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Hello and welcome to the Planner
Pals Podcast, a podcast hosted 

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by two true planner pals. 
My name is Mark and I go by 

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marker pages. 
And I'm Jess Ojasi, Karen, and 

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today's episode is an exciting 
one because the topic was 

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selected officially by the 
Planner Pals community over on 

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YouTube. 
This being in particular our 

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channel membership, where if you
join up, you can get early 

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access to our videos. 
You get them sometimes at least 

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a week in advance, maybe a 
little more depending on how 

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ahead we get. 
So if you wanted to join up, be 

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sure to hit the join button 
beside our name over on YouTube 

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if you're watching over there. 
And if you're on Spotify, jump 

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over there. 
Get episodes early. 

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We'd love to have you. 
Today's episode is a really 

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great topic and we really thank 
the Planner Pals for such a good

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one, which is all about planner 
essentials. 

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What are the things that we 
cannot plan without? 

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This isn't just saying like I 
can't plan without it, but it 

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would be a nice to have like 
these are just like bare minimum

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for us as we think about how we 
plan and what we do. 

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So Jess, let's go ahead and get 
started. 

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You've done a great job of 
organizing these episodes into 

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themes and areas, and the first 
one is notebooks. 

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So go ahead, kick it in. 
What is the absolute must have 

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essential for you when it comes 
to notebooks and planning? 

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Yeah, definitely. 
Because you know, in thinking 

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about essentials that really 
bare minimum kind of thing like 

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cool, need something to write 
on, need something to write 

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with. 
So I figured we'd start with 

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write on. 
As somebody who does prefer to 

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set up their own planner, I am 
looking for a notebook that 

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doesn't have any kind of pre 
printed stuff in it. 

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My personal preference is dot 
grid, but I also wouldn't be 

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upset with just a grid notebook.
If it was the only thing 

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available to me, I'd probably 
use it. 

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But where I do get a bit just 
nickety and a little bit 

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particular is the actual paper 
itself. 

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So an essential for me is one 
that has, you know, that kind of

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like bright white or maybe even 
a cream colored paper. 

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But it can't be a colored paper 
or like a really heavily 

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pigmented paper, like a dark 
blackout type thing. 

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Because if I have to write with 
a white gel pen, I I won't plan.

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It won't happen. 
I feel like anybody who has ever

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done that, I give them all of 
the flowers because the 

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dedication that it takes to 
write in a blackout notebook, it

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is there. 
It is. 

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It is crazy, but I feel you on a
lot of those things. 

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My essentials when it comes to 
the notebooks are almost 

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everything that you mentioned 
because we'll just kind of group

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these all together into the same
thing. 

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We know that we have similar 
taste. 

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I would say that the one thing I
would like to have, even though 

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I said it's like an essential, 
but page numbers I think are 

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really kind of essential when 
you don't have them. 

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Running them in is something 
that I'll just do myself. 

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I will never ever in my entire 
life use those little page 

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number stickers. 
I think that that is not not for

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me for sure, but everything else
works out. 

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You know, the one thing that you
mentioned about the ivory paper,

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you know, I'm always kind of 
iffy on that one there 

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personally because I feel like 
especially taking photos of it, 

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it's like, I love that Christmas
of the bright white of like the 

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page when it's like that. 
So like not having to overly 

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edit it. 
Have you used any notebooks 

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recently that had the ivory 
paper? 

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Recently, definitely not, but I 
think that, you know, if we're 

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coming back to that idea of 
essential, for me, it's just 

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essential that I can actually 
read what I've written so 

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heavily preferenced towards a 
bright white because I like the 

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way my pens look better. 
I like the contrast between my 

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like black ink pen versus the 
paper itself. 

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Like you said, for taking 
photos, it is, I guess I just 

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prefer the way the image comes 
out if I don't have to go and 

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like color corrected and such. 
You know, it's a little harder 

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to get the white balance right 
if you have a cream kind of 

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colored paper. 
But I do appreciate if I'm ever 

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working in direct sunlight, 
which is not often because I'm 

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pretty sure I'm like half 
removed from a vampire the sun. 

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But if you are working in direct
sunlight, it is a lot easier on 

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the eyes if you have a slightly 
tinted paper tone in especially 

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that kind of like warmer 
direction. 

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I just don't do that very often.
So I wouldn't consider ivory be 

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essential. 
I wouldn't consider bright white

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to be essential, but it's 
definitely a preference. 

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I would say also for me with the
paper type itself, definitely 

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has to be fountain pen friendly,
even though I'm just finding 

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more and more and more like 
people can write that on their 

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notebooks, but I don't think 
they actually test it 

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themselves. 
Because I've had a few that have

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been like fountain pen friendly.
And I'm like, does that just 

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mean that I can write in your 
notebook with a fountain pen? 

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Like I can do that in any 
notebook technically, but really

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paying attention to the bleed 
through and the ghosting and 

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when the bleed through 
specifically is like how it 

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bleeds through. 
I didn't realize that was a 

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thing until I compared my 
current journal, which is a 

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hemlock and oak to an Archer and
olive notebook. 

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And while they tend to have, 
well, I'm not say similar paper,

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but the way they react to 
fountain pens is different. 

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Where like the arch and olive 
paper kind of like blotches and 

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cut, I'm going to say pools, but
it like feathers out, but it's 

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with the ghosting slash bleed 
through. 

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So it's on the other side of the
paper and you get kind of this 

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like feathering. 
Whereas what I've noticed with 

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the hemlock and O, while it's 
not 160 GSM paper, I think it's 

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like 12140 or something like 
that, you just see where the 

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lines are. 
So it's not like soaking in and 

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feathering out. 
I'm just coming to kind of 

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accept it. 
I prefer not to have ghosting in

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my notebooks, but I think that I
have to slowly accept it where 

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it happens with the fountain 
pens, just because I like 

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writing with fountain pen. 
So it's kind of like a necessary

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evil, but just making sure the 
paper can handle it is kind of 

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important to me and really just 
essential at this point. 

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Whereas before it was like, oh, 
I like to write with fountain 

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pens in my notebook, now I just 
do it all the time. 

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So like it has to perform, it 
has to do well. 

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Yeah. 
And I think that's, you know, if

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we're thinking about the term 
essential type thing and taking 

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it from that standpoint of like 
this is the must, this is like 

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the bare minimum type of a deal.
I also feel feel like the 

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essential category will 
definitely change over time as 

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you, you know, get further in 
with your planning, as you 

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understand your preferences more
and whatnot. 

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Because I know that earlier in 
my journey, one of the things 

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that I came to have as an 
essential was a thicker paper 

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notebook because I didn't love 
the ghosting or bleeding. 

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I liked taking photos of my 
notebook to show on Instagram or

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whatever, which are very like, 
you know, aesthetic forward 

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platform meant that, you know, 
having ghosting and bleeding in 

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there didn't really lead to the 
best quality images and bus 

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engagement on the posts and all 
of that type of a thing. 

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Nowadays with my planning, given
I am tending in a kind of more 

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minimalist, streamlined kind of 
direction, I don't think it's as

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essential. 
But for the enjoyment factor of 

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planning, I definitely prefer to
have thicker paper. 

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So my tendency will always be to
pick up 160 and because I have 

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the options in that category to 
grab 160, it's going to be the 

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one that I go towards. 
Like there are enough different 

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notebook brands and companies 
and such that are producing 160 

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that I can and usually find one 
pretty easily, even if it is a 

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little bit more expensive 
compared to something that is, I

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don't know, an El cheapo 
notebook from the dollar store. 

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Not that I even have the dollar 
store, but you get the idea. 

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You know what you mean? 
I mean, before I started using 

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fountain pens, like I remember 
switching from the Loystroms 

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over to Archer and Olive and it 
being like this glorious 

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awakening because I was like, 
wait, I can write in a journal 

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and I don't see through the 
page. 

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And that's when I was using not 
fountain pens. 

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So gel pens and other ink pens 
where that wasn't, it doesn't 

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typically. 
So it's just funny, like for all

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of these years, I was in this 
beautiful, glorious space of not

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having to worry about it. 
And then I go ahead and start 

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writing with liquid ink out of a
fancy fountain pen. 

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And then I feel like I'm 
starting that all over again. 

