SEPTEMBER is here and that means one thing - a brand new jotter.

Remember that back-to-school vibe when you’d start the autumn term refreshed and energised, with a shiny new pencil case and pristine exercise books? Drawing a margin (using a shatterproof ruler) down the left side of your new jotter symbolised the blank canvas and endless possibilities of the school term ahead.

It’s something I still associate with September, even though it’s been three decades since I started a new academic year (and many years before that since I had a jotter). The rituals of our formative years become deeply embedded, so it’s perhaps no surprise that we still feel a sense of starting afresh and moving forward at this time of year. And since ‘back-to-school’ is synonymous with new stationery, many of us still love to turn over the first page of a new notebook.

Look up #stationeryaddict on Instagram and you’ll find hundreds of images of neatly lined-up new pens, colour-coded files and beautiful - empty - notebooks. Comic Sarah Millican and TV presenter Philip Schofield are among the celebrities who have spoken fondly about their love of stationery.

What is it about a new set of pens, highlighters, even a pack of post-it notes that is so satisfying? I love to browse in stationery shops. It seems quaintly old-fashioned in the digital age, but for me it provides a sense of order and control. A notepad and pen are tools of my trade - I’d feel lost without them.

Not all my stationery is practical though. I have assorted pots filled with pens I’ve had for years and never use, because they’re ‘too nice’. I buy souvenir pencils from museum gift shops knowing full well I will never use them. My friend gave me a set of notebooks for my birthday that are so lovely I can’t bring myself to write in them - it would have to be in calligraphy, using a fountain pen. I still have the chunky Filofax I treated myself to when I got my first job on a newspaper; I’ve treasured it since 1990, despite it now being full of out-of-date contact numbers and ancient business cards. I’ve got an old stapler a former colleague left me when he retired. I never use it, but I like to know it’s there. I still keep a little box of paper-clips, even though I can’t recall when I last used a paper clip.

Niels Eék, psychologist and co-founder of mental wellness platform remente.com, says stationery can represent structure and order, from a time when life was split into terms, giving us our first memories of routine.

Breaking the year down into chunks of time, he says, can be a helpful mindset for setting new goals in our careers, relationships, home life, wellbeing or fitness. And routines, like seasonal re-setting or writing a to-do list each morning, can help us feel productive. We’re no longer acquiring a new pencil case in September, but “buying a notebook or pen can offer the same mindset that we carried as children, heading back to school”.

In a world of smartphones, laptops and constantly looking at screens, using a pen and paper can give our wellbeing a boost too. Those notifications that pop up on our computer screens throughout the day lead our bodies to produce stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline, which can, says Niels, affect clarity of thought. Writing with pen and paper can be a “therapeutic” mini digital detox.

I have written letters all my life, and still have three friends, and an aunt, who I write to occasionally, so I keep a supply of good writing paper, as well as notelets for ‘thank you’ correspondence. Using pen and paper makes a nice change from typing and is more fulfilling than rattling off an email. Like the first page of a brand new jotter, stationery is a simple pleasure - and simple pleasures will be most welcome in the tough times ahead.