Editing The Pen Addict 289/transcript (section)

== Notebook Systems ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So you were talking about finding that singular notebook or notebook type system to use in your daily life. And I started doing that this year with the Hobonichi cousin, which is like the big brother to the, or I guess I should say cousin. Wow, I botched that up. It's the cousin to the Hobonichi Techo, which is the smaller.

'''Myke Hurley:''' The cousin is the big brother.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' The cousin is the big brother of the Techo. And it's the A5 size where the Techo is A6 size. And I was super intimidated, you know, with this notebook sitting on my desk. Like, oh my God, I have failed every Hobonichi Techo I've had. So why should I go with the larger, more intimidating model? But, you know, of course that's what I did. And, you know, I've just started using it on the first because it's a dated planner. You know, one page per day. And as it turns out, I kind of like the larger format because I'm already running out of space on each day. And I didn't realize maybe one of the issues with the Techo was the space was smaller. So I was more particular about what I wrote. So I didn't use up all that space. And with the cousin, I am free to just write and doodle and do stupid stuff and write important stuff and all the things. And when I do that, I find I want to write more. So what I've had to do is, you know, have another notebook on the side. Like my knock, you know, dot dash notebook. I use that a lot to just have like brainstorming ideas. You know, the cousin, like so far every day I've written just general things, you know, thoughts, things I want to work on. It's less, it's more of a journal than a task list, if you will. Like it's become very little task list actually. And, but that keeps me wanting like a second notebook to like just scratch ideas down. So when I'm not using like a notebook or like a note card, I also use like the drafts iOS app, which I find is really, really necessary for like quick jotting down when I don't have a notebook on me. And then I can go and put it in, you know, in my notebook. But, you know, every day it's just kind of daily thoughts, either like on the personal side or the professional side. And so far I'm using a different pen every day for the page. I'm going to try to keep that going through the entire year. And I'll do a little short, you know, basically a Twitter length review of that pen. You know, I may collect these and share these later. Of the pen and ink I'm using. And I've used it for testing out new things like some pencils. Like on the first day I had a bunch of pencils that I wanted to sharpen up and see how they, how they looked and how they felt. So I just jotted that down in there. I'm also drawing coffee cups on each page for how much coffee I've drank that day. So, you know, we're definitely in the three cup per day range of my little coffee cup drawings. And then just, you know, random stuff. Like I said, I'm sketching the pen that I'm using, you know. Sketching is a loose term. These are pretty, these are pretty rough. But I like these little doodles. So I'm just really digging how open this book is. I'm having no issue whatsoever filling it up. Which I thought might be an issue. And in fact, I'm needing more space for non-daily stuff. You know, something that's not tied into, like if I'm on January the 3rd. I'm not tied to that date. You know, I need to write something random. You know, like some planning or something like that. The only issue I've had so far is the dry time is brutal on this Tomoe River.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So you were really selling me, right? Because like this is the perfect kind of notebook for what I'm looking for. Where it's like it's almost diary centered but not focused. You know, it's big and blah, blah, blah. But I couldn't deal with a bad dry time. If you can't, I can't. Because it would just become one big block of ink.