There’s been a lot of talk about rising prices in the pen world and what it means for collectors and the hobby as a whole. For me, the increases mean an even heavier focus on something I’ve been working on for a while: using the stuff I already have. Certainly, it’s increased my appreciation for what I have been able to acquire.
However, with a full-time pharmacy IT job, Kaleidocraft, and a family, sometimes my time constraints get in the way of me actually taking time to use my things. So, I wanted to share some of the strategies I’ve been trying to use more of the things I love.
1) Invest in Storage that Prioritizes Visibility
This is the strategy that gave me the idea for this post. Last year, some of the only money I invested into my stationery collection was changing the way I store my fountain pen collection.
In the past, my fountain pens were stored in IKEA cabinets like these:
Now they live here:
It’s a small change, but somehow having my pens visible has really changed the way I use them. Anytime I’m at my desk, they are top of mind. I enjoy seeing them and remembering the different stories behind them as I go throughout my day. Adding this set-up has been some of the best money I’ve spent on a stationery-related purchase in a while.
The other item that I’ve been using for a long time is this wooden tray that sits right in front of my keyboard. Having a majority of my inked pens stored here on this tray, and nearly my entire collection stored on my desk a few feet away, has been one of the biggest ways I’ve increased my stationery use recently.
2) Make Rules for Yourself
Sometimes my brain needs some self-imposed limits either to motivate myself or to overcome overwhelm.
One of the rules I’ve given myself is limiting my ink purchases until I’ve re-assessed my current collection and actually know what colors I have. That’s a big ask. I’m taking one color family at a time, and I’ve only completed two color families so far. I better get on it if I want to buy ink at the pen shows that are quickly approaching! Otherwise you will see me searching for yellow and red inks only. 😬
For overcoming overwhelm, one of the best decisions I made last year was to make my Plotter limited to a specific purpose.
Business notes for Kaleidocraft go into my Plotter. Not in whatever notebook I see, not on random pieces of paper…in my Plotter.
My Plotter is my most portable notebook and fits in the fanny pack I carry pretty much anytime I leave the house, so there is no excuse for not having it. It goes with me everywhere, so it is always available. Fellow business owners will know-ideas and forgotten to-dos and panic moments always happen at the most inconvenient times. Write it down in my Plotter and move on for now…rinse, repeat.
3) Break the Rules
Now that we’ve made the rules-let’s break them. Making the Plotter exclusively for Kaleidocraft business notes has been helpful, but I quickly realized I needed some section of that notebook to be a catch-all. Since the Plotter is the notebook that goes with me everywhere, I’m bound to need to write non-business things down sometimes.
So I changed the rules.
I added a section at the end of my Plotter that is a “catch-all.” Anything goes in that section, but anything does not go in the rest of the notebook. It gives me a space when I need to jot things down but keeps it separate from my business notes. This is one of the benefits of a ring-based system. Another benefit? I can remove those notes whenever I please so the notebook returns to its business-only purpose.
If your system isn’t working, don’t wait until next month or next year to fix it! Change things up to make them work for you as many times as you need to get something in place that actually works for you.
4) Lower the Stakes
This one has been talked about a lot, but it warrants repeating because I still have a hard time getting myself to accept this some days.
It’s time to lower the stakes for using your nicest things. That fancy notebook or paper or pen isn’t doing you any good or bringing you any joy just sitting around.
My fanciest notebook has some very not Instagram-worthy notes inside of it. I recently used my Col-o-ring giant pad for a very ugly, but very useful, mind map.
Last week, I got together some of the stationery I purchased on my trip to Japan…it’s been over 3 years since I went on that trip, and I’ve still been so hesitant to use this! But it brought me so much joy to get it back out and get using it… I had it hidden away for so long I almost forgot what I had gotten! Stationery from a once-in-a-lifetime trip does not belong hidden in my closet.
5) Assign Yourself Stationery Projects
Sometimes I need a reason to use things: a project or goal that I’m trying to achieve. It’s one of the reasons I first started blogging about stationery back in the day with Inkpothesis. It’s fun to have a specific task to complete sometimes.
For example, it’s been a long time since I’ve used as much stationery as I did in the month of December last year preparing this post about Inkvent. That was a huge project to take on, but I loved having an excuse to play with inks and other stationery every chance I got that month.
