Conquering the Informal Thank You Card

There are those people, I'm sure you know at least one or two. Quite frankly, I'd like to be one of them and I recently developed a strategy to do so.

My friend Mary is an ALL STAR at sending thank you cards. Mary is a close friend and industry peer. In the 5 years that I have known Mary I would say that I have received 6 or 7 notes of appreciation from her. While simple and to the point, each, each card was sincere and timely. None of them were expected, but each one meant a lot to me. While simple and to the point, each card was sincere and timely.

I recently took a few simple steps that have helped me conquer the informal thank-you card. I hope you find them helpful!

1. Gather your addresses. Do you have a system for collecting addresses of friends and co-workers? It is so much easier to send a card if you don't have to track down an address! I purchased a small and durable, old fashioned address book. Moleskin has a nice collection. In addition, I keep an address file in my box of easily accessible files to place the contact sheets I frequenlty recieve from family and work. If you SLOWLY accumulate addresses the task won't seem overwhelming. Of course many phones and computers are great places to store addresses, but I find the hard copy works best for me!
2. Build a collection of cards and stamps. Find a small box that will fit a stack of cards and fill it up! Some sets of blank notecards come pre-packaged in a nice box. Most greeting card sections will sell packages of note cards or you can find some really cool ones online. I keep my small note card sized box in the drawer of my desk with a handful of thank-you notes, blank cards and stamps. My address book also fits perfectly inside this box. I also keep a larger, overflow box (about half the size of a shoebox) on my bookshelf filled with additional note cards and a few extra greeting cards (its great to have a sympathy, wedding and birthday card on hand)! The small box is perfect to cary with me when I'm traveling.
3. Be alert for opportunities to send a card. Of course you do not want to over do this! The expression looses the sentiment if you send too many cards or even if you formally thank close friends and family for every kind gesture! Depending on the situation a kind word, telephone call, or even an e-mail may be in order. But if the opportunity presents itself, and it feels right... send a card!
4. Set a day to write! Every friday afternoon I set aside a short period of time (10 - 15 minutes or so) to write any necessary thank you notes I was unable to get to earlier in the week. I also look to the week ahead for any upcoming special occasians like birthday's and annicersaries. Even if you don't have a special card to send out perhaps you can use that time to write to an old friend or distant family member... or organize your addresses! Hand written notes are hard to come by these days and mean a lot to people!
5. Work on your writing! My spelling is horrible! I admit to being spell-check dependent! In addition, I want to make sure that my letters come across as sincere and not mechanical. I have found it extremely helpful to keep a word document on my computer called "THANK YOU." Each time I write a note to someone I first type it on my computer, re-read it, then hand write it in the card. This also gives me a template to work off of and a log of notes I sent!

Hopefully this strategy will help you as well as it did me!

ON A RELATED NOTE... There is a lot surfacing out there on the topic of gratitude. Books about gratitude, websites about gratitude, even entire gratitude campaigns... a simple google search will show you what I mean. Sure, much of it is corny, and may even come across as superficial. I really believe, however, there is something to be said about recapturing an attitude of gratitude for the countless blessings we encounter each day. Look around!

Anxiously awaiting my card! : )

-BCM