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And then I'm like, on this 
search for the perfect notebook 

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that acts in a perfect way. 
It's just unrealistic for me. 

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So now it's just important to 
test it out, make sure that it 

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is working well. 
And then I'm like, yeah, OK, 

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we'll make this happen. 
Yeah, you're just going to get 

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Piper that's thicker and thicker
and thicker until you have like 

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a 2 notebook and you're like 
perfect. 

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I love this. 
I can't see anything through 

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this paper and I only have 10 
pages. 

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Gonna last you all of like 2 
weeks and 1/2 or something. 

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I'll make it work. 
I'll just get like a big like 

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one of those big like letter 
sized ones. 

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I don't know what they're 
called, like Ledger ones or 

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whatever where it's just like 
giant pages. 

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I'll just like cut a page into 
like 3 weeks at a time and we'll

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see how it works. 
I think that with the mention of

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the Ledger size, that's actually
a very important consideration 

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for me is definitely the size of
the notebook as well. 

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It's not necessarily something 
that I to be like the most 

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essential thing, like if I have 
something to write on I can do 

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my planning, but my preference 
will always tend towards 

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specific sizes, mainly being the
A5 and the square. 

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Though I'm kind of tempted to 
try my hand at a Travellers 

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again, I also do a lot of 
Basics. 

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The basics is an absolutely 
excellent size, especially for 

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three month planning. 
Do you have a preferred size for

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yours? 
I mean at this point now it 

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basically comes down to square 
and B5. 

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I think that just works best for
me. 

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I have a lot of a fives I have 
to at some point start like 

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using them up. 
You know, I think my big thing 

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was like, Oh my gosh, I'm using 
3 and 4 pages a week when I'm 

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using an A5 size. 
But now I'm like, go and do it 

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Mark, because like you'll just 
cut through those pages and 

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they'll cut through those 
notebooks a lot faster and just 

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kind of take down that inventory
a little bit. 

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I've been really, really good 
about not buying extra notebooks

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probably over the past like 6 
months or so. 

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So it's just one of those things
where like I'm looking, I'm 

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paying attention and I'm like 
very much aware of it now, but I

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will always, no matter what, 
especially like square is just 

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the perfect size for me. 
It's like right in between an A5

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and AB5 size, like perfectly 
matched inside of a nice little 

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perfectly square container. 
So you only have to figure out 

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like your line spacing for one 
side and it works for both. 

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It's fantastic. 
You know, I totally agree. 

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I do love the square size. 
I think the thing that has me 

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tempted to try Travelers again 
is just because of how I'm using

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the square size at the moment. 
And I've been finding that for a

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lot of my pages. 
I've been dividing them in half 

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vertically and I'm like, hey 
look, a travel is no. 

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So I'm like maybe that size 
would work for me? 

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I mean, I could, I guess if 
you're thinking about it that 

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way, it's just you're using 
multiple pages versus just 

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giving yourself that one page. 
That's what I really like about 

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the square is like I can fit an 
entire week onto one page versus

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2. 
And then if I need a little 

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extra, I have it versus again, 
like I said, if I was using 

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travelers and even A5, I know it
would be multiple pages. 

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But I don't know, I think after 
this next bullet journal, when 

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I'm finished with this one, I 
definitely need to maybe just 

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like go with it. 
Be like, yeah, who cares Mark, 

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if one journal doesn't last you 
all year, like just use them. 

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And somebody who hasn't had a 
full journal for one year and 

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like ever, I think if we're 
thinking everyday journal, my 

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everyday journals will last like
maximum 2 per year if I squeeze 

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six months into it. 
But at the moment I'm going 

224
00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:19,440
with, at least in my mind, I'm 
going with A1 journal per 

225
00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:21,960
quarter type thing, so three 
months per. 

226
00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:24,520
But I think that with the square
that I've got at the moment, I'm

227
00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:26,920
going to have a lot of pages 
leftover if I do that. 

228
00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:29,880
So I'm kind of rethinking that 
at the moment, like, oh, do I 

229
00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:32,520
just try and cram another couple
months and then because you've 

230
00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:35,000
been kind of laxed with the 
space you're using? 

231
00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:37,560
Or do we just move to a new one?
But then I feel like it's 

232
00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:39,520
wasteful and that you're also 
creating it. 

233
00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:41,880
I want to keep using it. 
It's a future made problem. 

234
00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:44,880
It definitely is something to 
think about early on. 

235
00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:48,200
I remember being like, I have to
fit an entire year into one 

236
00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:50,960
notebook. 
And then now I'm like, oh, it 

237
00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:53,880
might work out. 
I'm OK with this, you know, make

238
00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:55,840
it work. 
I think if I get into December 

239
00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:59,160
and I'm running out of pages, 
I'm figuring something else out.

240
00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:02,280
I won't start a new journal for 
like a month of a year. 

241
00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:04,960
But usually if it's like half or
I've even started like a new 

242
00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:07,320
journal, like September, like 
that still feels like there's a 

243
00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:10,360
lot left to the year so that I'm
not just like wasting the rest 

244
00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:12,240
of it. 
But it all depends, you know, 

245
00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:15,000
It's one of those things like I 
feel like a grown up planner now

246
00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,400
where it doesn't matter as much,
where I was very persnickety in 

247
00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:21,200
the past with it. 
Yeah, I find that I'm similar in

248
00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:23,640
the sense that I would really 
love to start a new journal with

249
00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:25,720
the new year. 
That's usually my preference. 

250
00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:27,520
Like if we get to November, 
December, I'm like I'm going to 

251
00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:29,320
make something work. 
I'm going to get real crafty 

252
00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:31,960
with the type of a deal. 
I have started a new planner in 

253
00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:34,800
September before, but in 
thinking about starting that, 

254
00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:37,440
I'm then very intentional about 
what kind of notebook I would 

255
00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:39,440
choose for it. 
I will intentionally choose one 

256
00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:42,360
that doesn't have like, you 
know, 192 pages or something 

257
00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:44,880
saying that I'm not going to be 
able to use up in that four 

258
00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:47,880
month period. 
I'll go for something like AB6 

259
00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:51,440
or an A5 with the lower page 
count or something like that. 

260
00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:54,360
In thinking about notebooks 
though, I feel like we all know 

261
00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:57,440
what the answer to this is going
to be, but preferred brands? 

262
00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:00,000
I mean preferred brands right 
now are Archer and Olive and 

263
00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:03,120
Hemlock and Oak just because. 
I mean this is my first time 

264
00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:05,320
using the Hemlock and Oak but 
I'm really liking it. 

265
00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:08,560
I liked it as page numbers. 
It has line grid option, which 

266
00:12:08,560 --> 00:12:12,000
always makes me feel very fancy 
and it's handling most of the 

267
00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:13,800
material that I'm throwing at 
it. 

268
00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,200
So there's nothing to be mad at.
And then Arch and Olive, I just,

269
00:12:17,560 --> 00:12:20,960
you know, again, like first true
love, you know, really kind of 

270
00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:23,440
having that moment with them 
when I've discovered them and 

271
00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:26,680
then just kind of growing with 
them and watching that brand 

272
00:12:26,680 --> 00:12:29,920
grow as much as it has and all 
the different designs, all the 

273
00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:32,320
cool stuff that they're doing. 
I mean, I'm not going to lie to 

274
00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:34,080
you, just it has been a little 
bit weird. 

275
00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:37,280
Like for whatever reason, it's 
not feeding me as much Arch and 

276
00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:39,280
Olive content recently. 
I don't know if it's because I'm

277
00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:41,880
not really kind of talking about
those notebooks as much or 

278
00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:45,080
posting about them as much. 
It's kind of odd, but it's just 

279
00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:47,920
one of those things where I've 
always really enjoyed it and 

280
00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:50,560
I've liked it, but like, I'm not
seeing a whole lot and I think 

281
00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:52,880
that's okay. 
It's just Instagram being a 

282
00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:55,840
little bee and not showing me 
any planner content honestly. 

283
00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:58,560
Yeah, no, they're just saving 
you from your over consuming 

284
00:12:58,560 --> 00:12:59,720
self. 
Truth. 

