The 12 Days of Giveaways: Day 12 – JetPens
December 23 by Mike Vardy 24 Shares | Productivity
Today’s the last day of Lifehack’s 12 Days of Giveaways holiday promotion. It’s been a lot of fun to offer our Lifehack readers a chance to take home some great products to help them bring their personal productivity skills up a notch or two. (Or three. Or more.)
For the last giveaway, we’ve got a Paper Productivity Starter Kit courtesy of JetPens.
But before we get to that, let’s talk about yesterday’s Helvetindex Cards giveaway. More specifically, let’s reveal which 5 Lifehack readers are going to have a bundle of 100 cards sent to them for answering the following question:
“When do you find yourself reaching for paper over digital tools — and why?”
The winning comments, some of which come from our website and some from Facebook, can be found below::
“I’ve stepped away from electronic task lists. No medium, no matter how hi-tech it is, will ever replace the flexibility of paper. Everyday I have a 3×5 that has all my appointments/scheduled items, reminders, tasks that need to be done, and tasks I want to have done. Writing those kinds of things down is faster when I’m busy in the middle of the day than typing it into a device.” – Brian Damitz
“I adore index cards! But those flimsy ones from Staples just don’t feel right, so I’ve been printing my own on heavy card stock in different colors, with little grids. These look even nicer. I reach for paper for the quickest capture of ideas, reminders, to-dos, quotes, everything–and the humble index card is my paper of choice.” – Andrea Graham
“No carefully typed list or mind map online or on a smartphone can replace the satisfaction of seeing my own hand channel my thoughts rather than some impersonally neat font. I reach for paper over digital tools when I have ideas that need expressing right at the moment. The absence of a delete key either frees me from any inhibitions about my thoughts or forces me to consider them more clearly. Either way, my output with a pen is more authentic than that with digital tools.” – Catherine Zuo
“I reach for paper over digital tools when I need to brainstorm. For some reason when I’m using digital tools, my mind moves to fast. Paper allows me to really process my thoughts and to make connections that I wouldn’t otherwise make.” – Donnie Nicole Smith
“I find myself using old fashion systems anytime I need to make sure that I will actually do something… Which is pretty much always. I found long ago that the more modern solutions are only good for me to capture lists with. So my Omni Focus tools (Ipad and Mac) are filled with running lists of all types, most importantly all of the awesome books I come across that I want to read. As for organizing my life and getting things done paper is the only way I can keep an organized system. I would love to try the Helvetindex cards becasue the only other 2 decent cards I have ever found are Levenger (which I am not in love with) and Exacompta but They can be hard to come by at times. It is nice to see that there is potentially a new choice. What I like most about the idea of Helvetindex cards is they are actually 3×5. The Exacompta are larger which is the only other downside to them at times.” – Bornagainscholar
Congratulations to all five winners — now go out and get some small binder clips so that you’ll be ready to assemble your Hipster PDA for the new year!
About Today’s Giveaway
JetPens is an amazing resource for those who are especially fond of using paper to help you get things done. Carrying a wide variety of well-known and highly-regarded writing tools as well as some hard-to-find goods that many fans of paper covet, you can’t go wrong with placing an order through JetPens.
JetPens has generously offered what we’ve called the Paper Productivity Starter Kit, which contains a good sampling of popular items across several categories. Anyone who is a fan of pen, pencil and paper will be familiar with some of its contents as well. The retail value of this package is approximately $50, but the value you’ll get by using it is far greater.
What’s in the Paper Productivity Starter Kit?
- Maruman Mnemosyne Inspiration Notebook (A5/Graph)
- Uni Kuru Toga Roulette Model Auto Lead Rotation Mechanical Pencil (0.5 mm)
- Pilot Hi-Tec-C Gel Ink Pen (0.4 mm/Black)
- Kokuyo Beetle Tip 3-Way Highlighter Pen (Blue)
- Tombow Mono NP Non-PVC Eraser (Large)
- Kokuyo Will Stationery Actic Mini Pencil Case (Black)
How to Enter
In order to enter to win this package from JetPens, you need to leave a comment below or on our Facebook fan page that answers the following:
“What are the 3 things you’ve written down as goals for 2012 — and did you use a pen, pencil or device to capture them?”
Leaving a comment on both our Facebook fan page and here at Lifehack.org will get you 2 entries, so but you need to give us two items that you like the most – no copying and pasting!
