Everyone has something that brings them daily joy, something that costs a little bit more than they need to spend. I have one friend who insists on a particular artisan coffee because the brewing ritual and the drinking add up to an entire half hour of pleasure per cup; another who leases a car much flashier than she needs to turn the many miles she drives for work from chore to happytimes; and another who looks forward every night to going to bed in excellent pyjamas.

For me, it’s stationery. Paper and pens are, regardless of the march of technology, still a central part of my job. I draft big pieces in longhand, I handwrite research notes and going through book manuscripts still needs highlighters, coloured fibretips and multi-coloured sticky notes. All stationery brings me happiness but there is nothing quite like the smooth glide of a fountain pen across the thick cream paper of a Moleskine notebook, or zipping a project away for the night in my pride and joy, an unspeakably beautiful leather portfolio from Aspinal.

Realising the value of everyday luxuries as well as the larger, more glamorous purchases is a milestone I wish I had reached sooner. It’s sensible. In terms of bang for your buck – what could be better than an extravagance that brings you a little burst of joy every day instead of just special occasions? Every time I add a new sheaf of pages to my portfolio, or perfume the air with Jo Malone’s Pomegranate Noir, or snuggle down in sheepskin and cashmere, it’s not just the things themselves that please me but the knowledge that I earned the money to pay for them, the right to treat myself and am no longer a prisoner of my absurd childhood. Just don’t tell my mother. She’ll make me take it all back.

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Here's why the small things in life bring you the greatest pleasures