My 2026 Luxury Paper-Based Productivity System

Now, what could be better than that? No

computer technology is ever going to give you that pure satisfaction of an electric pencil sharpener and a

perfectly sharpened pencil. Welcome to

this week's episode and today I am going to go through after extensive research my favorite notebooks and journals that

I've discovered in 2025.

So those of you who followed me over the last certainly over the last two years, you know that I've been pulling back a little bit from the digital world and

bringing back some of the joys of the analog world. Now, namely that are

analog world. Now, namely that are things like pens and pencils and of course these electric pencil sharpeners.

Now, before I get loads of comments, I have absolutely no idea who makes these pencil sharpeners. All I know is that

pencil sharpeners. All I know is that you probably can't see that on the screen, but it is a Korean company that makes these. We got them. My wife bought

makes these. We got them. My wife bought me this uh as a little gift. It's not

expensive. I think maybe $20. It's quite

robust. is rechargeable, but I'm sure that there's probably made in China and you could get these on Amazon or anywhere like that. They are superb.

Anyway, that's beside the point. What I

want to talk to you today about is my ultimate paperbased system and the tools. Not so much the actual system

tools. Not so much the actual system itself, but the tools or the actual products that I'm using. So, let me first start off with what I've

discovered as the perfect pocket notebook. Now, this is a Smithe little

notebook. Now, this is a Smithe little pocket notebook. I'll put all the

pocket notebook. I'll put all the details in the notes below. And none of these companies, by the way, are paying me for this. There's no links or affiliate links or anything like that.

I'll just put the genuine links in the show notes below. So, the first one is my little pocket notebook. Now, I began this in February. I've tried all sorts

of little notebooks, but this not only has a luxury feel to it. I mean, it is leather bound, but it's also got SMON's

proprietary very thin paper. So, you get hundreds of pages in here. Now, I take this into the living room with me at the end of the day when I'm finished here in

the office because I don't want digital tools around me. And so this goes with me and I actually take pull in all sorts of little notes. So last night I watched

a TED talk. I haven't seen those for ages. Made a few notes, but I also get

ages. Made a few notes, but I also get ideas when I'm sitting down on the sofa for videos like this or some of the writing that I do. And again, I just scribble them in here. Now the thing is

next morning I can come through here and see, oh, what did I write last night?

And I've written all sorts of little stuff in here. It's a pocket notebook.

It's a catch all. Now, I do this simply because I spend my day in front of a screen when I'm working and my phone is next to me, my computer is on, and

sometimes I'm even using my iPad. So,

just breaking away from that digital world at the end of the day. If I have an idea or anything like that, this is what I have. And I it just feels I don't

know, there's just something with that.

Now, I do keep a pocket pen with that.

This is a Quo uh I've forgotten the name of this now, but it's a Quo piston filling uh fountain pen. It's a very very small

fountain pen. It's a very very small nib. Um but it has a piston action. So

nib. Um but it has a piston action. So

there's no cartridges or uh ink converters. This I can just unscrew this

converters. This I can just unscrew this into the bottle and and bang, it's full.

And it does actually take a lot of ink.

I took this with me on my trip to Europe in the summer and I never had to fill it. When I got back, it was a further

it. When I got back, it was a further few weeks before I needed to fill it.

This pen lives on the notebook like that and I can just carry this around with me wherever I go. So that's the pocket notebook, the Smithson. And I think this

one is called the Panama. Beautiful.

Multiple different colors. I picked

these up in the sales because, and I will caution you right now, don't go to Smis's website and look at

the prices if you don't want to suffer some kind of seizure simply because these are stupid expensive. They're a

proper investment. This, if I remember correctly, I picked it up in the sale, so I got it for about £45, which will be around about $50.

However, at normal price, you're probably paying around $70 for something like this. However, I'll point this out.

like this. However, I'll point this out.

If you look at I've only used this much, so I haven't even quite got halfway in the notebook yet. And I've been using this all year. So, this is going to run another year at least. So, two years.

How many other little pocket notebooks am I going to pick up? So, actually, in terms of time and cost, it probably doesn't actually equate to that much.

Okay, let's move on to my planning book.