The Fine Print
Employees of JetPens and of Stepcase (including current independent contractors of both) are not eligible for this contest. The prize can only be shipped to addresses within the continental United States, so keep that in mind when entering. The winning entry will be judged by the Stepcase Lifehack editing team and winners will be notified on the platform in which their winning entry was placed (either on the Lifehack.org Facebook wall or by email through our commenting system here the website). For those entering contest with a comment on our site, in order to be considered eligible, you MUST leave a contact email when leaving a comment (it’s the only way we’ll know how to contact you). Entries must be submitted by 10 am Eastern the following weekday and winners will be chosen by 12 pm Eastern time on the same day. The winner will be announced the same day on Lifehack.org, and will be notified beforehand.
Good luck!
(Photo credit: Pen on Blank Notebook via Shutterstock)
After a crazy 2011 of a lot of work but not nearly enough actually accomplished, I’m focused on 3 main things. Capture – write everything down and as good as my phone, and laptop are paper is always there. In capture, seconds count.
Second, track back from projects. A project has a reason to exist and task need to be align to projects.
Third, use tickler files. I need to toss reminders into my files and then use the files. Even tasks like to take 15 minutes for myself can go there and take me off the work treadmill.
All of this is currently on a sticky note – I jotted down while on a conference call. Typing is too loud :) Oh, and stop multitasking should be on the list too. :)
I wrote down these goals for 2012– to get my blog up and functioning (I know, how 2005); to get enough of the right eyeballs to look at it to jump-start a dialogue with the minds behind those eyeballs; and to step up my contribution at my day job to help us work smarter, not harder, to alleviate the stress we felt in 2011. I worked on them with paper and pencil using Moleskine’s 3.5×5.5 inch basic pocket notebooks, then moved the end result to Evernote.
I love this contest. Mainly because I was catching up on emails and blogs yesterday and read Chris Brogan’s blog about writing down 3 words to direct your 2012 – So with that being said, here are my 3 goals for 2012 – 1) PLAN – So important in anything we do, but to have a clear plan of your daily tasks, to plan any projects, to fully think about what it is you want to accomplish, create the strategy, the schedule, tactics and even analyze. I have started this with a campaign I have been running in December and could not have been happier. Having a plan is critical
2) CheckList – That is somewhat part of a plan, but too often we just go about things without any checking for details or any idea what should be done. Reading the book Checklist Manifesto, it is so important to have a checklist, even for every day tasks. This also helps me getting my thoughts on paper and out of my head. Creating a daily task list is important, but to strive for perfection, it is a great tool to have that checklist to run through on everything. I’ve always been an idea guy, not so much execution, so this will help me focus on the details and perfect my craft
3) Think BIG – I feel that I am a slave to the daily task, replying to email, trying to get it to 0, focused on daily tasks, and make little room to think BIG – to think about the big picture, to look at future projects, to read blogs and books to improve my skills, and to just clear your head. Making time to think BIG from 30,000 feet will be important for setting my goals/.tasks for 2012 and to think of where i want to go - bsrabian@gmail.com
Mine are: 1. Eat better (my gall bladder hates me these days, so I need to stop eating so much FAT. 2. Exercise more (even if I just took a walk in my neighborhood most nights for 15 minutes, it is better than sitting…and I could maybe lose a little weight I gained this year). 3. Chip away at my old debt and start repairing my credit (I’m on an income-based plan for my student loans right now, and am no longer in default–yay! But I’d love to start paying it off when I get employed, which looks like is about to happen. As for my credit, what the ex-husband has ruined, I can chip away at fixing.) And yes, I wrote these down in my journal with a trusty Uniball Jetstream. I plan on paper-graphing these goals somehow, but not sure how I want to do it yet.
Keep better track of projects – not just on the computer either
Need to find a better way to keep track of all the little tasks and interruptions down to a minimum. I have a ton of little post it notes all over my monitor to remind me of all my little tasks.
I am planning on setting up my fitness goals for 2012 and for that I do not ever use the computer – somehow tracking fitness data with pen & paper is more satisfying for me.