285
00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:02,680
Truth, Truth. 
Yeah, for me, definitely Ultra 

286
00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:05,880
and Olive, they are going to be 
my preference like pretty much 

287
00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:07,760
every time. 
I don't think that there's been 

288
00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:10,960
a notebook recently that wasn't 
like an R&D notebook or a 

289
00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:13,280
scribblebook or something that 
wasn't an Ultra and Olive 

290
00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:15,640
because they are just the ones 
that I prefer to use. 

291
00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:18,040
I love their designs. 
The notebooks work really well 

292
00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:20,280
for me. 
Every so often I get a lemon, 

293
00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:22,320
but their customer service is 
like unmatched. 

294
00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,760
So I always like very willing to
go back and support a brand that

295
00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:27,440
also has supported us really 
nicely. 

296
00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:30,320
Outside of that though, I think 
my other preference would be 

297
00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:33,920
Tifosi, which they have worked 
with me before. 

298
00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:36,000
They've gotten a lot of their 
notebooks and gotten to try a 

299
00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:38,800
lot of those ones out. 
But the quality of those is 

300
00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:40,400
quite comparable to Art and 
Olive. 

301
00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:44,120
The only thing I will say with 
that one is that depending on 

302
00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:46,560
the notebook you get, especially
if you're getting some of their 

303
00:13:46,560 --> 00:13:49,640
older designs, the paper can be 
quite different. 

304
00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:52,520
I think that when they were, you
know, just coming up and really 

305
00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:55,000
finding their groove with things
and such, they tried a lot of 

306
00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:58,200
different things to really see 
what would work, which did mean 

307
00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:00,680
that they had a lot of variety 
in terms of what you could get. 

308
00:14:00,680 --> 00:14:02,760
So you could get your bright 
white paper or your cream 

309
00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:05,360
colored and your lined and your 
dotted and all of that type of a

310
00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:07,080
thing. 
Nowadays, the ones that are 

311
00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:10,840
coming out from them are just 
the bright white dot grid page 

312
00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:14,160
numbered notebooks. 
Those ones go up to a lot of the

313
00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:17,240
time, like 256 pages. 
So if you need a lot of space, 

314
00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:20,880
they do offer that, which is 
kind of nice, but my preference 

315
00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:24,080
alternative. 
Yeah, I've, I haven't used DFOC 

316
00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:26,360
in quite some time, I think 
since they originally kind of 

317
00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:28,920
came out. 
But a number of people recently 

318
00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:31,400
have been commenting on other 
videos and they were like, I 

319
00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:33,320
just got this brand. 
Have you heard about them? 

320
00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:35,480
They're really nice. 
I really like them. 

321
00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:37,800
They're in a good price range. 
The paper is really great. 

322
00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:40,520
So I might have to give them 
another try at some point just 

323
00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:42,640
because it's been a minute. 
And just see like what the 

324
00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:44,360
difference is. 
Because like you said, when we 

325
00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:47,440
got them, they were early on and
that paper was just, it took 

326
00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:49,320
forever to dry. 
Everything. 

327
00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:52,960
Did I forget what it was like 
some kind of like stone wash 

328
00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:55,760
something paper? 
I forget what it was, but I've 

329
00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:57,800
heard good things. 
So I need to need to head back 

330
00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:00,920
to that brand and see what's up.
Yeah, they're much more lefty 

331
00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:03,480
friendly nowadays compared to 
some of those earlier ones. 

332
00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:06,000
Super important. 
All right, well, let's move away

333
00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:09,120
from notebooks to talk about 
what we put inside of those 

334
00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:10,440
notebooks. 
So the next thing that we're 

335
00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:13,520
talking about is rulers, which 
seems like a weird thing for 

336
00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:16,640
someone to be like. 
It is an absolute essential, but

337
00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:19,440
like it's an essential. 
So share a little bit about your

338
00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:21,680
preferences when it comes to 
ruling. 

339
00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:22,680
Definitely. 
So. 

340
00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:27,520
In particular, I used to be 
very, very specific about having

341
00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:33,160
very crisp edges on my boxes. 
Nowadays I am less anal about 

342
00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:36,680
having those really super kind 
of straight lines, but anytime I

343
00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:39,880
want to measure something out in
my notebook or figure out the 

344
00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:43,000
sizing of a box or whatever, it 
is always faster for me to just 

345
00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:46,320
use a ruler than it is to count.
I mean, personal preferences for

346
00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:48,120
a grid spacing ruler, those are 
great. 

347
00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,480
But if we're thinking bare bones
essentials, I'm thinking like a 

348
00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,400
very cheap ruler that you'll 
probably get, you know, at the 

349
00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:56,600
craft store or on Amazon or like
something like that. 

350
00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,000
Really, really kind of bottom of
the barrel type deal. 

351
00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:01,520
But the things that I'm very 
much looking for here is that it

352
00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:04,200
has to be safe through because I
need to be able to see the dock 

353
00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:07,440
grid through the ruler to be 
able to line things up properly.

354
00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,240
And it definitely has to have 
centimeters because if it's 

355
00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:12,800
inches, then it's not going to 
work with the dock grid because 

356
00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:16,160
the dock grid that I use in my 
notebooks is 5mm or half a 

357
00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,240
centimeter. 
So every two boxes is 1 

358
00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:20,120
centimeter. 
You can very quickly count 

359
00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:22,680
things out being like, oh look, 
this is a 5 centimeter space, 

360
00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:25,400
It's ten boxes. 
This is a 12 centimeter space, 

361
00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:28,240
you know, it's 24 boxes or 
whatever and vice versa. 

362
00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:31,040
So being see through and being 
able to do those measurements 

363
00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:33,480
really quickly because it's 
blind with the centimeter 

364
00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:35,640
markings, that's really 
essential for me. 

365
00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:39,160
Yeah, I agree with you. 
If you can get a planner ruler, 

366
00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:41,800
super important. 
I mean the one that I got this 

367
00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:43,640
is from Archer and Olive. 
Every time I use it, people are 

368
00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:44,880
like, where do you get it? 
How do I get it? 

369
00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:47,880
I'm like, it came in a 
subscription box like AB5 size 

370
00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:49,760
1. 
I use this all the time. 

371
00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:53,320
Last week I accidentally closed 
this in a journal that I was 

372
00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:56,320
doing some R&D stuff on, forgot 
that it was there and then 

373
00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:58,880
couldn't find it. 
And I was like, what is going 

374
00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:00,000
on? 
And then I cleaned my office 

375
00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:02,720
this weekend and I found it. 
But when it comes to like that 

376
00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:05,040
essentials, I agree with you 
absolutely clearest. 

377
00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,319
The way to go, something that I 
like must have with my rulers 

378
00:17:08,319 --> 00:17:12,400
now is there's like a little bit
of an an edge that's cut on this

379
00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:14,880
because someone in the planner 
space told me about when you're 

380
00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:18,640
using brush pens or mild liners,
if you flip the ruler upside 

381
00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:22,599
down where that edge is down, 
you can use the marker on it and

382
00:17:22,599 --> 00:17:25,359
it doesn't accidentally smear 
the ink because it gives that 

383
00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:28,119
little bit of a gap. 
And once I learned that, it was 

384
00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:32,000
like game on, you know, I was 
like, oh, now I want to use my 

385
00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:34,560
mild liners more. 
Now I want to use my inkier 

386
00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:37,520
markers more because I always 
hated when you put down that 

387
00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:40,400
line and you move that ruling, 
that little skid mark on your 

388
00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:44,120
paper and you're just like, no, 
like I didn't want that there. 

389
00:17:44,120 --> 00:17:46,280
So that's always been a really 
cool tool. 

390
00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:49,120
You know, any time that I have, 
I have some other like neat 

391
00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:52,000
looking rulers that I've kind of
collected over time, but every 

392
00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:53,320
time I use them, I'm in the same
boat. 

393
00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:56,200
I'm like, I can't see my lines, 
I can't see my dots. 

394
00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:59,360
I need to kind of know where I'm
going because even though I 

395
00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:03,120
pencil things in, I notice I 
don't give myself like a long 

396
00:18:03,120 --> 00:18:05,440
enough vertical on that. 
So like it's just a little 

397
00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:08,560
pencil dot on the line and I 
can't see it anyway. 

398
00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:11,320
So I have to be able to see 
where that line is, because 

399
00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:13,440
otherwise I'm drawing straight 
through it. 