Every year I start what's called a planning book. Now, this is my 2025

planning book. Now, this is my 2025 planning book. I also have down here in

planning book. I also have down here in my bookshelf uh 2024 planning book. And essentially what I do

planning book. And essentially what I do with these is I put all my weekly planning. So, I use something called the

planning. So, I use something called the weekly planning template. I also put all my project plans in here. And right now, because I'm getting to the end of the

year, I'm also keeping my annual planning template in here, too. So, I

keep all my notes. But the great thing about using a notebook like this for for all your project plans, weekly plans, everything else in here is that over the

years, I'm able to come back. So, this

was actually some of the notes for the timebased productivity course, which I launched earlier this year in the summer. Uh, and this was some of the

summer. Uh, and this was some of the notes I made at the beginning of the year. It took me about six weeks of

year. It took me about six weeks of actual planning on paper before I moved to digital, which is why it took seven months to develop this course. But all

my ideas and notes were kept in here. It

was superb. It was just a great place to There's another one here, another page.

Just a superb place to get my thoughts out of here into an analog format. Now I

know before anyone asks I do then scan these pages into my notes app digital notes app because ultimately whatever I do is going to have a digital output.

But that initial planning that initial thinking I always start on paper. I also

do my weekly plans in here. So this is an example of here. But the notebook that I'm actually using is the Maramoman Nemesis A4 notebook. Now, the reason I

do this is because they have this wonderful kind of grid structure on here on the page. You probably can't see this, but they have lines across. So,

there's four lines. So, all I have to do is draw the margin and then draw a square and I can start doing my weekly planning notes. I just love coming to

planning notes. I just love coming to this notebook. It lives on the bookshelf

this notebook. It lives on the bookshelf next to my desk and I come to this every year. So, this is the Maramman A4

year. So, this is the Maramman A4 Nemesis notebook. It's got a very solid

Nemesis notebook. It's got a very solid uh plastic cover and the most important thing for me is they are fountain pen friendly. The paper is divine. Of

friendly. The paper is divine. Of

course, it is made in Japan. And this

morning, my 2026 planning notebook arrived. My planning

book has arrived. Everything is here.

I'm ready to get my white marker pen out and write the name of this book on here.

Now, the great thing about these is if you think about it, I mean, I've got or will have here 3 years of project plans, weekly plans, and endofear plans. And

look at the space. This is not a great footprint. It's quite heavy actually,

footprint. It's quite heavy actually, but that's three years. If 10 years, it's probably going to be here. They're

not going to take up a lot of space, but it's just a wonderful way of coming back and looking at all your plans of the past, the weekly plans. I can't think of

a better way to do something like this.

As I say, these are my annual planning books. So, right now, I'm on my 2025

books. So, right now, I'm on my 2025 Oops, right there. My 2025 planning book. And this one, this afternoon, I am

book. And this one, this afternoon, I am going to put in 2026 planning book. It's

kind of an exciting event. Certainly

never get that with my digital tools.

Okay, my scratch pad. Now, this is another SMON notebook. However, this is a little bit different because this is a leather binder. My wife bought me this

leather binder. My wife bought me this for my birthday last year. This year,

sorry. It's a beautiful leather binder.

Ridiculously expensive. But what these do is SMON do these little notebooks.

Now, it's the same colored paper. It's a

light blue paper. Now, I keep this on my desk at all times. It actually goes with me at the end of the day as well, but I rarely use it. I actually just all I do is I every morning I write the date. So,

I draw a line underneath the previous days and I put the date in the margin. Now, the reason I do this is

the margin. Now, the reason I do this is because I am very consistent with my weekly planning. I I do my weekly

weekly planning. I I do my weekly planning every Saturday morning. So all

I need to do is go back seven days. So I

think if I remember correctly, the 15th, I'm recording this on a Wednesday. So

the 15th was up here. So Wednesday I've already started writing. Tomorrow I

wrote a line and probably put Thursday in here. So by the time I get to

in here. So by the time I get to Saturday, I'm probably about here on the page. But the good thing about this is

page. But the good thing about this is now I don't have far to go back, but I always refer back to this notebook. Um,

and it sits on my desk every single day.

