I like highlighters in different colors, red pens that I alternate with black pens. I like .75 ball pens because it's more fun to write with them than with the .50 ones.
Bullet points were a great way for me to think about subjects, even essays. I always called it my German urge for order.
It's kind of funny to think that that is how I process the death of first my grandmother and now the imminent exitus of my grandfather.
I'm making it into a project, a step-by-step visualization of what started out as an essay about my granny's funeral and is now a clumsy attempt to understand my identity via genealogy.
I've sent out an excel sheet for my family to fill out and it fills me with joy.