Welcome to Power Picks! Power Picks is a monthly series that showcases the things that help us navigate our lives, empower us to be ourselves, and simply get through each day. By sharing what makes us feel great, we hope it makes you feel great too.

I like to dress the organized person. Shirts ironed, hair brushed, insurance cards tucked away in a safe place ...... All of these contribute to giving the impression that I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, an agent of chaos in my life. Because I am. I frequently get lost on my way home from work. I lose everything that is not around me. If I don't have my beloved Smythson notebook, I diligently remind myself to iron my shirt, put away my insurance card in a safe place, or even make sure my hair doesn't turn into a bird's nest at a meeting.

Three years ago, my mother gave me a Smythson notebook as a gift. I had tried notebooks and agendas before, from Google calendars to to-do lists as long as my arm, but nothing seemed to click (i.e., I still didn't know where my insurance card was). Smythson's Soho Agenda, however, was different. Maybe it was the gold-rimmed paper or the soft blue pages that were so comfortable to write on. Maybe it was the slip pockets, maybe it was the size of Soho. Maybe it's because of the royal warrant. (Open in new tab) Whatever it was, I was hooked.

Here's the thing about the right notebook: when used correctly, it becomes an extension of you. I take it everywhere with me and jot down everything: tasks, appointments, reminders big and small. If I misplace my notebook, or if someone reminds me of something I need to remember, I email a note to myself to write in my notebook later. Also, if I don't check it constantly, I can forget all about dinners, drinks, and people as a whole.

I get it, spending $300 on a notebook feels like overkill. You can buy one on Amazon for $10. But hear me out: like all worthwhile investments, this one will make your life better. When you have a Smythson at hand, your mind is less cluttered. Any notebook will do that, but when you feel the urge to take your notebook with you everywhere, when you feel a vague sense of peace every time you look at its gilded pages or pebbled leather or cross a to-do list, it changes things. This year I've been working on a few big things: writing my first novel, Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead, planning my first (and last) wedding, and preparing to move overseas. Mostly thanks to my smython.