Actual Items Used by the Author for This Article

The Unexpectedly Effective Motivational Power of a Pocket Notebook and Brush Pen

Stop doomscrolling and get on with your life.

I feel old this morning.

It’s to be expected; we spent all day yesterday packing up our house, preparing for movers coming later in the week. At age 53 I’m long past the novelty-and-excitement phase of moving; I’m much more in the “can we give it away? Can we throw it away? Why do I have so much stuff?” mindset.

So this morning, joints aching from a night on a mattress on the floor and an early-morning wet walk with the dog, I realized I also needed to write.

And I really didn’t want to.

So I checked on the latest from Ukraine. And read articles about note-taking. And articles about how to write viral articles and how to make writing articles easy.

None of it was working. I just scrolled and clicked and scrolled and clicked, feeling more and more lethargic and dull.

Finally my health reminded me: I had to take my thyroid meds. I went to my backpack to pull out the little pill vial — and found it.

The Fudenosuke brush pen from Tombow that a productivity buddy had gifted me during a secret Santa last year.