You don’t need a blog to do this: swatch all your inks of a certain brand or color in one place, do a week-long challenge where you only use a single pen, try to use at least one sticker a day for an entire month. If you aren’t finding natural reasons to use your things…create the reasons!
6) Think About Habits You Already Have in Place
While the first five strategies are things I’ve been doing for a while, the next five are new to me and things I’ve been trying while preparing this post.
The first of those is pretty simple: incorporate your stationery use into your everyday, normal life in whatever way you can. This is the way.
I am the type of person that sometimes struggles to form new habits. Even if it’s things that I love to do-like journaling, for example. One of the best ways I’ve found to start new habits is to treat them as add-ons. Do them while you are doing some other habit that you are already successfully completing.
I drink coffee pretty much every single day. Then I sit down to begin my workday, usually going over my email. So, I’ve decided to make stationery a non-negotiable part of starting my day.
There are no rules for what I have to write specifically. It can be as simple as notating the pen and ink I’m starting my day with, adding a sticker or washi to my Hobonichi page for the day, or just starting a to-do list. But it’s non-negotiable. Coffee and stationery. I mean really, name a better way to start a day?
7) Create & Use Mini Collections
In a way, this is something I’ve been doing a while- typically when I travel. Traveling forces me to pick out a small set of stationery to travel with me and use that exclusively during my time away from home.
But why not do the same at home?
Sometimes the amount of stationery in my collection is overwhelming, and in the moment I rarely take the time to sort through it all to pick what I want to use. Picking out a small set helps me know what exactly I should be using. Some ideas for themed collections that I want to try include: using only stationery of a certain color, using only stationery below a certain price point, and making seasonal themes.
This week-I’m using all my pink stationery. It’s going to be a fun one.
8) Make a “Use Me First” Area
Sometimes I’m hesitant to use the last bit of an ink or sticker sheet, etc., but I’m changing my perspective. Who doesn’t need to clear more room for stationery to enter the collection…so let’s make some.
I cleared the top drawer of my Ikea cabinets referenced above, and then went around to all my stationery and found items that were nearly gone. Now they all live together and are easily accessible-it’s my “use me first” collection. I’m hoping this helps me actually use things up!
It’s like spring cleaning…but the fun kind.
9) Track What You Use
This idea came to be based on one of our recent product launches. You’ll have to forgive me for the self-promo here, but you also absolutely don’t need this product to adopt this strategy.
When I saw one of our designers release a file for a book tracker, it got my mind spinning on stationery uses. People track the books they read, the movies they watch, and the miles they run-why not the pens we’ve inked and the stickers we’ve used?
This has been a fun way for me to fight the “I don’t want to use it, I need to save it” mentality. Somehow the tiny serotonin boost I get from upping my tracker by one seems to offset some of my hesitancy to use my things.
I know a lot of people are using this tracker to track how many pens they currently have inked, but for me I’m using it to track the number of pens I’ve inked for the entire year. It’ll be fun to see what we get to by the end of the year.
10) Put Your Stuff Where You Will Use It
Confession: I’m supposed to be doing the 5-year journal this year and I’ve done a terrible job keeping up.
But I haven’t given up on this. I’m pretty determined to start this.
So the latest strategy I’m using; I’ve moved my 5-year journal to my bedside table.
I see it every night. There is no forgetting. And most nights I have the time and energy to spend five minutes jotting down 1–2 sentences about my day. Here’s to hoping this will stick!
Those are the ten strategies I’m trying right now. Hope it sparked some ideas for you, and I’d love to hear what strategies you think are helpful!
I really like the clear pen storage case you have. Can you share where you got it or how you put it together? Thank you!
Very good advice. I have tried the ‘put it where you’ll see it/use it’ only run out of desk space (oops). I have made a serious point of not inking up more pens than I plan to use in a month, yet I still end up with more pens inked than I would use (and I always have two inked for business, one black, one blue, the others for stories). I also am trying (trying) to stop buying journals and paper unless there is a specific reason for it – bullet journal every year for the year, and no more! No more A4s. No more A7s. And ink. No more ink unless the bottle is empty (or on its last refill – not doing well on this, bought two new colours last week).