Why do many people like to buy new stationery so much?

Pens and notes make us feel more organized and satisfied, especially for the good September

For many people, September is a time of new beginnings and new resolutions, not only because we usually go back to work after the summer holidays, but also because we remember the time when we went to school. According to psychologists, scientists, and journalists who have dealt with it, and also for these reasons, some people like to buy new stationery a lot: pens, markers, pencils, stickers, notebooks, scissors, or a new diary helps make us feel organized, stimulate some creativity, and remind us Also by the times when life might have been a little easier or we were younger.

One of the basic habits of those who start school or university again at the end of summer is to buy new notes and everything needed to resume the school year. It’s a thing, judging by what specialty stores and nearly 3 million Instagram posts say with the hashtag Stationery addict (“Stationery addicts”), many adults seem to do too, even if school time is long past for them, and in general the relationship with writing is becoming increasingly digital.

Writer Dakota Duncan, who spoke about the subject in an article entitled “Confessions of a Stationery Addict” on modeThe “colours, smells, slight variations” of pens, pencils, scissors, erasers, etc. evoke A feeling happyWhich often limits the feeling of lightness.” Author Beth Bruno is coming home with new stationery.Allow “Leave the past behind and start over.” “Putting the old things aside and organizing the things that are relevant to life now.”

The idea is that using a new pen or an original notebook can symbolize a fresh start and new possibilities.

According to Swedish psychologist Nils Ek, co-founder of mental well-being platform Remente, buying a new planner, opening a new notebook, or even just wielding a new pencil can give adults the same “peace of mind” feeling they otherwise would. Back to school as a kid. Speaking toindependent“A new notebook and new pens can do that,” Eck said take meaning “A new year of hard work and new efforts” to achieve something, whether it’s the first day at school or the return to the office, or even the intention to start a new sport or hobby.

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Many of us adopt certain habits from childhood, such as writing a to-do list every morning: they are small gestures that help us stay focused and motivated. The behaviors we learn at this age often remain ingrained into adulthood, which is why we are likely to continue to reproduce them decades later. The classic example is using diaries or planners broken down into days, weeks, or months to help keep things under control.

In this sense, dividing the year into small blocks of time, as was done in school with classes or semesters, helps make it “more manageable” and makes our goals seem “something achievable,” Ek continues. It’s kind of what Bruno means when He writes That the stickers she scatters around the house reminding herself of what to do makes her feel “competent” and “can make things work.” For Anya Hindmarch, who designs business accessories, arriving at a business meeting with a folder containing the documents she needs and a pen, pencil and eraser is “very spontaneous fun”, something “It makes her feel right».

“It’s a ritual to buy a new pencil case,” said Rachel Taylor, an expert in cognitive neuroscience It can be therapeuticAccording to him, it is explained above all by the manner in which we were created. Among other things, Taylor points out, September is “rooted in our brains as a period of transition”: in ancient times it involved preparing for crops and the advent of winter, while in modern times it refers specifically to the return to school. Speaking to financial timesAs humans, Taylor explains, “we are programmed to need important events, dates, and rituals as starting points and ending points for our intentions, goals, and aspirations.”

In short, new stationery can help satisfy our desire for order and help put the activities of the months into perspective.

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Eck and Taylor note that another central component of the new stationery fascination is nostalgia. Buying things we bought as children can remind us of times in the past when we weren’t necessarily happier, but most likely had fewer thoughts and less responsibility.

Then there are other aspects. Al reporter guardian Lucy Mangan He claims Pens, crayons, notebooks, and sketchbooks motivate us to be more creative than we normally are (Bruno notes that the creative spirit is present in all of us, even if it is dormant). They are also generally inexpensive, so you can buy them for some fun even if you don’t really need them. Writing or drawing in a notebook or diary can also help reduce stress in the daily context where we are always surrounded by smartphones, computers and screens. In short, the new stationery can help “detoxify” the flow of notifications and information that constantly spur our brain.

For Carol Hoepscher, president of the writing and drawing products brand Caran d’Ache, the interest in stationery is also linked to the fact that it “calls on our senses”: sight and touch, in particular, but also hearing, from the click of a fountain pen making the sound of the pencil rubbing against the paper while The drawing. And speaking of nostalgia, according to Hindmarch, one stationery set to make a comeback is the fountain pen. The designer has just opened a boutique in London in collaboration with the historic Japanese department store ItoyaWhich, thanks to its 18 floors devoted entirely to notebooks, pens and accessories of all kinds, in Tokyo has defined the “Cathedral of Stationery”. According to Hindmarch, ballpoint pens are much nicer than disposable ones, are better for the environment and have always been a very symbolic and much appreciated gift.

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