paperwork, filing, office, papers, WellSorted
Virginia Wells

Virginia Wells

Why Am I Addicted to Stationery?

So many of my clients tell me “I have a stationery addiction!!! Why am I addicted to stationery?”

Sound familiar? It might if you have cupboards full of:

  • Pretty notebooks, diaries and organisers
  • Various shaped and decorated sticky notes
  • Fancy pens
  • Paperclips in different shapes….

I get it. There’s lots of cool stuff on offer these days. But why do you buy more of it when you haven’t used up the ones you already have? One of the reasons is “I have to keep it just in case I need it” but I believe otherwise. It’s mainly because of what it all promises you.

What Stationery Promises You

Organisation

That Kikki-K To-Do List or yearly planner promises you that you’ll be organised. Your mind tells you that owning it will mean you’ll suddenly be doing the stuff on your list and turning up to things on time right? If only you used it, you’d be on track.

Dreaming and ‘me’ time

Those awesome notebooks, glittery pens and sharpies promise you time. Time to chill and colour, write down your dreams, purge your feelings, or plan your next holiday. They all scream, “you have time to dream and contemplate your life”.

Deservedness or a Guilty Pleasure

They can also speak to you about what you deserve. Maybe as a child, your family couldn’t afford to get the cool stuff. Maybe mum or dad didn’t approve of it… So now, as an adult, you’ve decided you deserve to have some nice things. When you see something you like, you buy it to treat yourself – and they don’t cost much anyway, right? It’s your guilty pleasure. You forget about how much is sitting around at home already and buy the latest stuff.

Fun

When you do use them – sticking stickers in the planner and all the rest – you feel happy and light. It’s fun. Because of this experience, it promises to make a boring meeting more exciting. It promises to brighten your day.

This one isn’t a promise…

You buy more because you’re afraid you’ll ruin the pretty ones you have…

This one’s simply a ‘beat yourself up thing’. You won’t use any of your stationery because you think you’ll ruin that pretty diary, planner or notebook with your chicken scrawl.

Knowing That, Can You Purge?

We always have an intention to use the stationery we buy but often we end up with a large surplus because of the above reasons. When used, they often live up to their promise, but often they sit, wasting away in the cupboard.

So, what to do with them? Your challenge is to cull your stash to your ultimate favourites that you’ll use this year. Give the others away so they can be enjoyed. Most importantly, start using them!

Are you addicted to stationery? If so, you’ll find plenty of friends in the WellSorted Facebook group!

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