My essential every day stationery

To aid in my creativity, curiosity, learning and productivity, I use a lot of analogue tools such as paper and pens. There's so much potential in a blank notebook, the right pen feels good and there's something magical about having a notebook for a clear purpose.

So, yes, I am a stationery freak, so much so that I actually co-host a podcast about the potential of stationery called Stationery Freaks.

But stationery, at least for me, is more than just an odd fascination about pens and notebooks - it's a way of operating that helps me to achieve my goals, enjoy my creative time - and in some respects, find pleasure from disconnecting from the allure of digital.

In this post (and video), I share my top 9 essential items of stationery and how I use them. (Some of the following links are affiliate links - meaning I earn a small commission if you purchase after clicking on it - it costs you no more for the item)

1 - Notebooks

Notebooks are the foundation for my stationery systems and enjoyment. They are the medium and material that essentially brings all of the other items together. They are the foundation to my learning, journalling and note taking system.

Yellow Legal Pads - and the Cornell Note Taking Method

The workhorse of my systems are yellow legal pads. I use the Cornell Note Taking method (video and post on this method is here).

I carve off a slice of the page for actions, insights and conclusions - whilst the main bulk of the page is for the main ideas and content.

I use these Concept A4 Yellow Legal Pads and buy them in bulk. Currently tally is about 20 of these in my cupboard!

I use yellow legal pads for writing first drafts of books, scripts, podcasts and videos. I also write out all of my Keynote presentations in long hand - as I advise in the book Zero To Keynote. It's a way of not just remembering - but never forgetting.

Little Red Notebook - goals and dreams

This was a Christmas gift from my middle son - and it's a special notebook for that reason. It became my stupidly titled "Dreams to reality" book in which I articulate goals, dreams and hopes - with ideally the potential to then bring these to life.

The notebook, I believe, was purchased in TKMaxx.

Journal - thoughts and emotions

My journal is a cheapish notebook from Amazon - a NIMIRO journal. It's a non-dated book which means I don't have blank pages if I don't journal everyday, which is what happens when you use a regular diary.

It's got lovely paper, a lot of paper and a decent real-estate being A5 in size.

It was advertised as being leather but it's not. No problem. Great notebook for journalling. Was very impressed with this.

I've done a post on the benefits of journalling before, here.

Collins Ledger - a life log

This is a new habit for me and one I am thoroughly enjoying - creating a ledger of my day. In a nutshell, I use this superb Collins Ledger book which is designed for managing money in/out etc. I do track money in and money out - but I also log down any notable events from the day.

This is not a future or goal orientated notebook, it is merely for me to capture things of interest during the day; things that happened. It's different to a journal in that I am not working through my thoughts, ideas or emotions - instead, I am merely capturing, in a neutral way, stuff that happens.

It's a new habit and may do a post on it in the future - but for now - I am enjoying it and this Collins Ledger is superb quality - and that size is so unique and interesting.

It's almost akin to a commonplace book for life...maybe.

Ottergami Notebook - sketching and doodling

Final notebook is an Ottergami notebook for sketching and doodling. In the video I share some of the drawings and content.

This is my second Ottergami notebook - they are excellent for sure. Really very good notebook for drawing and sketching.

Be careful with really thick colouring pens - it can bleed - check out the video for the example.

2 - Pen Holders

Not all notebooks come with pen holders, so these stick on holders from Amazon do the trick nicely.

Just peel off the sticky back and stick to your notebook - works a treat. These were £4.99 for 10 pen loop holders as they are called. Bargain.

3 - Pencils

I tend to use pencils for 97% of my writing. As such I fall back to two types of pencils.

The first is the rOtring Tikky 0.7 mechanical pencil. It's got a lovely weight and feel to it, can take any sort of lead replacement and even has a little eraser under the lid.

Secondly, for my draft writing or anything that requires speed of writing, I use Staedtler Noris school pencils. These things are ace. Easy to find due to the yellow colouring - and long lasting. I buy them in bulk, and after the boys have stolen most of them, I'm left with a few of my own.

4 - Fountain (Ink) Pens

My co-host on Stationery Freaks, Helen, has millions of fountain pens (I may be exaggerating) but I only use two.

I have a lovely Waterman Fountain Pen that my wife bought me many many years ago. I use this for writing the thank you letters that I post inside of every purchase of Zero To Keynote book - and for general posh letter writing (which I don't do too much of!). This pen is refilled using an ink pot.

But mainly I use a cheap parker fountain pen which uses standard ink cartridges. It was super cheap but is actually really nice to write with and is fuss free with the cartridge system. It's got a nice weight and the flow of ink is pretty uniform and smooth.

5 - RapEsco Pencil Sharpener

With pencils featuring so much in my stationery usage, it makes sense to use a decent pencil sharpener. Step forward the RapEsco pencil sharpener windy thing - over the top, not very portable and style over substance, but it is lovely.

6 - Tape and Dispenser

An unsung hero and often something that goes unnoticed, is the humble sellotape. I use it for wrapping gifts or books, for sticking my fairy lights to the shelves and for keeping the pesky door closed on my old writing bureau.

Always on a dispenser. Always. I bought this dispenser here.

7 - Colouring Pens and Pencils

I like to add colour to my drawings and my Learning Notes.

I use some ink based twin tip pens, with a marker tip on one end, and a fine liner on the other. They are heavy on the ink and bleed through pages - so I use them carefully. As you'll see in the video I ruin the first few pages of my new Ottergami notebook!

But my main go to for colour, are these awesome oil based colouring pencils. The actual pencils seem to have some magical lacquer coating on them - as they are very pleasing to use indeed. The ones I use are Art and Fly colouring pencils

8 - Canvas Bags

With all of this stationery there is need to store it, organise it and carry it. That's why I bought these amazing little canvas bags.

As you can see each bag has a dedicated use - written on the side of the bag.

They have been amazing - very durable and extremely practical. Around £17 for four bags and they can also be used for tools and other goodies.

9 - Ruler

An everyday, oft overlooked, item of stationery for me. Always a metal ruler, especially when I'm cutting anything using a scalpel.

I use this daily for carving off a portion of my Yellow Legal Pads for Cornell Note taking, and for cutting the brown paper used to wrap the Zero To Keynote book for shipping.

What else is there to say about a ruler?

So, there you have my 9 items of stationery as a stationery freak. As mentioned, this is not just about a weird obsession with stationery, it's about the potential that I can unleash, the joy, the peace of disconnecting and the productivity that I gain from a well organised system of analogue goodness.

What would be in your top 9 list?

And yes, it is weird to have a top 9 list - there were original 10, I think, but for some reason I missed something out of the script - hence then the video, and only realised when editing that only had 9. I should have made better notes!