‘Tis the season. The season for back to school discounts. But what stationery should you get? As trivial as this sounds, stationery is important. Not only do they keep you motivated, you want to make sure it lasts for the whole year since it’s too bothersome to keep going to Officeworks. Plus, you want to make sure the cheapest things out there are also great quality.
Pens:
Let’s start with pens. One thing you should note when purchasing pen is what type of pen you’re looking for. Are you looking for a gel pen? Ballpoint pen? Felt tip pen? For exams, I would recommend a ballpoint pen, of course. It flows so easily. However, your standard Bic Crystal pen isn’t the most comfortable pen to grip on when you’re furiously writing in an exam. I find that the body of the pen is too hard, and in stressful situations, sometimes the bone of my thumb digs into the corners of the plastic, making it difficult for me to find comfort.
I would highly recommend the Artline Smoove Pen. These pens are so smooth and you can ‘break into’ these pens straight away. By ‘breaking into’ a pen, I mean starting up the ink flow of the pen. Have you ever used a new pen but you can’t use it properly so you end up scratching the paper? That’s because there has been no ink flow established. Usually it takes around three or four scribbles in the corner of the page before the ink flow allows you to write smoothly. However, these Artline pens can be used straight away. Plus, you can buy bulk for a cheap price. From Officeworks, a 20 pack costs around $6!
Another thing I like about this pen is that the nib size is 1.0 mm. But what does this mean? The nib is the tip of your pen and this becomes really important when you’re purchasing pens. A wider nib size for a ballpoint pen allows the ink flow to become smoother. I prefer 1.0mm nib size for ballpoint pens only since their ink isn’t as watery as gel pens.
And speaking of gel pens, these pens can be great for taking class notes. I like to use one pen for everything but gel pens can also work. However, I would not recommend it if you have small, squashed handwriting. My friend has this kind of handwriting so gel pens make it difficult to read her work- I recommended her to use a ballpoint pen with 0.7mm nib size. Getting back to gel pens, you really need to be careful what gel pen brand you purchase. If you purchase a 0.7mm and larger nib sizes, the pen will bleed through the page. I’ve had numerous experiences in accidently purchasing 0.7mm red gel pens- it made my math book look like a crime scene!
I would recommend a Muji gel pen, especially a 0.5mm nib size. The ink flow is just right and it doesn’t bleed. I would not recommend using gel pens for exams, but Muji gel pens are great for class notes. My only complaint is that the ink sometimes clogs up and when the ink flow returns to normal, it likes to leave clots on your page. Apart, from that, I enjoy using it and I purchased one from a Muji store at around 95 cents! A Muji gel pen with a clicker top is around $1. However, I’m not a huge fan of how the ink smudges a bit after I highlight.
The Muji store I visit is in the city so my second preferred gel pen is the Pilot G2 Gel Pen. Unfortunately, gel pens in Officeworks are expensive- one gel pen can cost up to $6. This gel pen is on the cheaper side of the spectrum since it’s around $4. I use the 0.37mm nib size, but be careful with a smaller size because it can scrape your correction tape, and believe me, it ruins the overall look of the page.
Binders vs Exercise Books
This is a debate I often see. Are loose leaf sheets in binders better than exercise books? Personally, there’s no right answer. Both serve their purpose, i.e. providing you paper for you to take notes on. However, I currently prefer using a binder over exercise books. Throughout junior school, I used exercise books because I figured that my teachers would like to collect my exercise book. However, senior school came around and I changed to binders.
One of the things I didn’t like about exercise books was that whenever I would put them in my bag, the ends of the books would become dented; some pages may be bent or ripped; spiral bounds can get caught with other materials- the list goes on. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use exercise books. They are great for keeping your sheets together and ensuring that you don’t mix up with another subject.
However, the reason why I prefer binders and loose leaf is because it’s easier for me to take notes in class on a sheet of loose leaf paper. With exercise books, I would find that I would have to place the book on an angle to avoid my wrist hitting against the bounds of the book. I can also just carry on binder to school everyday. Binders may look heavy but the weight doesn’t increase like in an exercise book, where there is already weight from the paper and the cover, and sticking in worksheets in exercise books increase the weight. The only thing you need to be concerned about with binders is that you need to be organised in making sure you don’t lose your worksheets and remember to hole punch them whenever you get a new handout.
However, this doesn’t mean I would totally isolate myself from exercise books. I would do a mix depending on the content. Math, for example, is the only subject where I would use an exercise book. I used to have one for physics but I recently changed the format at the beginning of the year. And a combination of books and binder works out well because these two items fit well in my school bag.
I mentioned weight a while ago, and yes, your binder can get heavy but it depends what kind of binder you purchase. I used to use a zipper binder. Although I liked how my papers were never bent, it was quite restrictive. Towards the end of the term, the D-rings wouldn’t align because I had so many handouts my binder won’t close properly. Instead, I use an Otto binder. I love Otto because their designs are so aesthetically pleasing and can be found at Officeworks! A binder costs around $6!
Plus, I’m loving how Officeworks has added a new tag if you shop on their website- it’s called ‘fashion stationery.’ Most of these items are from Otto because they’re one of the smaller brands that like to make pretty stationery.
Back to what I was saying above, I would combine a binder with an exercise book. My friend uses loose leaf grid paper but personally, I find it very difficult to keep organised because math is one of the messiest subjects, so I’d rather have an exercise book where I can mess up my equations and scribble out (or white out) any mistakes.
Speaking of loose leaf paper, if there are any binder users out there, I would highly recommend Studymate Coloured Loose Leaf Paper. These loose leaf papers are quite strong, unlike the flimsy ones I’ve encountered. Plus, I like colour-coding my subjects so using the coloured loose leaf papers are easy for me to organise.
(My other tabs aren’t visible but I have Society & Culture and History Extension towards the back of my binder).
Are Planners Worth It?
Planners are another thing to consider when starting the new year and you’re looking at stationery. Just like what it sounds like, planners keep you organised. But is it worth the money?
I’d say, to a certain extent, they’re good to maintain organisation. However, you need to put in the effort in maintaining it. For many disorganised people, this may be difficult since you need to make remember to write the tasks in your planner. And for lazy people, finding the correct date and constantly flipping to that date may be too bothersome. I used to enjoy planners but recently I’ve stopped using them. This is because I found that it took up too much space in my bag. I used to have a Kikki.K planner (I forgot the name of the collection but it was spiral bound). The planner took up so much of my bag that I could barely fit my lunch or my jacket (if I took it off during the day) and my bag would be really heavy.
Recently, I’ve changed to sticky notes. I use a monthly planner post it notes and a to do list post it notes.
These sticky notes are really cheap. Although they’re $5 and that sounds expensive, if you compare it to other neon sticky notes (which are around $10), these sticky notes are actually cheap and can keep you organised. The best part is that they have a guide at the back of the packaging showing you how to use these sticky notes!
I stick these notes at the front of my binder so I will always see my tasks. Plus, I don’t have to worry about flipping to the correct page.
Having said that, I’m not discouraging you to use your planner. Planners are great (function-wise and aesthetic-wise)! I’m only providing an alternative to those who are a bit lazy to purchase a planner or would like a cheaper alternative.
And here it is! Remember, this is just a guide if you’re looking for what stationery to use. These are just products that I use every day and have found them really efficient in serving their purpose. And like I said, this may sound trivial but stationery can really increase your motivation.
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