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yep. Dry time is really bad. So I'm having to leave the notebook open for a while. Like after I'm done writing, I'm having to use like a note card under my hand. Because sometimes the way the page is set up, it's divided. Like the top section is like for time of day and notes. And then there's like a bottom section that's open. So it's like two thirds of a section on the top than one third on the bottom. So the bottom third is really good for the pen of the day review that I'm doing. So sometimes I'll write that first. Well, then I have to go above it and write on top of it. So I'm using like a note card in between my hand and the page. And then if I go back to a previous page and append something to one of the notes, I have to leave it there for a second till it dries and then flip back to the current page. So I don't like, you know, you don't get those ink remnants on the page that it's touching. So I think I'll just have to put a sheet of paper in it if I'm going to close it like immediately after writing with a fountain pen. It's just fountain pen inks that have this issue. So yeah, it's kind of a bother because I'll finish writing a whole, you know, two or three paragraphs with a fountain pen. Then I have to sit there for a second before I can close it or change the page. So that's kind of a downer. I'll deal with it because so far I'm using it kind of how I wanted to. I was hoping it might work out and it really is working out exactly how I hoped. But the dry time is a pain in the butt. So and then I need to try a few other pens with it. Like I haven't done a gel ink page yet or a pencil page yet. So I'll be doing some more of that. But, you know, fountain pens take some dry time, but they also look the best on there, right? That's that's it's the feature and the downside of that paper.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So very happy with it so far. I'm going to keep using it. I will post pictures every now and then, you know, not every day. I'm going to use it and then, you know, we'll see how it goes. We'll we'll touch base, you know, every month or two. See if I'm see if I'm still going. And as a side note, I do have a giveaway going on the pen addict blog for a different planner, but one that was so hot it sold out like immediately. The Kukuyo Jiban Techo is very, very popular along the lines of the Hobonichi Cousin. And I'm giving one away on the blog. So we'll have that link in the show notes. You should have plenty of time to to enter if you're hearing this a day or two from now. It's going on a few days. So that's another planner that might that could be next year's planner. I wanted to give this cousin a try. But the Jiban Techo is very, very popular. And I think they're pretty much sold out everywhere. So I've got one to give away. So go get it.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So do you keep the cousin in a seed case?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, yeah. So I should mention that. Yes, I do. And everyone wants those like yesterday. And I want to sell them to you yesterday. And I had a call with the manufacturer. And we're trying to figure out a way where we can be more than single threaded. So they're coming. They're they're in the queue. But right now, you know, Mandarin and Steel, Brasstowns and Sinclairs are next in the queue. Then Raven is probably next in the queue. Then probably the A5. So it's just, you know, we had a long talk with the manufacturer yesterday trying to figure out how we can be more productive for both of us. So right now we're single threaded. You know, one one production line is all ours. But, you know, it's going to take them a couple of weeks to get through these Mandarin colors. So it's hard to say. It's taken too long. I'm frustrated with it. So we're working on it. The A5 seed cases are going to be here soon. I mean, it might be a month. It might be two. But I mean, they're definitely happening. They're definitely going to be here. It's just I can't give a better date than I'm not sure.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But yes, I care. I care. I know. Hey, I'm sorry, too. No one's sorrier than Brad. Yeah, I know. I mean, this is, you know, well, I'm going to do a long kind of here's where we're at State of the Union knock post. Sometime soon. Just kind of say, you know, this is this is how we operate as a business. And, you know, it sucks. I can't get everything all at once. But that's just kind of how it has to work. Right. So and we're we're OK with that, like Jeff and I. But it's hard to schedule and plan that way. And I know it's frustrating for our customers when they're ready for stuff now because I want to give them stuff now. And it's tough. So we're working, working on it, trying to do trying to see if we can change things a little bit with the manufacturing. Process.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So working on it. Let me ask you a question. And you can please say no comment on this question if you so desire.

'''Myke Hurley:''' With hindsight, would you have waited to launch the seed case?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' No.

