Do you anthropomorphize your tools? I like to carve out my pencils into a long tapered tip and so no two pencils ever make the same exact marks. Eventually you start to see different personalities in the marks (this pencil feels buttery smooth, this one feels more stronger, this one feels delicate and beautiful) and then I assign personalities to them. I carve an abstract shape into the bottom of the pencil to help me remember its personality, sort of like a native american totem

It's gotten to the point that I feel a connection to my pencils, kind of like I'm the general and I choose which soldier is best for the battle (drawing) that we're going to make