400
00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:16,280
Yeah, very that. 
And I think that you're thinking

401
00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:20,160
about the shaping of the ruler. 
My preference is always going to

402
00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:21,360
be for that. 
You know, is it called like a 

403
00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:22,440
bevel edge? 
I don't know. 

404
00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:25,040
It's essentially when you look 
at the ruler straight on or 

405
00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:27,880
whatever, from the side angle it
looks like a little trapezoid or

406
00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:31,040
whatever that that is always 
very like. 

407
00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:33,680
It's going to be my preference. 
It'll always be the one that I 

408
00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:36,160
tend towards. 
But I don't necessarily use mild

409
00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:39,400
liners like you do or rule 
coloured blocks. 

410
00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:41,440
I'm much more inclined to 
either. 

411
00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:45,040
If I'm being very particular 
about it, I'll put down a very 

412
00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:48,440
kind of non sticky washi tape, 
one that I can very easily pull 

413
00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:51,480
up off the page and I'll use it 
to mask off sections so that I 

414
00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:53,520
can get perfectly crisp boxes of
colour. 

415
00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:56,840
Or more often than not nowadays 
I'll just freehand it and just 

416
00:18:56,840 --> 00:18:59,080
go slowly and hope it doesn't 
get too cattywampus. 

417
00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:02,960
So is that I like to always, 
well, the only time I ever don't

418
00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:05,400
use a ruler with them, it was 
when I want to have like more of

419
00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:07,920
like a natural looking like 
color drop shadow. 

420
00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:10,560
Like it's OK if it's a little 
bit off, you know, But then Even

421
00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:13,760
so, I'm just like, get out the 
ruler, make it look perfect, 

422
00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:17,120
Mark, it must be perfect. 
Yeah, I watched one of my older 

423
00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:19,720
videos the other day because we,
I was just looking through 

424
00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:23,120
things and I saw myself ruling 
out my lettering and I'm like, 

425
00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:26,320
oh, nowadays, absolutely not. 
Jess would either just go type 

426
00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:29,120
something up with a font online,
print it off and stick it in, or

427
00:19:29,120 --> 00:19:31,680
she would just avoid using that 
lettering style completely. 

428
00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:35,280
Yeah, that is some I I've done 
that before too. 

429
00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:37,960
And you're like getting all your
edges and your angles and 

430
00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:39,920
whatever else. 
I'm like, I love beautiful 

431
00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:41,640
fonts. 
Still got me wrong, but my 

432
00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:44,640
goodness that takes forever. 
Forever. 

433
00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:46,480
Exactly. 
I know, right? 

434
00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:48,720
It's OK though. 
The ruler is still a staple, 

435
00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:51,560
even if we're not necessarily 
using it in that way. 

436
00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:55,160
But next category definitely 
would be writing implements the 

437
00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:57,280
tools that we're going to be 
actually putting the plans onto 

438
00:19:57,280 --> 00:19:59,040
the paper. 
You know, if we're going back to

439
00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:01,240
that idea of something to write 
on and something to write with, 

440
00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:04,520
this is the to write with. 
But in terms of your writing 

441
00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:05,920
tool preferences, what do you 
got? 

442
00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:07,560
Yeah. 
So I'll break it down into 3 

443
00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:10,800
categories, but definitely the 
one I forgot to mention as we 

444
00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:14,080
were planning this episode is 
the importance of a pencil. 

445
00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:16,920
I don't know why I didn't think 
about that at first because 

446
00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:18,840
like, pencil first is always the
way to go. 

447
00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,560
That's how I start all of my 
plans, my ideas, my spacing, all

448
00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:26,040
of those things before I even 
touch a marker, fine line or 

449
00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:28,880
anything to my notebook. 
So that is the number one thing 

450
00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,120
any type of pencil works. 
Usually a nice light graphite is

451
00:20:32,120 --> 00:20:34,360
good because it erases really 
nice and easily. 

452
00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,720
I'm finding more and more that 
the erasers usually the more 

453
00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,040
important part than the like the
graphite pencil that you're 

454
00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:43,720
ready with in the darkness. 
A good eraser can erase 

455
00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:46,640
anything, that's for damn sure. 
So that's definitely the first 

456
00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:51,280
piece when it comes to pens and 
I'll say non fountain pens just 

457
00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:53,480
because that's its own little 
like fun category. 

458
00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:56,680
But like finding a really nice 
pen that just writes nicely, 

459
00:20:56,680 --> 00:21:01,880
doesn't skip, you can trust the 
Uniball Signo DX, the .38mm. 

460
00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:06,360
I know all the specifics of that
because I still use that to this

461
00:21:06,360 --> 00:21:10,920
day as my tried and true pens. 
Just like never can go wrong. 

462
00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:13,400
I've never ever had an issue 
with those pens. 

463
00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:17,200
And like that's a rare thing I 
feel like to be able to say 

464
00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:20,200
about most kind of pens. 
I just like the way it writes. 

465
00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:22,200
It's really nice and crisp and 
it's a fast dryer. 

466
00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:25,720
And so for me specifically, 
being a lefty, fast drying ink 

467
00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:28,760
is super important. 
And then just continuing on to 

468
00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,880
like the fine liner part of this
is just, I really, well, I like 

469
00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:34,800
to have a lot of different 
things, but I'll say something 

470
00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:37,520
very, very fine and then 
something really bold. 

471
00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:41,040
And I feel like between that you
can kind of make things happen. 

472
00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:44,280
So like I like the least just 
from a minimum stand point 

473
00:21:44,360 --> 00:21:48,440
pencil, good pen and like 2 fine
liners just to be like yeah I 

474
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,600
can kind of do anything I need 
to do with this line art 

475
00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:54,160
writing, you know, gritting out 
my pages. 

476
00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:57,640
Everything works really well. 
Yeah, I like that pencil was in 

477
00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:00,120
your lineup of like an essential
supply because I was kind of 

478
00:22:00,120 --> 00:22:02,560
thinking about them like, oh, 
you know, pencil probably good 

479
00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:04,160
to have. 
But for me, that's more of a 

480
00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:05,800
nice to have than it is an 
essential. 

481
00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:08,880
Because nowadays the way that I 
plan my layouts is using my 

482
00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:11,520
digital layout planner. 
I would just always mock it up 

483
00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:14,280
over there and essentially make 
a map for myself in terms of how

484
00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:16,560
my layouts would get set up 
because I can figure out all of 

485
00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:19,400
the spacing in that digital 
space, chop and change things, 

486
00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:22,040
color code it so that then it 
gives me kind of a visual 

487
00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,560
representation of what the page 
will actually look like when I'm

488
00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,440
done rather than sketching 
things out in pencil. 

489
00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:30,520
I think in particular because 
I've moved away from a style of 

490
00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:35,040
planning that is very like 
intricate doodle heavy where you

491
00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:37,480
know, I, I would really want 
that detail on there before I 

492
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:39,760
got started. 
It means that the pencil isn't 

493
00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:42,400
as essential for me. 
I'll do all of the planning out 

494
00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:45,000
in terms of spacing and sizing 
digitally instead. 

495
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:47,440
So I guess like that is an 
essential tool for me. 

496
00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:49,800
It is one that I use every 
single time I go to set up my 

497
00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:52,320
planner to make sure that things
are going to fit the way I want 

498
00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:54,480
them to. 
To make it so that then if I'm 

499
00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:56,920
write a checklist or something, 
I actually give myself enough 

500
00:22:56,920 --> 00:23:00,000
space for a said checklist. 
But when it comes to the actual 

501
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:03,360
writing tools, for me it's going
to be a black pen. 

502
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:08,120
Sure, I know you can in theory 
write your plans down in a blue 

503
00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:10,480
pen, but like, I can't, can't do
it. 

504
00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:13,400
To me, a blue pen is reserved 
for like I need to write a 

505
00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:15,280
shopping list or something like 
that. 

506
00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:17,680
It is not for the things that I 
need to get done. 

507
00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:19,840
Like blue pen is like a casual 
pen color. 

508
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:22,040
Yeah, exactly. 
Yeah, too. 

509
00:23:22,120 --> 00:23:23,800
School for school. 
Like sitting in the back of the 

510
00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:26,040
class like Pitbull and people or
whatever. 

511
00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:28,440
That's the kind of blue pen kind
of aesthetic. 