I would feel lost without it. I've been

doing this for over a year now. Before

I, my wife bought me this beautiful leather cover, I actually just had this notebook on the table with me, but now I've put it in the leather bounder and it just

feels I don't know, it feels very I think in the old fashioned term would be it feels very executive like [laughter] in a way. But what I really like about

this is that it's I can take this to meetings. So whenever I have meetings

meetings. So whenever I have meetings outdoors, I take this with me. It's not

huge. It's not A4. It's a little bit bigger than A5, but it's also like a statement if you like. It's a beautiful leather cover. It looks expensive. It is

leather cover. It looks expensive. It is

expensive, but it's all about image, isn't it? Sometimes when you're meeting

isn't it? Sometimes when you're meeting new clients or possible business collaborations, and I will always carry this with me. The other reason why I don't use my iPad in meetings is because

I find even if I've got notifications turned off, it's very tempting to just in a pause in the meeting to go and look at email and then you're just completely distracted. When I'm using this, I am

distracted. When I'm using this, I am completely centered on the meeting. I'm

engaged. My phone is turned over so I don't hear that. I don't see it. This is

just superb little thing. But you don't have to go ridiculously expensive like these. These Smithson notebooks, these

these. These Smithson notebooks, these A5 ones, they're probably about 20 $25 each. But again, when I look back over

each. But again, when I look back over here, this goes back to April. Uh cuz

I'm not writing a lot on here. But

sometimes I'm in the middle of writing an article or I'm writing a newsletter or something and it's just much easier to scribble down something on here than

to just leave the screen I'm in and and just get digitally distracted. So that

is my scratch pad. I do love this. This

is generally goes with me wherever I go even though it doesn't need to, but it does go because there's just something special about this particular notebook.

Okay, let's move on to my journal. Now,

as a fountain phantom fountain pen user, it's been very difficult to find a good quality journal that I can write in

using my favorite fountain pen, which is this gorgeous MLAN 149, which was another birthday present from my wife.

That was last year. She looks after me, does my wife. She knows what lights me up. These digital these, sorry, not

up. These digital these, sorry, not digital tools, a new iPad, a new iPhone.

Give me a new pen or a new notebook. And

that does light me up. Anyway, this is my Mlong 149. I got it last year, so it's about getting close to 18 months old, and I've used it every day. Now,

the thing is, I took a long time to find the right journal. I used Baron Fig Confidant for a while, but the paper bleeds a little bit.

In the end, I came I discovered again a Smison product. Now, I've got the SM

Smison product. Now, I've got the SM porttoello, and this one I promise you, you don't want to look at the price.

These are leatherbound journals. They are they were designed in

journals. They are they were designed in the early 1900s for those aristocratic gentlemen who would go and do the grand tour through

Europe and Africa. And the reason why these are so special is they are 192 pages in here. Now the paper is very

thin. It's wonderfully thin. So those of

thin. It's wonderfully thin. So those of you who are aware of fountain pen paper, think tamore river paper and this is

very very similar and it's a light blue color which is SM's kind of signature color. What I do every morning is I

color. What I do every morning is I write in my journal every morning uh without fail. It's just part of what I

without fail. It's just part of what I do. And what I do also is uh I'm trying

do. And what I do also is uh I'm trying to find the right Yes. Okay. So you look at date. I know you can't read this and

at date. I know you can't read this and I don't want you to read it. So keep

your eyes appealed. Always a date at the top, but in the margin I keep track of any of my uh things that I want to keep track of. So I always do my morning

track of. So I always do my morning routines even though I never miss them.

Then I write out what my two objectives for the day are. And then down here I write what exercise I did. And this is basically just a stream of thinking.

What I write in my journal is whatever's on my mind that morning. I'm also been tracking my weight this year. So, my

weight is up here and I write that in here. So, every Wednesday and Saturday,

here. So, every Wednesday and Saturday, I take my weight and I write that in here. Now, these books are just superb.

here. Now, these books are just superb.

They are absolutely gorgeous. I don't

buy them at their recommended retail price. I have just received my 2026

price. I have just received my 2026 uh journal and I bought this one in their Black Friday sale. So, my 2026

journal is going to be a green cover.

