One idea for giving away pens is to look for places where people are likely to walk off with an ink pen. Stores, restaurant, and hospitals are all places that go through pens rapidly so they might be good places to give away some extra writing instruments.

Regarding your latest post “Tuesday’s Tip: Throw Away Those Extra Pens” – Wouldnt it be more appropriate and more “green” to
donate/share/pass along those extra pens and pencils to other needy people rather then just suggesting to throw them away?

Just my 2 cents..

Sandeep

I pen is a very personal thing. It’s used to document your thoughts, archive your notes, deliver your message, send your approval and place your “thumbprint.”

My current pen of choice is the Staedler Mars Professional Technical Drawing Pen with a .35mm refill which is water-based, fast-drying, with acid-free black pigment ink that is smudge-proof, bleed-resistant, lightfast, and permanent. I liked it for these features and the way it looks. The negative is that it has an annoying screw-off cap which will most likely drive me back to my Pigma Micron.

My point is…as important as this instrument is, in my opinion some thought should be placed in selecting the one that is right for you. The next time someone asks to borrow your pen hand them one out of your pencil holder and tell them to keep it.

All you really need is one writing instrument, be it regular, fountain or gel pen, whatever works for you. You don’t need to spend fortune on it, but it must meet two requirements:

1. You must absolutely like it – design, how it feels in your hand, how writing feels.
2. It must be reliable, always.

Personally, I went for a set of 3 – fountain pen, regular pen and a pencil. Not in my pocket, but in a solid box, yet it’s always with me.
Don’t want to advertise, so I’ll just tell I went for cheapest model of a good brand, maybe twice the price of a no-name, but it’ll last for a lifetime.

And one more thought to wrap it up. The act of writing with good pen is so pleasurable, that even the most boring tasks becomes bearable, as every letter just flows.

get one GREAT pen and put it in your pocket. Get rid of all your other pens.

Pretty soon you’ll start to reach for your pocket instinctively – you’ll feel naked without it, like if you forgot your watch (or your palm).

These days when people leave a pen in my office by mistake I usually throw it out rather then put it in my drawer.