512
00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,120
I'm also like the, you know, 
front of the classroom here to 

513
00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:33,440
take notes down to business. 
Black pen. 

514
00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:37,200
When it comes to a black pen 
though, and for everyday 

515
00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,520
writing, it's going to be a 
ballpoint because I get a little

516
00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:43,200
bit ham fisted with my writing 
implements. 

517
00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:46,360
And if I'm using a fine liner, 
then that nib will not survive. 

518
00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:49,600
Like as soon as I start writing 
something, when you get 2 lines 

519
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:53,560
in that nib will be bent or 
blunted or just like it's always

520
00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:56,240
so upsetting when you you get a 
new fine liner and the tip is 

521
00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:58,680
like beautifully rounded and it 
looks gorgeous. 

522
00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:01,800
We have the perfect line weight 
and then you write like 3 things

523
00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:04,800
and now it's like flat landed at
the top and you have to handle 

524
00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:07,720
it like a very specific angle to
actually get it to write 

525
00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:09,360
anything. 
It makes me so sad. 

526
00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:12,720
Anybody who has ever had a 
Micron pan knows what that 

527
00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:14,480
feeling is like. 
There's nothing worse than 

528
00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:19,200
taking out that like .01 
millimeter, like basically the 

529
00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,920
the length of like a hair 
follicle and, and there's like 

530
00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:26,320
pressing it down and just 
watching it like cut in half or 

531
00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,600
go up inside the metal piece. 
You're just like, no, that was 

532
00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:31,840
so expensive. 
I mean, I think everyone 

533
00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:34,360
probably has one or two of those
in a drawer somewhere. 

534
00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:38,120
I know when I did my whole like 
pen clean out a number of those 

535
00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:40,520
and even the thicker ones too, 
you know, I didn't realize how 

536
00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:43,840
heavy-handed I was until I went 
to go do a writing sample and I 

537
00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:46,120
realized that I had like, I 
don't know the right word for 

538
00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:49,240
it, like frayed the like 1mm 
one. 

539
00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:53,000
Like I pressed on it so heavily 
that it was almost like a brush 

540
00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,240
pen, like not a fine liner part 
there. 

541
00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:59,000
But I think that's why I like 
the the emote I think is the 

542
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:00,360
name. 
Like Uniball makes one that's 

543
00:25:00,360 --> 00:25:03,400
like a plastic tip fine liner, 
which is really nice. 

544
00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:04,840
And that way you can press as 
hard as you want. 

545
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:07,280
It's not going anywhere. 
But I don't know, there is 

546
00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:10,880
something so very nice about 
like the Super fine fine liners.

547
00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:14,200
Yeah Micron does have a plastic 
nib one which is my now go to 

548
00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:17,640
fine liner but they from my 
understanding at least only have

549
00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:20,160
it in one line. 
Wait, don't ask me what it is, I

550
00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:22,720
can't remember, but it is my go 
to and I do use it. 

551
00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:24,600
But when it comes to just 
getting my plans into my 

552
00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:28,040
planner, it will usually just be
a regular black ballpoint. 

553
00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:31,160
But I'm very particular about 
making sure that it has a really

554
00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:35,480
good quality of black ink. 
I need the black to be saturated

555
00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:38,680
and dark and deep and you know, 
like the blackest of black. 

556
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:41,920
Mainly because if it isn't, I 
will spend way too long just 

557
00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:43,760
trying to figure out like, is my
pen running out? 

558
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:45,080
Is it Gray because it's running 
out? 

559
00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:47,520
Or is it Gray just because of 
the nature of the ink which 

560
00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:48,960
distracts me from doing my 
planning? 

561
00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:51,680
How am I going to give my plans 
in if my pen's distracting me? 

562
00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:54,400
So I need to make sure it's 
actually dark enough that I 

563
00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:55,960
don't question those kind of 
things. 

564
00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:58,200
That makes a lot of sense. 
You know, one of the things I've

565
00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:01,080
been exploring with the pencils 
are like different types of it 

566
00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:04,280
because I used to just use like 
a mechanical pencil all the time

567
00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:06,200
and then now I'm like, oh, I'm 
refined. 

568
00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:09,160
And they make these clutch 
pencils, which are super nice 

569
00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:12,960
because it essentially has like 
a really long piece of graphite,

570
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:16,960
but the tip of it's really cool 
like grips and clutches onto 

571
00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:20,880
your graphite and it just is, 
it's just so fancy to write 

572
00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:22,280
with. 
I have two of them, one that's 

573
00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:25,600
like a big thick boy and then 
one that's a like finer point. 

574
00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:27,960
But it's just like one of those 
things where you're just like, 

575
00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:31,440
oh, I like writing. 
And so you kind of up your game 

576
00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:35,040
a little bit from like fancy 
pencils into like fancier pens 

577
00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:37,480
if you want to. 
It's one of those things where 

578
00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:39,680
it's just like, well, I'm 
already writing an analog, so I 

579
00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:42,400
might as well have cool 
materials to do so. 

580
00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:45,800
So for me as like a collector of
things and like liking all these

581
00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:48,440
fun, like, you know, you take a 
clutch pencil somewhere and then

582
00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:51,000
like, oh, what is that like? 
Oh, that's so neat. 

583
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:52,960
That's so cool. 
I'm like, yeah, it's cool. 

584
00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:55,600
And it doesn't break when I 
press down like a mechanical 

585
00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:57,560
pencil. 
Like it is awesome. 

586
00:26:57,720 --> 00:26:59,120
So it's definitely like a fun 
thing. 

587
00:26:59,120 --> 00:27:02,800
And I think every planter Powell
can relate to like exploring 

588
00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:05,640
with those different pens and, 
and figuring out what you like. 

589
00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:09,400
Like you said with certain types
of fine liners, for instance, 

590
00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,920
like part of the fun of it is 
the experimentation to figure 

591
00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,120
out what it is. 
I just wish there was a place 

592
00:27:15,120 --> 00:27:17,960
you could go to, to like test 
them out before you like buy 

593
00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:19,760
them all. 
And then you just have the giant

594
00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:22,680
collection of like 5 different 
brands of fine liners that 

595
00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:25,760
pretty much are all the same. 
Yeah, I think that there are 

596
00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:29,640
definitely some stores where you
can test some pens, like they 

597
00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:32,280
will have their little tester 
station, but usually those are 

598
00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:36,160
the ones that are, I don't know,
heavily available, I guess the 

599
00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:38,360
ones that are quite common. 
So you don't get to test those 

600
00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:40,640
more like fringe brands or 
whatnot. 

601
00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:43,040
I love your pencil though, 
because it reminds me of like 

602
00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:46,280
year 10 art where we were told 
we had to buy Progresso pencils,

603
00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:48,640
which are essentially just like 
all graphite the whole way 

604
00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:51,280
through. 
I, I, I still have them like I, 

605
00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:53,840
I, a lot of my supplies, you 
know, if we're thinking about 

606
00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:56,720
the idea of forever supplies, a 
lot of the supplies that I have 

607
00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:59,360
in my stash and the ones that 
we're talking about today are 

608
00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:02,760
ones that I have had for a good 
on like, you know, 8 or more 

609
00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:05,840
years, sometimes up to like 
1520. 

610
00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:08,520
Oh my God, how long has it been 
since I was in high school? 

611
00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:10,080
Too long. 
It's been too long. 

612
00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:14,120
No, trust me, my art closet down
the basement. 

613
00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:17,520
Both my wife and I both went to 
school for art and design and we

614
00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:21,160
have so much charcoal. 
You know, all of the different 

615
00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:24,440
type of pests. 
Dells like all of the things and

616
00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:27,320
but The thing is like, they were
so damn expensive. 

617
00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:30,920
But to our point, it's been a 
really long time since we were 

618
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:34,160
in college and high school where
we had those materials still 

619
00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:36,080
holding strong. 
If you ever feel an artsy, you 

620
00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:38,400
just go right down into the art 
closet and get yourself a little

621
00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:40,280
art product. 
Go for it. 

622
00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:44,360
Well, what I I still have my 
like eraser that I've had since 

623
00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:47,400
year 4 and I still haven't used 
through it. 