'''Myke Hurley:''' OK, you still would have just gone with the one. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. All right. Well, that tells me what I need to know then is that like that sold really well. So like whatever.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Yeah. OK, because I know that the idea was always it's a line. Right. But you just haven't been able to put the whole line out yet. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' No, I would not.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I would not have done it differently. OK, good. No, no regrets. Yeah. No, not even a question. Like I didn't even have to think about that. I've never thought about that. No, I'm happy with that. All right.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm going for big segues today. So talk into something else that you won't regret. Let's talk about Blue Apron. Nice. They are the number one fresh ingredient and recipe delivery service in the country. You can get $30 off your first delivery and free shipping by going to blueapron.com slash penaddict. Blue Apron delivers fresh pre-portioned ingredients with step-by-step recipes right to your door. Their recipes can be cooked in 45 minutes or less. And they offer 12 new recipes every week. You can pick two, three or four based on what best fits your schedule. The Blue Apron menu changes all the time. Every week it's changing based on what is in season. Upcoming meals include Steak Diane with mushroom pencils and mashed potatoes or General Tso's chicken with bok choy and jasmine rice. And now Blue Apron is teaming with Whole30 to bring you even more delicious recipes. Until February 26th, Blue Apron's menu will feature two Whole30 approved recipes each week. Recipes like Mexican spiced barramundi with kale, sweet potato and avocado salad. And togarashi chicken lettuce with less cups of avocado. Blue Apron sends the best food to you. It's great quality. And you'll be able to kickstart your new year with Blue Apron and Whole30. They're combining to get even better food in your stomach. One of my favorite things about this stuff is that you get these great recipe cards, right? So you get these great recipes. You cook. You learn how to cook. You got all the recipes there. Super easy to follow. If it's something that you like, you've got the whole card. You can just cook it again. I'm doing that tonight, actually. Blue Apron is treating our listeners to their first three meals, which is a $30 value right for you. $30 off your first delivery with free shipping. So just go to blueapron.com slash penaddict and you'll get $30 off your first order with free shipping at blueapron.com slash penaddict. Blue Apron, a better way to cook.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' We have a ton of Ask TPA follow-up from two weeks ago. So much so that we didn't even request any new questions this week. But I'm going to go immediately off the document here into what I wrote into January 3rd's entry in my Hobonichi cousin mic. This was an Ask TPA question I received via snail mail. So I'm always open to getting snail mail. The address you can find on my website to send me letters. And this Ask TPA is a great one. And I wanted to make sure I shared it. So this was like a five-page letter, if not longer, from someone I consider a good friend, even though I've never met them in person. But like I said before, you just kind of know when someone, you line up with someone pretty good. You can kind of tell. So this is from someone that is really important to me. So the question was, in the span of this entire letter, this came up. It says, how are you managing the extreme balance of family, work, side projects, and hobbies? How did you do that before with the third shift job? Still amazed you only had one breakdown. So that's the entirety of the question, but there's a lot there in that two sentences, three sentences.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I may have only had one breakdown publicly, but I assure you on the back end, there was a lot more breakdowns than that. And Myke and I have talked about things in the past. And this is going on three, four, five years ago. I've certainly had some challenges in my life that I've had to fight through and getting through work stuff and side business stuff and hobby stuff and family stuff and trying to figure out all those things together. It has not been easy always on the back end. I feel like the last couple of years, things have been going really, really well personally and professionally. But it wasn't always that way, and it's never always been that way. You know, without turning this into the... Does anyone listen to that podcast, The Hilarious World of Depression? It's a really, really high quality, great podcast with people talking about their challenges and anxieties and depression and how they battled these things and came out better on the other side or are still fighting every day to figure this out. Luckily, it's been a couple of years since I've had one of these breakdowns, and I don't foresee it happening anytime soon. But balance is part of it. You know, I've found that I'm really good at knocking out a task list if I do one thing at a time. You know, that's what we get all wrapped up in these days is there's so many things coming at you. It's hard to balance just completing one thing all the way and then moving on to the next thing. You know, when I'm trying to attack my email, which I set aside specific time for, you know, I'll set aside an hour to do email. Nothing else is going on during that time. You know, my blog's not open. Twitter's not open. You know, the TV's not on. You know, I have to get through that and then I can move on to the next thing. So doing one thing as my priority at all times is helpful. Even though I have a huge list, like I might have 10 other things I need to do today, I'm only going to work on one at a time because I'm just going to fail myself if I don't.