On not being a Stationer

It's been eleven weeks since Nero's Notes despatched final orders. The mighty Clare carried on a little longer, despatching subscriptions and tying up loose ends.

For a while, I had bits and pieces to finish off, but even that is done now. It only remains for me to prepare a couple of sets of accounts and start the process of winding the company up.

Do I miss it? Yes, and no. I miss some of the customer interactions, but I don't miss putting together orders or juggling the finances. There are some wholesalers who have barely automated at all. Making an order involved ploughing through a massive PDF catalogue, jotting down long item codes to then transpose into an excel order form. Some of these distributors handled multiple brands, so the process took hours. I'd wait, then receive payment instructions. A week or two later, part of the order would turn up, along with a slip detailing "back orders", to be delivered at a time unspecified. A proper pain in the cashflow.

I wondered whether I would still be as motivated to use analogue tools, particularly as I'm exploring different digital rabbit holes. The answer to that has come quickly - I'm using pens, pencils and paper more than I ever did.

Every morning, I read the Daily Stoic, then write my intentions journal in my William Hannah. I'm determined to lose weight this year, and do so in a sustainable way. Part of my strategy is a weight loss journal, which I'm keeping to hand all day. My answer to every single emotion appears to be eating, which is not a great recipe for controlling my weight. I'm inserting the journal between the feeling and the behaviour. Then, there's my daily driver, just in case.

Once I get to my desk, there are more notebooks, pens and pencils.

I've just ordered refills for my William Hannah, and keep finding myself browsing online ink retailers, so I can be categorical in saying my love of the analogue remains constant.

The Digital

To the consternation, confusion and occasional exasperation of friend and podcast co-host, Justin, I'm on a digital journey.

Disgruntled by Apple, I had moved to Windows. Furious with the Trump administration and shocked by how America-centric my tech stack is, I've moved on again. This time, to Linux. Linux is European. Sort of. Linus, the inventor, is a Finn and the code is open source. It remains a tiny slice of a market dominated by Windows and Apple. However, the fact that I feel emboldened enough to try it means it's becoming more mainstream.

I'm focused on using privacy-forward services and applications, keeping the data that I handle (mine and clients') as safe and secure as I can. I have lost trust in the US that has been created. The tech giants are being pragmatic, or spineless, depending on your point of view. I do not believe that any data is safe with any of them.

Finding better places to work is in itself an adventure. Learning a new operating system and new applications is by turns fun and frustrating. Still, it beats working.

People like you support my writing. Sign up for my free newsletter. Become a paid member, and get access to all my writing, including anything I publish, and a Member's Slack.