624
00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:50,080
So anytime I get a new yeah, 
well, there's the thing like I 

625
00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:52,760
don't don't pencil all that much
in, so I don't need to erase all

626
00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:54,640
that much. 
So just still kicking around my 

627
00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:57,240
pencil guys. 
I use it more often now to prop 

628
00:28:57,240 --> 00:28:59,960
up the front of my notebook when
I'm just starting a new notebook

629
00:28:59,960 --> 00:29:02,560
and you get that kind of like, 
you know, ledge going. 

630
00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,320
I prop up the front cover of my 
notebook more than I actually 

631
00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:08,120
erase things with it now. 
I just foresee this like one of 

632
00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:12,280
those like, absurdly comic 
erasers with just so many like, 

633
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:16,560
pencil points poked into it. 
Like every elementary school art

634
00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:20,480
classroom, probably. 
Hold it up like a little beauty 

635
00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:22,400
Blogger. 
That does that looks like an 

636
00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:24,400
antique. 
That is something you've like 

637
00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:27,440
uncovered from like a dig. 
Gosh. 

638
00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:32,040
His robe is falling off because 
I've had to like, sellotape the 

639
00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:35,200
outside cover back on because 
it's so worn out. 

640
00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,000
You take. 
That off Jess, that is years of 

641
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,520
finger oil and Greece he'll be. 
Naked then. 

642
00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:44,160
And then I'll just get more 
years of finger oil actually on 

643
00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:46,240
him. 
True, true, true. 

644
00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:48,600
All right, our next section that
we're going to talk about right 

645
00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:49,400
now. 
I love this. 

646
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:52,120
I love when Jess adds these fun 
little titles. 

647
00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:57,640
This is called Color Adder. 
So Jess, when it comes to colour

648
00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:00,120
adding, what is your essential 
for your planning? 

649
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:03,400
I was very entertained by this 
category because I was, you 

650
00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:05,360
know, reading through the 
suggestions that you had for 

651
00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:06,920
what you wanted to talk about in
the episode. 

652
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:09,400
I'm like, Oh yeah, I guess I 
have something adjacent, but I 

653
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:11,680
wouldn't really pick the one 
that you've got. 

654
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:13,120
So. 
Haha, yeah, you're always good 

655
00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:15,800
to have a point of contention. 
For me, it's definitely going to

656
00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:18,360
be Tombos. 
They are like my favorite. 

657
00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:21,320
When it comes to the brush pens,
technically speaking, yeah, it 

658
00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:23,160
is just brush pens as a 
category. 

659
00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:26,720
I could use in theory any brush 
pen, but then my favorite and 

660
00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:28,800
it's very much one of those 
supplies that, you know, if I 

661
00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:31,560
lost everything, you know, 
somebody came in and robbed me, 

662
00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:33,160
you know, knock on wood, I don't
want that to happen. 

663
00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:35,200
But if somebody came in and 
robbed me, what kind of supplies

664
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:37,760
would I definitely replace? 
Tombos I would definitely 

665
00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:40,280
replace. 
But brush pens in general I like

666
00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:43,200
to have mainly because that is 
how I add a pop of color to my 

667
00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:45,520
layouts. 
It's how I can color code if I 

668
00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:46,800
want to. 
I don't do a lot of color 

669
00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:48,920
coding, but it is technically 
how I would do that. 

670
00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:51,840
It's how I do my second line 
highlights in particular, which 

671
00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:55,080
can add some visual interest to 
my pages, but also increases the

672
00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:57,840
readability of sections. 
It's how I add headers to 

673
00:30:57,840 --> 00:30:59,880
different sections. 
So I'm like, OK, yeah, this is 

674
00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:02,360
your routine tracker, this is 
your meal plan, this is your 

675
00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:05,000
priorities list or whatever. 
The header for all of those is 

676
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:06,920
done with a Tombow or a brush 
marker. 

677
00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:10,520
I think that if I had to kind of
pay down to the bare minimum, 

678
00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:14,080
like the absolute essentials, it
would really be the pale colors 

679
00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:16,480
at a minimum. 
Mainly because if you're doing 

680
00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:18,520
second line highlights, 
especially if you're doing them 

681
00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:21,720
by hand and like free handing it
and it's a lot easier to make it

682
00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:26,880
look nice if everything is kind 
of paler, blends into the page a

683
00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:29,760
little nicer because as you're 
practicing, a lot of those lines

684
00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,440
are going to be quite 
cattywompus, very skew with look

685
00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:34,520
a little wobbly. 
Most of the time you can get 

686
00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:36,200
away with it with the 
cheerleader effect. 

687
00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:38,800
You know, if you do all Neph 
lines in a row, they kind of all

688
00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:41,040
merge together and they look 
kind of uniform and OK. 

689
00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:44,640
It is a lot easier to pull that 
off though, if you aren't using 

690
00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:47,360
something like super saturated 
punch you in the throat kind of 

691
00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:48,880
a colour. 
You know, if you have a really 

692
00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:52,440
wobbly line, green line, that's 
a lot more kind of stand out and

693
00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:55,760
aggressive compared to something
that is a pale mint or something

694
00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:58,400
like like that. 
So at a minimum, I'd want to 

695
00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:00,320
have the pale colors in whatever
brush pen. 

696
00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:03,320
If I'm going to get to pick or, 
you know, actually have options 

697
00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:04,680
here, they're going to be 
Tombos. 

698
00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:06,920
Nothing wrong with that. 
I mean, I think it's important 

699
00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:09,320
to have those favorite brands. 
I mean there are a ton of 

700
00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:11,520
different brush pen brands out 
there. 

701
00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:15,080
Some are high and well known, 
some are low and not so well 

702
00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:16,920
known. 
And I think it's great to have 

703
00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:19,240
options, especially depending on
your budget. 

704
00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:23,000
I mean, when we talk about 
Tombos specifically, I remember 

705
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,360
buying my first pack because 
when I said her bullet 

706
00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:27,400
journaling, everybody was using,
right? 

707
00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:31,160
It was just like Loystrom 
notebooks, Tombow brush pens. 

708
00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:35,120
And then that was kind of like 
it Micron for black fine liners.

709
00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:36,920
Like that's what everyone was 
kind of using. 

710
00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:39,720
And I know we've talked about it
before with like, you see that 

711
00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:42,400
you buy it and you're just like,
OK, now I have the entire 

712
00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:44,880
collection. 
For me, the brush pens haven't 

713
00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:49,000
always been what it's saying 
essential, but like how I use my

714
00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:53,520
mild liners though could kind of
fall into that brush pen kind of

715
00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:57,200
space because I use most of mine
for or the accent colors. 

716
00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:00,320
I typically do a lot of my 
journaling in black pen. 

717
00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:04,760
Only recently with adding, you 
know, fountain pen color to my 

718
00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:07,080
pages is there now a color on 
the page. 

719
00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:10,320
But before it was just like 
black ink all day, all day long.

720
00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:13,160
And I was like, OK, how about 
like a little pop of something 

721
00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:15,400
on here? 
So I use them a lot for drop 

722
00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:20,760
shadows before I found the love 
of like a smear proof ink, like 

723
00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:24,840
the bark on pens or the signals 
I was talking about before, you 

724
00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:28,360
know, you had to highlight first
and then right over top of it. 

725
00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:31,480
You know, when they finally came
out with the nicer pens like the

726
00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:33,920
mark ONS that you can highlight 
over top of it, then I just feel

727
00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:35,920
like, oh, now I can use them 
more. 

728
00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:39,200
I also will use them similar to 
you like you talked about for 

729
00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:40,640
like headers and things like 
that. 

730
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:43,760
You know, sometimes it's just a 
really fun place to use those 

731
00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:46,160
and not the chiseled end, but 
I'll use like the bullet end of 

732
00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:49,120
those to do lettering because 
it's all monoline also. 

733
00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:52,320
So like if you like the look of 
that, it can come across really 

734
00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:54,560
nicely. 
There are so many colors. 

735
00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:57,080
So like I don't think that like 
an essential is having every 

736
00:33:57,080 --> 00:33:58,920
color. 
I would say like my essentials 

737
00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:01,800
are definitely going to be like 
a lighter blue color. 

738
00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:05,680
Definitely some types of Grays. 
It's hard because there's like 

739
00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:08,960
cool Gray, light Gray, dark 
Gray, Gray, Gray. 

