a place to note the current date, a due date if follow up is needed and if you’re delegating the task to someone else, you can write their name here.
Put a check in the little check-box with the arrow to indicate more is continued on the back of the card.
I carry a fresh load of these cards in a leather index card case from Gifts For Professionals. It’s cheap ($15.95) and is barely noticeable tucked away in a back pocket. It holds about 8 fresh cards and 4 “noted” cards. You could probably jam more cards in, but I’ve never run out with 8 cards on me. I refill it at night as needed.
Levenger also makes a pocket briefcase to hold index cards; it’s $38.00 but looks like it might be a little more sturdy that the case I bought.
I hope you find this card useful. If you keep it on you all the time - you’ll never let your next million dollar idea slip away.
Add comment February 12th, 2006