Wrote it down the above and a few more via pen & notebook
i used my pilot blue v-pen which i reloaded many, many times up to now. i wish’d
1) every child on earth should have a decent meal, home to take shelter, blanket to get warm when winter,
2) love all, hate no one
3) hope i get radiant, luminescent, shiny Paper Productivity Starter Kit, courtesy of JetPens! :P
The early sketch of my NANOWRIMO attempt (Penny Arcade First Party Notebook with Uniball Needle Vision), an outline for a Make Use of Article I’m writing (Same notebook and pen), a few ideas for stories (Pages for iPad)
Only 3? :-)
These are pretty boring, but after getting into many bad habits over the last year and a half as I was getting a graduate degree, I really need to get back to basics:
1.) Eat better! Now that I have the time to make healthy food, get away from the take-out habit.
2.) Get back onto a regular schedule and stick to it.
3.) Spend more time with friends and family.
I’ve tried many types of digital organization, but I keep coming back to pen and paper. These I recorded in my moleskine with a Pilot Precise V7.
I love JetPens! They have parted me from far too much of my money (but oh-so-willingly on my part). Their amazing and cool stuff helps make even the dullest task a bit more fun.
Three of my goals for 2012 (actually the first quarter):
- lose 10 pounds by focusing on exercise and by monitoring (and adjusting) my eating as needed (no surprise there).
- create *something* once a week (that’s not writing) – the parameters include: 1) it has to be made with supplies and tools I already have, and 2) it has to be a small enough project to be completed within seven days.
- (*wince*) Sorry to add this during the holidays, but… third is to complete my taxes on time.
- (there’s a fourth, but you only asked for three)
I used a pencil for all this – with much erasing, I admit – and used Seth Godin’s Pick Four book(let) as a guide. The initial goal list was dozens of items long and I welcomed the guidance to help me winnow the list down to four. Heidi Grant Halvorson’s “Nine Things Successful People Do Differently” and “Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals” have been of great help, too.
(I have no affiliation with those authors or their books.)
I write all of my wants/To Do’s in pen and trusty notebooks.
1) All the things I need to do to set up the nursery of our second child.
2) Stick to the budget that we have put together.
3) Steps to try and improve myself personally and professionally.
Pen and Paper
1. Workout more
2. Eat better
3. DOnt stop learning
Three of goals that I wrote down in my Moleskine with a Uniball JetStream BOLD are:
Consistently workout – that means at least two 1 hour workouts at the gym every week
Loose weight – in combination with the above I need to eat healthier in order to lose the 10-15 pounds I’ve put on over the last year
Regular Health Checkups – I have good insurance, there is no excuse not to go to the dentist twice and get an annual physical
My goals for 2012 include finishing writing my empirical paper, working out three times a week, until it’s become a habit, and organizing my closet to make more room and purge items I don’t use. This was of course written down on paper in pen, because it will give me so much joy to cross those items out once I’m done with them!
Instead of entering the contest today I have decided to step back and let one of the Moleskine users win (hopefully) so they can be introduced to a better writing experience. The Maruman notebook has beautiful paper that is a dream to write on. Good luck. It seems that Moleskine has either dropped the quality of their paper in the past couple of years or I just started using nicer paper. Either way there are so many better options for the same or similar price.
Good Luck.
Thanks Bornagainscholar! As a Moleskine user I am always looking at other methods/systems for ideas and improvements (my 2012 resolution). I keep one with me and like a nice fine tip pen for jotting down ideas and reminders. Other goals for 2012 are to read a book a month and hike at least once a week.
My goals for 2012 are to write something new every day (using pen and paper), edit every week, and publish every month. Reminding myself to be thankful for all things large and small. Cheers for this giveaway and best wishes for the new year!
My goals for 2012 are to start writing every day. Better capture my ideas and thoughts. To track my health and fitness (pen and paper).
For 2012, I have it in my heart to save enough money to fly back home to Texas to see my parents and extended family (1), which will allow me to finish an 85-page family narrative I’ve been writing for a year (2), and to give that family narrative to my parents for their 25th wedding anniversary in March (3).
also: I wrote down those goals on a tablet I keep on top of my desk with a thin black marker (technically a pen, I guess)
The 3 things I’ve written down as goals for 2012:
1) Eat more real foods
2) Join a Toastmasters club
3) Sleep earlier
I didn’t capture them with anything because they’re captured in my mind.
Hello! I was one of the winners for the Day 11 Giveaway of Helvetindex cards, but I just realized my Facebook profile may not have had the email address displayed publicly. My email is zuo.catherine.hbl@gmail.com. Thank you so much!