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' My family takes precedence over everything. You know, depending on everyone's situation, everyone's situation is different. But, you know, if my family needs to do something, the email can wait. You know, you know, I'm not going to put off my kids or my wife, you know, to answer the next email. Right. You know, you, you, if you focus on that, you know, then you're going to have to make the time to work, even if that's going to take away your personal time or your hobby time or your fun time, you make that family time first. That said, never put yourself in a position to like have to constantly be apologizing for missing something or not doing something or putting something off. Right. You don't want to constantly say, hey, sorry, I didn't get to this yesterday. Oh, sorry, I didn't do that thing. You know, if you have to get work done, you got to set aside time for it and you got to make sure everyone, you know, whether it's your, you know, your day job or your family time that, okay, this is my work time. This is where this happens. This is why this needs to happen. And then, you know, you set aside that time, you get it done and then you, then you're free, you know, then you're free to do that family time. So I admit that that's harder with a traditional job. I'm coming from a position where I don't have a traditional job anymore. So it's a little different for me, right? My work schedule is not wake up, go in for eight hours, don't see the family and then come home. And, you know, the family, you know, you know, is jumping on you to, hey, hey, dad, do this, or I need you to do that, or let's go do this. And, you know, that's different. You know, that's very, very hard. That was one of the biggest challenges back when I had to make a decision to keep the pen out of going. That was the decisions that came out of those breakdown times, right? It was what's something had to give when I decided to go full time into this job. And it's hard for me. Like, my situation is very different from anybody else's situation. We all have our individual situations to take account of. But I was in a place where I had a support system where I could make this jump and make this change in my life. Before, I had to give up something I love, like the pen addict. I'm very thankful and grateful for that. So, this is something, you know, I could do a whole podcast on. Like we said, The Hilarious World of Depression. Great podcast title. Because it's very not hilarious at all. And they cover all these topics there. But, yeah, you just gotta, I just, you know, I know what's important to me. I make sure that's taken care of. And then I work through the rest of it. You know, I don't have some type of system. I'm not a very system-oriented person. I know what's required of me. And I'll sacrifice the things on my end to make sure that things like family are taken care of, if that makes sense. So, I don't know if I answered anything there to that question. I know I rambled a lot. But it's hard. It's individual. There's no black and white answers. But you just have to understand what's important. Take care of that first. And then fit in everything else in that five minutes a day after you've handled everything else important. And then that's where the challenge comes in. But put the challenge on yourself to figure out. Don't put that on the people in your life. You know, handle that first. And then, you know, try to figure everything else out in the one free minute you have during the day.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, that took an interesting turn.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, I wanted to. I'm not going to help anyone either. But I wanted to just underline and expand on one point that you mentioned, which is about support system. Support systems are very important if you want to have any kind of self-employed career, side business, anything, right? Like any big life change. It's important to have people with you that can support you for various reasons. But there is just something that's not very often mentioned that I think is important when talking about this stuff. You know, people talk about like how important it is to have your support system so you can go on your own. And I could only do this because of my support system. You know, I had loved ones around me that was so important. This isn't something that people have to do. Like the loved ones in your life don't have to actually support your decisions. And you need to remember that. And if they don't, then maybe it's something you shouldn't do. Like it is not a given that some that your partner should support you in quitting your job. If it's not the right thing in their opinion. Am I making sense? Right? Like I feel like it's, this isn't like a thing that like you must have your support system and your support system must support you 100% in everything that you decide to do. Like that's not how life works. And right. Some like, and it doesn't also like, because having someone that supports you is a good thing. Someone not supporting you in a certain thing doesn't make them a bad person. Like I just wanted to just put that out there. Yep. They actually might be being a better person by saving you from making a mistake that you can't see. So there you go.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Exactly. Exactly. So that's why you put those people first and foremost. It's a, you know, any type of partnership. It's a, it's a two-way street, right?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Mm-hmm.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Very, very important. All right. So let's talk about pens. William says, I was thinking that seeing ink in demonstrators is great. So why hasn't anyone put in an LED in the barrel with the ink? I think it would be pretty cool to see the ink illuminated. All right. So William just blew my mind, right? Why isn't, why aren't LEDs in demonstrator pens a thing yet? Can someone get on this and have a disco party up in my pen barrel? Like we need, we need to see this happen, Myke. Like, I mean, there's pens with lights, like you get them at Disney World and you got that pen and those, those swirly things that'll, you know, poke your eyes out and, you know, whip your arms. You know, there's lots of lights going on in the pens, but why isn't there one in the barrel?

'''Myke Hurley:''' It sounds like Exhibit needs to come here and pimp someone's pen.