740
00:34:09,159 --> 00:34:13,719
And I'm just like, OK, it's 
Gray, but I also really like the

741
00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:16,920
cyan is like always like the 
blue I end up like picking just 

742
00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:19,040
because it's so nice. 
And then I always will like 

743
00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:22,800
juxtapose that with like a 
really like in your face yellow.

744
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:25,560
Like those two colors to me are 
really like fun. 

745
00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:28,639
So like, I'll just say cyan, 
yellow and then like a grey. 

746
00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:31,040
Those are like the fun spaces I 
play. 

747
00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:33,320
And do I have every other color 
under the rainbow? 

748
00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:35,320
Yes, absolutely. 
Do I do. 

749
00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:37,760
I use them sometimes, but not 
often. 

750
00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:39,840
You know, just talking about 
essentials today. 

751
00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:42,320
Yeah, I think that it's funny 
that mauve liners are one of 

752
00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:46,040
your essential tools because 
recently I did a pen declutter 

753
00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:49,480
because I'm slowly trying to, 
I've got a project this year and

754
00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:51,679
pulling a project. 
Use your shit, essentially. 

755
00:34:51,679 --> 00:34:54,960
But it kind of has three parts. 
So one part is to just use the 

756
00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:57,760
stuff I have. 
Another part is to declutter and

757
00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:00,560
rehome the stuff I don't. 
And the other one is to be a bit

758
00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:03,320
more intentional about what I'm 
bringing into my collection so 

759
00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:07,120
that I don't come to have to do 
this project again, is the idea.

760
00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:10,440
And so part of that being 
decluttering my pens and 

761
00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:13,160
whatnot. 
I got rid of 590 pens from my 

762
00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:16,640
collection of over like 1500 
pens. 

763
00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:18,760
You know, if we're thinking of 
all of the different sets, you 

764
00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:21,040
know, you've got your Tombos and
your Hoo Hoos and your Karen 

765
00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:23,640
markers. 
Everything else, small liner 

766
00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:27,080
chisel tips got the job. 
Like I just, I have so many of 

767
00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:29,640
them and I'm like, you don't use
these because a chisel tip is 

768
00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:32,040
not your preferred type of pen 
nib. 

769
00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:34,880
If they had that color range in 
the brush marker, heck to the 

770
00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:37,520
yes, I would drop my money on 
that because I do like the color

771
00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:41,080
range, but I don't use chisel 
tips so well, you know, chisel 

772
00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:42,640
tip hardliners and maybe you're 
essential. 

773
00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:45,320
That's like one of my, I don't 
know, I'm just saying regrets. 

774
00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:48,280
Well, The thing is, is like 
working with them, they are very

775
00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:50,320
generous with gifting you 
things. 

776
00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:52,320
So it was like I need to have 
anything. 

777
00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:53,920
They're like, hey, we're going 
to send you this. 

778
00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:56,320
Or when we met up the very first
time it go wild. 

779
00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:59,400
They're like we have this 800 
pack of every single color 

780
00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:01,280
rainbow. 
You want one like Jess, you want

781
00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:02,400
1? 
You guys want one? 

782
00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:04,240
I was like, yes, do I already 
have these at home? 

783
00:36:04,240 --> 00:36:05,960
Absolutely. 
Do I need more? 

784
00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:07,400
Absolutely. 
Yeah. 

785
00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:09,800
When I did my pen declutter, it 
was in the same thing. 

786
00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:13,120
I counted all of them out. 
One of the reasons I also really

787
00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:16,040
like them specific likely as 
they write their color names on 

788
00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:19,320
the barrel very important for 
this very color deficient boy. 

789
00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:23,360
And so I went through and any of
them that I had three or more of

790
00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:26,600
I kept two of the colors in my 
collection and if I had any 3rd,

791
00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:29,560
4th or whatever else, some I had
like 5 of the same color. 

792
00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:33,280
I was like that goes into the 
donate bin and I was able to 

793
00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:35,680
call them down, which I think is
very good because I don't really

794
00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:37,880
run out of them. 
I don't use them enough to ever 

795
00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:42,240
like honestly, I've never run 
out of a fine liner before or a 

796
00:36:42,240 --> 00:36:45,000
mild liner before. 
But it was one of those things 

797
00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:47,080
though, where I was like, it's 
OK, Mark, to like, let other 

798
00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:48,760
people love these. 
And I took them to work. 

799
00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:51,600
It was like piranhas on me. 
They were just like, yes, I want

800
00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:53,760
all of these because they're 
just fun to have. 

801
00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:56,480
You know, they're great because 
you can write, you can see over 

802
00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:59,080
top of them. 
They're mild versus just like a 

803
00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:02,200
very bright highlighter. 
But they're not a marker for me.

804
00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:04,400
They're perfection. 
I think one of the things that 

805
00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:08,760
is definitely a win for mod 
liners is just the aesthetic of 

806
00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:10,920
the pen. 
Like they are a very attractive 

807
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:14,320
looking pen in terms of, you 
know, the body and the calf been

808
00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:17,280
having that little pop of color 
that is against the white or 

809
00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:19,360
whatnot. 
Whereas something like a Micron,

810
00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:22,600
like Micron is an ugly pen. 
It's just not very attractive. 

811
00:37:22,880 --> 00:37:25,600
The best thing you can ever find
is like a blacked out Micron 

812
00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:27,640
pen, you know, just like all 
black like that. 

813
00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:30,480
I don't know like tannish color 
that's on there is just. 

814
00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:34,000
Not my personal preference, but 
to get to the job done. 

815
00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:36,120
All right. 
And the last area is a spot that

816
00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:39,160
I don't have an essential here 
because I don't do very much of 

817
00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:41,080
this. 
I'm doing more of it now, but 

818
00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:43,280
not as much. 
But Jess, you have cutting tools

819
00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:45,360
on here as an essential. 
So curious about this one. 

820
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:47,000
Definitely. 
Because I was thinking about, 

821
00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:50,520
OK, you know, typical structures
I use in my layouts and whatnot.

822
00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:53,120
You know, what kind of things do
I use repeatedly time and time 

823
00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:55,000
again? 
And one of those things is Dutch

824
00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:56,600
doors. 
You know, I like to be able to 

825
00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:59,800
trim away a page or cut down a 
page so that I can either, you 

826
00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:02,960
know, do decoration once and 
have a go over multiple spreads.

827
00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:06,480
Or currently in my weekly 
setups, I've been using a Dutch 

828
00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:09,080
door system that's kind of like 
a vertical Dutch door where you 

829
00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:12,200
just cut away the side of a page
so that I can have my weekly 

830
00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:15,200
dashboard and then flip it over 
and then see my daily log 

831
00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:18,320
spaces, which has been working 
really well while being able to 

832
00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:21,880
like see the daily logs, see my 
kind of daily task lists right 

833
00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:24,920
next to my priorities list, but 
then also have the fully decked 

834
00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:26,760
out weekly dashboard. 
Like cool. 

835
00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:29,720
So if I was going to set this up
with my bare essential supplies,

836
00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:32,360
I'm not just going to RIP off a 
page out of my notebook. 

837
00:38:32,360 --> 00:38:35,640
That's not going to work. 
Or like it will, but it won't 

838
00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:37,800
fill me with much joy and it 
will probably fill me with much 

839
00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:40,760
rage. 
So in trying to mitigate that, a

840
00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:42,680
cutting tool is definitely going
to be necessary. 

841
00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:44,880
Just going to use scissors. 
I mean like you can use a 

842
00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:47,200
guillotine. 
I do have guillotines and little

843
00:38:47,200 --> 00:38:49,720
paper trimmers and such, but 
more often than not, I'll just 

844
00:38:49,720 --> 00:38:52,600
whip out my scissors. 
Key factor has to be sharp, 

845
00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:53,720
right? 
It has to be like, you know, 

846
00:38:53,720 --> 00:38:55,400
screwed together properly or 
whatnot. 

847
00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:58,640
Because previously I have tried 
working with scissors for 

848
00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:01,480
actually for way too long I have
tried working with scissors that

849
00:39:01,480 --> 00:39:04,680
are just kind of rickety and 
they don't bring the blades next

850
00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:06,840
to each other very nicely. 
And you're trying to cut and the

851
00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:09,720
paper just kind of went bends 
instead of actually cutting. 

