8 old-school habits communicators just can’t quit

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.”