Stationery Pulse: Keep your hands busy while you learn

October 05, 2026

New here? The Stationery Pulse is a short weekly letter for people who still think on paper. Every Monday I round up what's worth reading in the analog world: pens, notebooks, planners, and the people using them well, then close with whatever's new from Planning Engineered. The full gear catalog lives on the Shelf, linked at the bottom. One letter, once a week. That's it.

If I'm watching a video, I'm constantly writing down notes, bullet points, and lists, creating diagrams, making sketches, anything that keeps my hands busy while I'm learning. When you're reading a book or watching a video, take a couple of minutes to grab a pen or a pencil and some paper, and engage with the content: scribble, write notes, maybe contradict and challenge the ideas. You're keeping your hands engaged because that keeps your brain listening for cues from the video or the book. When I read, I keep a green and a red highlighter for the things I agree with and the things I don't, plus a pen to mark up the book or write notes. This week's links are a good place to find a notebook method, a pen, or a pencil you'll actually want to pick up.

What's new in analog

Sunday Reading for October 4, 2026 (Gentleman Stationer): This is Gentleman Stationer's weekly link roundup, pointing to Doodlebud's top 10 fountain pen gripes, a Scrively interview on what makes a good notebook, a Profolio Oasis notebook review, and a preview of Penultimate Inks. Open it if you want a week of pen and paper blogs sorted for you, since the notebook interview already takes the stance that the pen and ink matter as much as the paper.
100 Simple Ideas to Help You Get Started in a Notebook! (Gare the Bear): If you keep staring at a blank notebook, or you write regularly but have hit a slump, this video hands you 100 things to put in it. It starts small with to-do lists, supply lists, grocery lists and a handwriting test, then moves to writing out what you see, hear, feel, taste and smell.
September 2026 Planner Update & 2027 Hobonichi Haul ☺️ (The Coffee Monsterzco): The creator is showing a September planner and journal update plus a 2027 Hobonichi haul, starting with a Hobonichi Weeks in the Liberty Fabrics Floral Remedy cover, a dark navy with florals. Watch it if you're picking a 2027 cover and want to see the Liberty texture on camera before you commit. Shop (affiliate): Hobonichi Techo.
Hands-on with the New Mongol Pencil, Plus My Current Top 5 Woodcase Pencils for Everyday Writing (Gentleman Stationer): The Mongol pencil brand has quietly come back, and Gentleman Stationer compares the new version against a vintage Mongol 482 and a Faber-Castell American. It's a good read for the history alone, since the original sat between cheap school pencils and premium ones like the Blackwing, and the piece asks whether the revival earns the name.
The Only Notebook Method You'll Ever Need (Lilla Björn Stationery): Business in the front, party in the back: the "mullet method" splits one notebook into dates, appointments, habit trackers, goals and weekly to-dos up front, with mind maps, doodles, swatches, stickers and meeting notes flipped to the back. It's a short, so you can steal the setup in less time than it takes to find a fresh notebook.
Artistic Excellence? Benu Tribute Matisse (Figboot on Pens): David reviews the Benu Tribute Matisse, a pen in Benu's tribute series made as an homage to Henri Matisse, covering its parts, measurements, size comparisons, a writing sample and what he likes and doesn't. It's a model he hadn't reviewed before, and he calls its flair noticeable but not over the top, which is useful if Benu's louder pens put you off.
Ink Preview: Penulitmate Inks (Well-Appointed Desk): Titanium makes Penultimate Inks, named after D&D characters like Paladin, Barbarian and Cleric, and the author met them at the Dallas Pen Show and bought five colors. The practical detail is in the swatches: Sorcerer has holographic shimmer, Rogue is a smooth dense black-ish, and the author's discounted Cleric bottle came out much brighter than the one on the maker's site.
How Journaling Helped Me Overcome Health Anxiety (Chad Everyday): Chad Everyday tells how journaling helped with health anxiety that began after the sudden death of their mother from a cardiac event in November 2018, after therapy, yoga, acupuncture and essential oils hadn't helped. The video opens with a heads-up that parts of the story could be triggering, and it's worth your time if you or someone you know is stuck on the fact that a doctor saying "you are fine" isn't enough.
Schon DSGN Ultem Amber Fountain Pen (AlexanderWrites): The Schon DSGN pen in Ultem caught AlexanderWrites' eye when a nib grinder at the Pacific Northwest Pen Show used them as tester pens, and the reviewer then tracked down its maker, Ian Schon. At $250 with a standard number six nib instead of gold, the price struck them as steep next to a Lamy 2000, so this is a review that starts from skepticism rather than hype.
What Pirates Taught Me About Journaling (Steven Foster): Steven Foster went down a rabbit hole on pirates' writing, then landed on St. Patrick and the two letters he wrote after being shaped by two pirate raids. Open it if you think journaling history is all diaries and philosophers, because this is a stranger and more specific angle than that.