Getting things done

I’ve been in work for about twenty years now – marketing to be precise. Office bound, lots of meetings with clients and suppliers, multiple projects on the go along with lots of planning and endless lists of things to do. Everything has deadlines looming. Yet, I still seem to lack commitment to a time and task management system. This is a great cause of consternation. Particularly, as my wife points out, I don’t seem to have the best of memories. Though, it does seem capable of remembering lots of obscure facts about fountain pens. I’ve been through lots of phases; I’ve used nothing, day books, Time System™, PCs, a Palm VI, an iPaq, a Blackberry (currently mandated by the company I work for), Black and Red. I’ve read '7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen Covey and lately I’ve even read ‘Getting Things Done' by David Allen to see what all the fuss is about. It has helped, but I’m still not there. For most of the last ten years I have used a black, rubber Filofax type thing (supported by the various gadgets). But the way I use it does change too. Sometimes it contains a written to-do list, sometimes the to-do list is on a ‘device’ and sometimes, like now, that to-do list is printed out and in my organiser. I use it with Filofax pads, and the paper seems very fountain pen friendly. The thing is, I want to write. I want to use my fountain pens and a great note pad. I want to look back and see what I’ve been doing. It works for my personal life, so why not at work. Maybe as David Allen says it comes down to confidence (a huge abbreviation on my part of David’s writings). Confidence in the system you use. Its pay-day today so maybe I am going to take a trip and by myself a Rhodia pad. What a great excuse. Now where was that book on Procrastination I said I would read.

Got an idea

Want some small notebooks? Then have a look at these "idea pads".

Just 20 unlined pages and a simple card, woodprint cover. Saddle stitched (staped) and measuring just 120mm x 80mm, they're very cute and made of a nice bonded, fountain pen friendly paper. I got them from Magma books (£4 for thr set of 4) in Clerkenwell, but they're also available online from http://www.sortdesign.com/

Sort Design is the Society of Revisionist Typograhers. Typography being a subject close to my heart, and they specialise in Letterpress printing of stationery if you need to send out some wedding invitations!

Hmmm. I seem to be doing more paper collecting than pens at the moment.

Field Notes to go

After writing about them a little while back, I’ve finally managed to lay my hands on some Field Notes notebooks. I found them at a little store near to where I work in Clerkenwell.
View Larger Map The shop is called Magma, a design bookstore that also caters for the funky objects that funky graphic designers’ desire. They stock a small but random range of obscure and stylish notebooks: notebooks for the left-handed, lined at an angle; some covered in old wall paper; do it yourself versions; pre-doodled; 50s and Japanese styled exercise books; and so on. The Field Notes were £8.95 for three. I also picked up some ‘Idea pads’, but more on them later. The Field Notes themselves looked smaller at first than I imagined. But checking them against my pocket Moleskine, they are in fact the same height and width. It must be the lack of thickness and a soft cover that make them seem so. First impressions? A little less impressive than in real life than the images I have seen online, but still neat. Paper thinner than I thought too, in fact, I do wonder if it will hold fountain pen ink without bleeding through. I will have to test them later with a variety of inks and pens. Otherwise I might just have to treat myself to a new pencil to go with them :-) Review to follow…

Field notes notebooks

A little while ago whilst browsing The Fountain Pen Network website, I saw mention of ‘Field Notes’ branded notebooks. A small softback ‘memorandum book’, which I quite liked the look of. As with many things though, it is a case of only being able to admire such things at a distance. Being able to import products from America or Japan can often be so expensive in postage that it is just not worth it.

Apparently they are inspired by agricultural memo books in the US. A little promotional item given out by fertiliser companies and the like. They’re 48 pages of squared paper in a handy pocket size – 3 /12” x 5 ½” – and saddle stitched (stapled). Available in packs of three. Well, it now seems there is a UK stockist, the Design Museum, and better still available (I think) in their brick and mortar shop in London on Shad Thames (SE1 2YD). You can find them on the Design Museum shop website.

View Larger Map

At some point I will have to pop across and buy some, and then hopefully when I find some time review them here. Addendum: It appears The Paperie has them in stock too.

Time flies

Its been a little while since my last post, work has been busy and I've been on holiday. We made our annual pilgrimage out to Turkey, and it always provides a good opportunity to spend some time writing in my journal. There is always the dilema of which pen to take too. What is the best travel solution and what do you need to consider for transporting ink and pens when having to endure airport security. I stuck to my old formula this time around, a Lamy Safari and some Lamy black cartidges. The pen being empty when I fly out to avoid any leaks due to cabin pressure changes. I keep the pen and catridge in a zip lock bag just to be on the safe side though. Check-in was a pain. The usual long wait associated with budget airlines. But, security was a breeze compared to previous trips, or so I thought. Security usually adds quite a bit of time to that required to get airside. It didn't help that we were travelling with our little boy for the first time. A real recipe for stress. Much to our relief, there were no queues though and we went straight through to the x-ray machine. My bags went through and immediately a security guard latched on to me. 'Would you come this way please sir'. 'Do you have any sharp objects in your bag?' My first thought was I am going to have to explain what a fountain pen is, what the ink cartridges are and my wife will be annoyed about the extra delays. But no, its my little boy's bottle and food they want me to test personally. Ah well. Coming back, I left a half empty ink cartridge in the pen and it did leak a little. But only into the cap. Nothong to worry about. A little bit of kitchen roll mopped up the offending ink. What was amusing though was I paid lots of attention and thought on the air pressure change affect on my pen, but not on my little boy's bottle in my hand luggage. One wet bag and one wet journal.

Finding ways to use a fountain pen

Once I started collecting fountain pens, I sought ways to use them, ways to add writing into to my everyday life. It didn't take me that long to consider writing a journal. In August 2006 I finally purchased a large Moleskine and put pen to paper. I picked the perfect time too. The coming months provided plenty of subject matter. I renovated a 1920s house, moved in, got married, had a fantastic honeymoon in the Maldives, got made redundant, got a new job, we became expectant parents and then in December 2007 became actual parents. The first book took just over a year to fill the 240 pages, and even though it is only recent history we have found ourselves looking back at "what did we do this day last year?" Some entries were only short, others are pages and pages of writing. The memory of writing itself is a pleasurable one too. I remember clearly sitting by a pool in the Maldives before dinner, watching the sun go down, sipping a cool beer after a hard day scuba diving then pulling out my Lamy Studio and putting memories of the experience to paper. The colours of the fish, the different species, the beauty of the flight of eagle rays. If you collect fountain pens and don't keep a journal, you should try it. Your journal might become a fond friend like mine.

Moleskine - my notebook and journal of choice

I think the Moleskine range of notebooks is like Marmite to fountain pen users. You either love them or hate them. Personally, I love them.

My latest Moleskine notebook alongside
my two everyday Lamy Safaris

Many fountain pen users complain of problems with the paper - ink bleeding through the page and feathering. But I have yet to experience either of these, and I have used quite a range of inks and pens with them. I admit though I have not used a thick nib with one though. But why would you want to.

Why do I like them? They're pretty compact, they lie flat when opened, I like the size, the paper is slightly tinted and just the right thickness, and I like the range of lined, squared and plain paper. The lines and squares are just the right distance apart for me. Not wide lined, but narrow.

There is one factor that I don't like though - the spine's tend to split. Time to get the Duct tape out again with this one. Though, it does add a little character I suppose.

Spine's can present a problem

But I think they're great for
when out and about