5 Tips for Building a Letter Writing Habit With Catherine Saunders
We are so excited to have Catherine Saunders of Green Fingerprint with us to share her tips on creating and sustaining the habit of letter writing. She has vowed to write 350 letters in 2015 so her advice is tried and true! Check out her blog for more inspiration and follow her Write_On journey on Instagram: @catsaunders. - Egg Press & Hello!Lucky
Hi there! I’m so happy to be sharing a few tips today as part of #write_on. This campaign is near and dear to my heart. Over the last few years, having two kids in rapid succession and then moving thousands of miles away from my friends and family left me feeling pretty isolated. I design custom stationery for a living, so writing letters seemed like a way to marry my love of great paper with my desire to feel connected to the people in my life. I’m also always up for a challenge, so I decided to write 350 letters in 2015. Later this year, I’ll turn 35 and we’ll celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, which is how I arrived at that big number. It’s going really well, but I’ve learned a lot over the last few months. Here are my best tips for building a letter writing habit.
Call your mom (or aunt or mother-in-law).
I’ve found that the ladies in my family seem to know every birthday, anniversary and kids’ birthday of every relative and family friend I’ve ever known or semi-known through the years. My mom has given me dozens of reasons to send cards throughout the year. So figure out who’s the date-keeper in your family and call them with your calendar in hand.
Have all of your supplies ready to go.
I’ve found it’s easy to write a letter when I keep all the supplies I need to write, stamp and send one on-hand at all times. My go-to supplies are great stamps (lately loving these), a self-inking return address stamp, a favorite pens and simple, generic, notecards (like these). When you have everything you need on hand, it makes building the habit a lot easier.
Think outside the (birthday) box.
Celebrations are a great way to get into the habit of writing letters, but there are so many things to celebrate aside from birthdays. Send a card to your friend on her baby’s first birthday (hello - milestone for HER), send a note to a tween who’s about to finish seventh grade. My favorite things to celebrate have been anniversaries. People are always surprised to receive an anniversary card in the mail, and they’re easy cards to write. I mean, weddings are fun and everything, but the real celebration is when people make it to those annual milestones.
Set a goal and share it.
Mine is admittedly a little extreme this year, but maybe your goal is to send five cards a month. Or maybe you’re following along with #write_on in April, but after this you want to send one letter a week. Whatever it is, I’ve found that by setting a goal and then sharing it, I’m working toward something and I have some accountability. I number each letter I send, which has included my recipients in my letter-writing goal. Feel free to share your goal with me on Instagram at @catsaunders - I’d love to cheer you on!
Put it on the calendar… ahead of time.
I’m seriously the worst when it comes to remembering birthdays, so now I have reminders set up a week ahead of them so I get a card in the mail on time. Late is better than never, but a few days early? That’s the best.
I hope the #write_on campaign has motivated you to write more letters this month and maybe even begin a new habit. You can follow my own #write_on journey on Instagram at @catsaunders or read all about it on my blog.
Are you writing more letters these days? What are your tips for getting in the habit?