Why a Google lawyer still uses pen and paper [inside my journal]

Despite working for one of the world’s largest tech companies, Cait Murphy-Hurrell is a pen and paper person. She reveals how she uses her paper republic journals for her legal compliance life at Google, and how isolation whilst studying for a Masters inspired her to create a new international community dedicated to learning…

Where are you from and where do you live now?

I was born in South Africa. I lived and studied there but my family is all Irish and slowly but surely, we've been moving back to the homeland. Now my husband and I live in the mountains of Wicklow, just outside of Dublin. We just love being out here. I have done a fair bit of pottering all over the world, but I’m really settled here in Ireland; it really is home.

How do you use your paper republic journal for your work at Google?

I'm a lawyer by trade and work full time at Google in legal and compliance. I deal with the regulations that keep content safe; things like child safety, and violent extremism. I spend 60% of my time in meetings, talking products through regulations and following up on an ever-growing list of tasks.

I use my leather journal for two things: firstly, my schedule. Even though I have a Google Calendar, I have a paper schedule as well. I use the paper republic planner to tie in three different calendars. Secondly, I use it constantly for meeting notes and my to do list. I use the paper republic dotted notebooks, which are perfect for taking notes. Once these get filled up, I store them in case I need to refer to them. 

You have a suite of Google’s digital tools, yet you continue to use pen and paper for work. Why?

I have tried so often to create a digital journal, or a digital space, but I've just never found anything that works as well for me as writing things down onto paper, with a pen. I think it’s because I like to have control over my time. With a journal, I can physically see and write down exactly where I need to be, when, where and how.

I also like to write in my journal. It helps me slow down. In a day where I can have six hours of back-to-back meetings, being able to slow down and think by the act of putting pen to paper makes it so much easier to process and to be present, rather than rushing from one thing to the next.

It is necessary for me to be engaged with my work and with my research, so it’s really important that I connect with my work; using my journals enables me to create that connection.

Are any of your colleagues at Google also using pen and paper or are you an outlier?

I don't think I’m an outlier. Of course, you can't devoid yourself entirely from technology – especially when you work at Google – and digital platforms are immensely useful and powerful for many things. 

Why paper republic?

A big aspect is the sustainability. I really like that these journals will last years and years. I've tried numerous other notebooks, planners and diaries but being able to infinity refill my paper republic journal makes it very appealing since I go through notebooks so often.

I also love how paper republic’s journals are so customisable. That functionality really draws me to the brand. Other journaling systems I have used in the past dictate exactly how your day-to-day life should be with rigid times or dates. I love being able to use them in any scenario, because I'm balancing 101 things on any given day. 

I also love paper republic’s l’atelier live journal customiser tool because I was able to create my leather portfolio exactly the way I wanted it to look, and have it structured for my Masters dissertation versions and edits. It is going to be so useful for my many, many hours of research.

In addition to your day job, you’re also studying for a Masters. What made you want to go back to academia? 

I have been working at Google for four years and I love it. But I had this kind of midlife crisis during the COVID pandemic. I realized that I didn't want to do it for the rest of my life.

I've always been passionate about learning, literature and history, so I did a couple of short courses, then I did an undergraduate certificate in English literature, and somehow, I managed to get onto a Masters program at Oxford. I'm doing literature and art, in a part-time programme and I'm writing my dissertation now on early modern representations of women in literature.

It was during your Masters that you founded your academic community: Accepted Society – what’s it about? 

Accepted Society is an online community for people students, educators and researchers. I realised the need for it after feeling isolated as a part-time, mature student. That meant I was not part of the day-to-day community that a normal student would be. So, my friend, Kaelyn, and I created Accepted Society as it exists today. It’s just shy of 500 members now, which I am delighted with. 

It's become a place where people come together to connect. Running online study sessions is one of the most popular things we offer. I run a session every single Wednesday morning: my 5am club session, which feels like we are working while the world sleeps but that’s not really the case. We have people from all over the world in the community.

It doesn’t matter what you’re studying, or where you’re based. It’s now expanded into communities who have connected on areas of study or particular struggles they are experiencing in academia. For example, some members are parents as well as students and so share advice on managing parental responsibilities with studying at the same time. 

Or quite a few members – like myself – are mature students that have gone back to university later in life. We have a different set of struggles; I want to make friends and find study partners, but I don't necessarily want to go out clubbing till the wee hours of the night, as I once did in my undergraduate youth! The focus is different now as a mature student, and I need to balance working and studying at the same time.

So we have lots of people connecting for all these different reasons. There is always someone in similar circumstances to you, so you can find that connection and support.

I've been working with your l’atelier bespoke leather creations service for a special project for Accepted Society members which will be announced during our annual research Symposium in Oxford (tickets available). 

Where do your see Accepted Society going? Could it become a full-time pursuit?

Right now, I'm standing on this precipice of personal transformation. Accepted Society is growing so much faster than I ever thought it would. And my Masters research is also going really well; I've had two publications just this year and I hope to start at PhD this year too. Sometimes I find it hard to believe it’s really happening. 

I am starting to see a real transformation in who I am as a person. So, the future is unknown. I'm not sure what is going to stick around, and what's going to drop off. But I have a feeling that in the next few months, things will be shifting; my day-to-day life could soon look a little different…

Learn more about Cait Murphy-Hurrell and visit Accepted Society – her online community for academia. Note: The opinions stated here are those of Cait Murphy-Hurrell, not necessarily those of her employer.

What's inside YOUR journal? Share your story with us!

How? Email: sam@paper-republic.com with a brief summary of how you use your journal, adding 'inside my journal' to the email subject line.