Three goals for 2012, recorded on a device:
1) less pop, more water
2) more exercise
3) more geeky productivity (aka: brush up on programming skills)
Three goals for 2012, written in my Moleskine with a pen are:
1) Journal at least once a week
2) Exercise at least three times a week
3) Spend more time with my family
Three goals for 2012:
1. Re-launch my website
2. Sort and clean my whole house from top to bottom, inside and out
3. Get together at least ONCE with all four of my sisters (from 4 states)
I wrote these out by hand with a felt tip pen in a spiral notebook just as I do every new year. Though I do most of my creative writing on my online blog, I do most of my mind mapping on paper. I am definitely a pen and paper person at heart.
I used my Sharbo X from JetPens to make a list of goals for the year ahead, which includes exercising more, reading more and meditating more.
Great post idea, what do I write with? Well, I use parker pens or cross pens and I always write my goals on paper first. What I like to do is get a sheet of blank paper and fold it in half LONG ways and draw my line down it. I then label my goals for short term on one side and long term on the other side and I number it to .25. I have never heard of the jet pen and this is an interesting give a way so I thought I would enter to win. Something new! My biggest goal is to find a job I love and the next goal is to write my books. Thanks for asking…Merry Christmas to YOU.
“What are the 3 things you’ve written down as goals for 2012 — and did you use a pen, pencil or device to capture them?”
My 3 goal’s for the new year would be to finally go to college, I should be a junior in the Fall, but I wanted to take some time off to get the stress from high school down. I don’t like taking notes on the computer because what happens if it crashes and it can’t be restored? The second goal would be to get my photography career going. I have to write everything down or else I won’t remember where I had put it in my laptop. I recently got a new daily planner and it’s going to be so useful for the new year. My 3rd goal is to get a job and start saving up to pay for college and to start thinking about living on my own. I’ll be 20 on January 15th and this would be perfect for writing down everything I would need. I always use a pen and paper to write things down and to keep organized. I guess you can call me old fashion, I have to have something in my hand to be sure I remember and have it in front of me. Thank you!
Using a Pilot Hi-Tec Gel Ink Pen on individual index cards I wrote my goals for 2012. Being on Index cards I can carry them with me, reviewing as needed.
Take and pass the patent bar exam.
Lose 30 pounds by August.
Learn enough Chinese (800 to 1000) words to hold a simple
conversation when I am there in May.
What perfect timing! Just finished my project/goals list for 2012 and my 3 major goals as are follows: 1-Develop my garden/backyard into an oasis of beauty, 2-Obtain a full time position as a sign artist and 3-Be able to run 3 miles (outdoors) non-stop.
Perfect timing! Just finished my goals-for-2012 list and the 3 big ones are: 1-obtain full time employment as a Sign Artist, 2-Develop my backyard into a garden of beauty, and 3-Work up to being able to run 3 miles outdoors instead of on a treadmill.
Nothing is ever official until it is written with the fountain pen. As I work out the details, the timeline/tasks are written on the dry erase board. My goals for 2012-
Go back to school full time while walking away from full time employment (Yowser!)
Set up an Etsy store to justify all the awesome paper, pens, markers and stationary I buy
Get healthy by eating in more and walking our wonderful new Macy the dog.
I keep a notepad and pen at hand all the time. The note pad is usually a 2 disk circa from levenger, but the pen’s vary and I’m not happy with any of them at the moment. In it, for 2012, I have written that I will:
- Make more of an effort to dress nicely and not ware the same things every single day
- Do Yoga at least 3 times per week
- Cook more on weekends so that I have food in the fridge/freezer for the week
My top three goals for 2012:
1) Finish my Eagle Scout project (My plan is written on blank paper in blue fountain pen)
2) Get a job as an Apple Genius in May/June (I have my tech notes in a notebook, some handwritten, some clipped in)
3) Get certified as a Google Apps Trainer (My notes are in Google Docs and double as presentation material)
The funny thing is, our family gives office supplies for Christmas a lot. We have an affinity for good writing materials.
(To be honest, I lost my last pencil, which is unusual for me, and I’ve felt so unproductive since.)
In pen, in a notebook:
1. exercise more
2. eat better
3. not obsess about exercise or eating
I always use a pen and a notebook
I wrote :
want to be very organized
publish 3 papers
wake up early morning and exercise
well it depends where you live. i would think there would obviously be
more then one shop
if you look hard enough.
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