Happy September one and all! If you have been dropping in for a read for a while you will know that I tend to come alive in the autumn months. I can’t explain it, but it has always been this way. Like a bear waking from its slumber I come skipping from my self-imposed summer cave and start rubbing my scent up and down tree trunks, no wait hang on…

Autumn is all things to me; it is a fresh start in the year, a time for magic and love and chilly moonlit walks in fallen leaves. I pack away the three summer outfits I wear on rotation while it is hot and welcome with open arms swathes of wool, tweed and velvet. For the last two Septembers I have felt bereft not to have a new academic year to sink my bear claws into. I adore the back to school spirit and the excitement of new reading lists, berets and stationary. This year I am incredibly pleased to announce that I will be joining my backpack wielding peers once more as I start my PhD research at King’s College London. It has been a few years in the making to get to this point but I am over the moon to be starting, if not a little daunted. I will be continuing my interest in all things Roman and death related by researching grave goods from Roman London. I hope that I do a good job and make everyone who has supported me so far proud. Stay tuned for regular, possibly half-crazed status reports over the next few years.

To mark, not only my own return to academic life but maybe some of yours too, I have put together my favourite back to school stationary purchases that have helped me to stay organised, productive, and most of all frickin’ adorable over my many years in lecture halls.

1. KiddyQualia Filo Fax Inserts.
I have mentioned these colourful and customisable inserts before I am sure but they are so pivotal to my day to day planning routine that I couldn’t not give them a shout out again. I usually put an order in for these during November so that I have them ready for the New Year. I buy the week to view diary inserts for day to day scheduling, and then lots of coloured plain and ruled paper which I then customise myself for the different sections of my Filofax. I also have the To Do List inserts which I stash at the back and fill in daily.

2. Pilot V Pens
So they may not be the most glamourous pens on Earth but I can’t be without them. I am dyslexic and according to the nice lady who made me do a lot of brain tests a few years ago my main problem area is cognitive sequencing. This is the way in which the brain learns patterns and locks them in to your head. Ergo, my spelling is often bad because when I was learning to spell lots of the patterns didn’t stick in my brainbox. Similarly my handwriting can emerege in vastly different concoctions every time I pick up a pen because the patterns with which I make shapes can be a bit hit and miss. These Pilot V pens have a fountain tip and go some way to control (read, neaten) my handwriting. They come in several different fun colours and are also erasable, a must-have for poor spellers like myself. I always have one in my handbag and several on my desk.

3. Art Deco Notebooks.
Even though my Filofax handles much of my list writing and organising day to day, I still can’t be without a few good notebooks for specific projects. These Deco Notebooks are so gorgeous that I haven’t actually used them yet and instead keep them displayed on my desk. I need to find a suitably beautiful project to dedicate them to.

4. While we are on the subject of notebooks, these Wes Anderson themed ones are another go to favourite. I use one of these as a homework diary. I know, I know, but when you have lots of assessments and reading to get done every week you need to go back to basics sometimes.

5. Desk Planner.
Speaking of organising workloads, a desk planner like this is an absolute necessity for me. I portion off the time I have available for study, mark in big letters when an assignment is due and work backwards from that point. That way I know exactly when to start reading for a particular paper and don’t end up leaving it too late to start prepping a project.

6. Lastly a Paperblanks Diary. I have had a Filofax for about three years now, but before then I was ride or die to the Paperblanks yearly diary. The designs are so beautiful and varied, the paper is lovely and the range of formats means that if you are one of those freaks who favours a month to view, starting in April on paper the size of a postage stamp, you can probably find it.

Happy spooky studies witches!
xx

Images: Wildfox