So, it's actually the same green as I have on my pocket notebook. The thing

is, um, I would prefer to get the navy blue, but unfortunately, because I always tend to order in the sales, I

don't always have a great deal of choice in color. So, I ended up with this

in color. So, I ended up with this rather mauve color, whatever, which wouldn't have been my first choice, but hey, it's my journal. And at the end of

the year, it will go into this box which I have here which comes with your smison journal. And what I will do is this will

journal. And what I will do is this will go into my bookshelf and I will just put the year on here. Now I realized that I missed a trick. When my wife got me my

scratch pad, which is the same material cover as the journal, she got my initials put on the bottom in gold and I went, "Ah, of course." So, my 2027

journal, whatever color I get, I am going to have the year engraved on the on the front cover. So, that's going to

be additional touch. Um, but that is my journals for for this year. I mean, oh, when you get a Smisen,

you probably regret it immediately because of how much it costs, but then when it arrives and you feel it and you can touch it and you can start writing

in it, you realize it is worth every cent or penny, whatever country you're in. It is they are just wonderful. They

in. It is they are just wonderful. They

are great. And finally, I want to give a a kind of like a mention to the pencils.

I've been using these these pencils here. They are absolutely gorgeous. They

here. They are absolutely gorgeous. They

are the Tennessee Red by Musgrave. But

the thing is when you go, you smell in here. They are absolute. The smell of

here. They are absolute. The smell of these pencils are But this is the thing about digital tools. You don't get this joy, this

tools. You don't get this joy, this pleasure from digital tools. These don't

cost a great deal, but they're made from cedar wood. And when you open up these

cedar wood. And when you open up these pencils, oh, they just oh, you you just can't beat them. So, there you go. That

is my tools. Now, one thing one notable mention before I go and one thing I recommend to all my coaching clients, particularly the ones who are getting very easily distracted throughout the

day, is to use one of these A7 notebooks. They are absolutely superb.

notebooks. They are absolutely superb.

Now, since I use the scratch pad now, I don't generally use this every day, but this is always on my desk. It's a

Maramoman uh nemesis. Again, it number is 193. It's A7.

is 193. It's A7.

The beauty of these is they are flip.

So, you can just flip it over. Now, if

I've got a particularly busy day, what I will always do is I will just give myself 20 seconds to write out what my most important tasks of the day are. and

I put them write them on here and then just leave this on my desk. It means

that it's always in my line of sight and I never lose track of what my most important tasks of the day are. So there

you go. That's a Maramman A7 notebook flip notebook. I'll put again the

flip notebook. I'll put again the details. So, all these products that

details. So, all these products that I've got here, probably not the fountain pen, the fountain pen. I'm sure you just type now Mlanc149. But again, these prices are ridiculous.

These are quite cheap. Again, what I would say is if you are interested in any of these products, I'm not getting any kickback from anybody. There's no

affiliate links. I'll put the details in the show notes below. It's up to you if you wish to go and uh look at them. As I

say, with the journal, they are ridiculously expensive. However, that

ridiculously expensive. However, that said, one of the great things about having a luxury journal is you're much more likely to start writing in it than

you would if you just bought a $2 notebook. That's just something I have

notebook. That's just something I have noticed. So, there you go. Those are the

noticed. So, there you go. Those are the digit the non-digital tools, the analog tools that I will be using in 2026. I've

got my pocket notebook, which goes with me pretty much everywhere I go. I even

put this in the car if I'm going on a trip. I've got my scratch pad which sits

trip. I've got my scratch pad which sits on my desk all day and it's just superb because I can just quickly write down ideas, thoughts, whatever in here. And

then I've got my planning book which is going to be the Maraman um Nemesis A4 notebook. They are just brilliant for

notebook. They are just brilliant for writing out your plans for the week and also project plans, anything like that.

Keep them in a central book. I know

where everything is then and it's just a wonderful way of organizing things without having to use digital tools. I

hope you found this interesting. It's

been a certainly a joy over the last two years finding the right products that I love using and that's essentially what I've done. I love my Tennessee red

I've done. I love my Tennessee red pencils. I love my Mount Blanc, but I

pencils. I love my Mount Blanc, but I also equally love my Quo piston filler pen, which isn't anywhere near as expensive as this, but it is again, it's

a joy to write with, and that's really what it's about. It's all about the joy of using these nondigital tools. Now, if

you want to learn about writing journals, then this video up here would be the one I would suggest you look at next.