8 old-school habits communicators just can’t quit

Are you an analog person braving a digital onslaught? Well, sharpen my pencil! You’re not alone. MyRaganites share what they will NOT relinquish.

Old habits die hard.

But for some communicators, old habits never die. Even though we’re plugged into every new-fangled communication device that starts with an “i,” a few of us still use typewriters. Remember those?

We asked MyRaganites and communicators to share any habits that date back to the 1940s. Or the 1700s.

Pens and pencils tell a story

Banging on the keyboard is a familiar sound, but don’t forget about the power of the pen (or the comforting scratch of a pencil).

“I do a lot of planning by writing in a notebook, using a fountain pen,” offers MyRaganite Brian, a PR pro. “My $40 Lamy is much better than my lost $400 MontBlac, incidentally.”

“I like the smell of the wood and graphite as I sharpen pencils, and the smell of the eraser in use,” says Simon Lee, a contributor to Ragan’s health-care website. “I like the feeling of a pencil in my hand and the callus on my middle finger from using a pencil. That callus is how I learned my left from my right hand. I still use that trick today.”

“I must have a blue ink pen,” insists Terri Hartman of Hartman Media Group. “I think my handwriting looks nicer in blue.”

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