Rituals, Routines & Stationery: Why the tactile nature of stationery can help us with rituals
Stationery FreaksShow Notes
In this episode of Stationery Freaks, Rob and Helen dive into the world of rituals and routines, exploring how our favourite stationery tools (along with time and space) can transform tasks into meaningful, mindful moments.
Helen discovers other writers are now using Blackwing pencils in her writing class. Rob spent so little time choosing which notebook to use for a business book he's writing (the Rhodia A4 notebook) - that he wonders what is wrong. Rob and Helen also receive a very awesome poem in Zine format from previous guest, Richard. Very cool - check out the newsletter to see photos of it. Check out the interview with Richard about all things Commonplacing. Rob and Helen discuss the difference between routines (habitual efficiency) and rituals (intentional, mindful practices), and share tips for using stationery to create focused, productive, and inspiring workflows.
Also covered : Hobonichi planners and the art of intentional notebook selection + staggering shipping costs! Mark + Fold notebooks for capturing learning and ideas Typewriters for slow writing How music - from Helen's Gregorian chants and heavy metal, and Rob's HipHop and EDM - can trigger creative flow and rituals (some playlists in the newsletter!) The ideas, thoughts and psychology behind ritual, habit-stacking, and productivity If you love the feel of ink on paper, the smell of fresh notebooks, the way the pages turn and the joy of creating meaningful routines and rituals with stationery, give this episode a listen. There is also ramble chat about tea and coffee, secret hidden rooms and tunnels, and books about squirrels. Why not check out the newsletter too - https://stationeryfreaks.substack.com/
More from Stationery Freaks
After a few months away — and a very welcome "petition of one" from Stacy in Florida — Rob and Helen are back. Rob has been building a public commonplace: twenty-five years of learning, typed onto index cards (possibly breaking his typewriter in the process) and slowly taking over his studio wall. Helen has been redistributing her notebook collection to a room of grateful authors, which may or may not count as cheating in the great notebook challenge. See original hoarding cast here and a revisit to the challenge of using notebooks here. Along the way: why old publishing offices were built around attention rather than productivity, a typewritten daily planning ritual that's quietly replaced Todoist, the strange magnetism of Midori paper, a beautiful Japanese storage haul, giving away index cards to parents and why the whole world seems to be drifting back to analogue. It's like old times. Which is rather the point of the cast. It's good to be back. If you'd like to see images, and more about the show - check out the companion newsletter to this episode. https://stationeryfreaks.substack.com/
In this episode of Stationery Freaks, Rob and Helen dig into the messy, essential world of scrap notes: desk pads, Post-its, legal pads, envelopes, voice memos, and the “grab whatever’s nearby” capture habit. They explore the real question beneath the stationery: what’s the process for turning a quick note into something useful — and what happens when your capture system becomes a pile of open loops.
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