852
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:13,160
And it's one of those things I 
feel like I do this too often 

853
00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:15,400
for myself. 
I will just struggle through 

854
00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:19,200
using crappy supplies because I 
just won't go and get myself a 

855
00:39:19,200 --> 00:39:21,120
decent replacement. 
I don't know if it's because 

856
00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:23,640
I've like worked it up in my 
brain that it's too hard to find

857
00:39:23,640 --> 00:39:26,520
a replacement, which it isn't 
because you can like order 

858
00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:28,880
things online now and get 
practically same day delivery, 

859
00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:30,840
you know, depending on where you
live and where you're ordering 

860
00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:32,560
from. 
But still, I think it might 

861
00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:36,120
might just be like the research 
part of it or worrying that I'm 

862
00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:38,400
going to buy something and it's 
not going to live up to the hype

863
00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:40,040
or it's not going to work very 
well. 

864
00:39:40,400 --> 00:39:44,160
But I found that I, I actually 
got gifted a pair of scissors. 

865
00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:46,680
They're one of those kind of 
like comfortable grip ones that 

866
00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:49,760
look like tiny little garden 
shears kind of a thing. 

867
00:39:49,960 --> 00:39:52,800
But they work so well. 
I absolutely love them. 

868
00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:04,080
They are like the fiskas comfort
grip something or other. 

869
00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:05,600
I don't know. 
All of the things that we 

870
00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:07,280
actually love. 
We've linked them in the 

871
00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:09,040
description box. 
It's all good. 

872
00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:12,160
You know what there is, but they
are absolutely excellent. 

873
00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:15,360
The only problem is that, you 
know, given that one of the key 

874
00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:17,640
factors for me for a pair of 
good scissors is that they're 

875
00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:18,960
sharp. 
Funnily enough, they're sharp. 

876
00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:21,520
So more than once I have stabbed
my hand on it. 

877
00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:23,600
But it's fine. 
I'll take that. 

878
00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:27,280
I don't mind taking that as a 
battle word because then at 

879
00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:30,040
least I've got good scissors. 
Roots yeah, I guess I don't have

880
00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:32,640
any type of cutting materials of
mine is because the thought of 

881
00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:36,000
cutting my pages, it just it 
doesn't make me feel good. 

882
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:40,440
I mean I have like a reaction 
anytime anyone ever talks about 

883
00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:42,400
cutting pages. 
I get why people do it. 

884
00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:45,080
I understand it. 
I will forever be a faux Dutch 

885
00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:47,480
door boy because I'm like, I 
can't cut this page. 

886
00:40:47,480 --> 00:40:50,440
So I just fold it behind and I'm
like, oh, look a little secret. 

887
00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:53,920
It's behind this here. 
So like I'll find other uses for

888
00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:56,120
it. 
But recently I have been 

889
00:40:56,160 --> 00:41:00,160
thinking about it though, 
because I just did a video where

890
00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:03,360
I like journal say which Oh my 
gosh, I'm addicted to that 

891
00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:05,680
freaking store. 
But there was this this cutter 

892
00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:08,560
that's like a ruler and it has 
this little blade on it that you

893
00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:12,040
like press down and it cuts. 
And I was like, this is going to

894
00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:13,880
be really cool. 
And someone in the comments of 

895
00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:17,440
the video was like, Oh my gosh, 
like now you can like easily cut

896
00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:20,720
your pages just like with a 
slicing versus trying to stick 

897
00:41:20,720 --> 00:41:23,600
it under a guillotine or in 
another kind of like paper 

898
00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:27,040
cutting machine or whatever. 
And I was like, you're right now

899
00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:28,560
will I ever do that? 
Probably not. 

900
00:41:28,560 --> 00:41:30,560
I can't cut my page. 
I can't do it. 

901
00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:34,920
But if you are a page cutter, 
then like it could be right for 

902
00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:36,200
you. 
But I have been thinking about 

903
00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:40,160
it because this also came with a
deckled edge slice. 

904
00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:43,160
So like I can like cut down a 
page and get like a deckled edge

905
00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:46,880
cut on it now with like a nice 
fine straight line versus when I

906
00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:50,880
have those like crappy craft 
scissors, it's all caddywhompus.

907
00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:53,520
I'm using your words today. 
It's not a straight line. 

908
00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:56,280
It doesn't look good, but I have
a feeling this would look really

909
00:41:56,280 --> 00:41:58,360
cool though. 
Yeah, I know that like you're 

910
00:41:58,760 --> 00:42:01,480
using the paper cutter tool like
you've got there or one of those

911
00:42:01,480 --> 00:42:05,040
little guillotines or whatnot 
can make for a very quick cut. 

912
00:42:05,240 --> 00:42:08,400
I find that where I start to 
fall down in terms of like time 

913
00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:12,120
saved is getting it lined up in 
a way that like brings me peace 

914
00:42:12,120 --> 00:42:14,760
in the mind hole. 
Whereas when I cut my pages down

915
00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:17,760
for a Dutch door, typically I 
will just align the cut with the

916
00:42:17,760 --> 00:42:20,200
dock grid because that's going 
to be the thing that is most 

917
00:42:20,400 --> 00:42:22,440
obviously aligned or not 
aligned. 

918
00:42:22,640 --> 00:42:24,760
So I'll just position my 
scissors so that they sit 

919
00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:27,800
slightly inside of the dock grid
and cut away so that then 

920
00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:29,280
there's none of the dots 
remaining. 

921
00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:33,520
But I've at least cut in a a 
straight direction based on the 

922
00:42:33,520 --> 00:42:35,480
printing on the page. 
I like that. 

923
00:42:35,480 --> 00:42:37,360
You're very like a straight 
direction. 

924
00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:40,680
Is it 100% straight? 
Maybe not, but it is cut in a 

925
00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:42,920
straight direction. 
That's what's most important. 

926
00:42:43,080 --> 00:42:45,160
And I mean, of course, like, you
know, in talking about these 

927
00:42:45,160 --> 00:42:47,880
essential supplies, we've 
glossed over a lot of the ones 

928
00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:50,160
that would be very much nice to 
haves because there are 

929
00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:53,400
definitely other items in these 
categories and beyond that we 

930
00:42:53,400 --> 00:42:55,800
like to include in our 
journaling and planning 

931
00:42:55,800 --> 00:42:57,720
practices. 
We'd love to know from you 

932
00:42:57,720 --> 00:43:00,240
planner powers, what are your 
essential planner supplies? 

933
00:43:00,480 --> 00:43:02,480
The ones that by your ride or 
dies, they're the ones that you 

934
00:43:02,480 --> 00:43:05,200
cannot plan without. 
You're allowed to be very strict

935
00:43:05,200 --> 00:43:08,040
with this if you want to and 
really only nail it down to the 

936
00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:11,080
writing on and writing with or 
get a little LAX with it. 

937
00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:13,960
Tell us all of the ones that you
definitely feel like you need to

938
00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:15,440
have when you're doing your 
planning. 

939
00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:18,240
Either let us know in the 
comments or you can hit us up at

940
00:43:18,240 --> 00:43:21,720
plannerpalspodcast@gmail.com or 
over on Instagram at Planner 

941
00:43:21,720 --> 00:43:24,080
Pals Podcast. 
And shout out to the official 

942
00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:27,560
Planner Pals crew over there on 
YouTube suggesting an amazing 

943
00:43:27,560 --> 00:43:29,480
topic. 
So thank you all for this. 

944
00:43:29,480 --> 00:43:32,080
I hope you enjoy it and don't 
forget to head over to YouTube 

945
00:43:32,080 --> 00:43:34,440
as well for us. 
You can join us as a part of 

946
00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:36,440
this. 
Get in early, get these episodes

947
00:43:36,440 --> 00:43:39,240
early, vote on things. 
It truly is amazing. 

948
00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:42,400
I mean, you know, just because 
it's our thing doesn't mean that

949
00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:43,520
it's not. 
You know, I'm going to say it's 

950
00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:44,920
great. 
Like it really is great. 

951
00:43:45,240 --> 00:43:47,160
Yeah, we definitely would love 
to have you with us. 

952
00:43:47,240 --> 00:43:48,920
And as always, thanks for 
watching.

