What it’s like being shamelessly addicted to stationery, as a full-grown adult

For most people, pens and pencils are something they buy and carry around for convenience. But for an elite few, stationery is everything.

There is no other feeling like leafing through good quality paper, or testing out the consistency of the ink in a pen. And the satisfaction of having a full set of felt tips compares to nothing else.

But there is another, perhaps darker, side to all of this. At some point, stationery will take over your life and you'll experience all the following:

Firstly, never throwing anything away

And then starting a collection of empty stationery. Just to show off your achievements, obviously.

Loving exam season because it means you can buy more stationery

Highlighters of different thicknesses and colours, to colour code. Easy gliding pens for fast writing. Silvine record card for revision (which you will only use ten of) and literally anything else that might remotely remind you of "revision."

All the colours have to be in the order the box of pens/pencils originally came in

And to lose one is a crime, punishable by having to buy an entirely new set of the same said pens or pencils.

Actually trying to make excuses for all the notebooks you buy, when in reality you don't need any of them

You say something like: "Ah, I need one for urm, planning my entire life out for the next 20 years." And then you never touch the notebook again, after writing in the first few pages.

Whenever someone asks to borrow your pen, your body fills with panic

But you smile through your gritted teeth and say "sure", whilst you watch their every move and cry inside if they press on the tip too hard.

Following loads of stationery obsessed Instagram accounts

And convincing yourself you could totally do illustrations and cool calligraphy in your journals too. Ah, if only you actually had the time (or patience and skill).

You've tried all of these at least once in your life:

– Keeping a diary (obvs)

– Bullet journaling

– Dream journaling

– Scrapbooking

– Travel journaling

– Daily sketching

– Manual budgeting

Decorating the first page of a new notebook gives you anxiety because it might not end up looking how you wanted it to

So you sit there for what seems like hours, trying to figure out the most "carefree" introductory page to your journal. But you end up with the most complicated and intricate first page ever and try not to be too disappointed with the outcome.

Covering things up in Tipp-ex might give you a sense of deep shame, but you do it anyway

What's that? A mistake? I can't see it. Nope. Mistakes don't exist in this book.

Or if the mistake is unsalvageable, you're used to expertly ripping out the entire page from your notebook, all to start again

Yes, I do feel stupid for writing out everything I wrote ten minutes ago. However, at least my notebook will look pretty for all my fans, who will want to read my diaries after I become famous and die.

Neatly organising and categorising your stationery, just like every other aspect of your life

The world wouldn't go round without organised people like us. And being able to compartmentalise makes us highly employable, probably.

Spending a stupid amount of money on stationery, barely having used it at all

And it didn't even impact any of your productivity levels. At least it looks pretty, right?