Hello dear readers,
I'm hoping to learn how you all manage to keep your mail organized. I'm pretty sure I misplaced a letter from one of my pen pals and didn't respond (even though I remember thinking about what I was going to say!). (Leah, I didn't forget about you!)
How do you keep track of what mail you received and when - and then whether or not you've replied?
Also, do you hold on to everything you've received? So far I have every letter that I've received as part of this project, but they are in a big pile!
Thanks for the input!
~Anne
When I recieve a letter, I date stamp the envelope. I have a mail "cubbie" that all my incoming mail goes into. And then I have a separate pile for all mail that needs responding to. I usually carry one or two letters that need responding to when I'm out and about, just in case I have time to write something. When I respond to a letter, that letter goes into the mail cubbie, and I take another letter that still needs a response from the "response" pile.
ReplyDeleteI also log all my incoming and outgoing mail in a journal. That way, when someone says, "Oh, I loved that postcard," I can go back and refresh my memory about what postcard I sent. It also gives me a handy reminder of what stationery I used for which letters, when I sent the reply, and what I might have talked about in that letter. (Oh, it's been a gazillon years since I've heard from so and so, maybe I should drop them a line...)
I hold onto every single piece of mail I've recieved. I've been tying them into bundles, organized by the month I've recieved them.
This is how I organize my amil. Keep in mind that I'm annoyingly anal. :) I hope you find a system that works for you!
I love this! Maybe I can find a vintage date stamp to use?
DeleteI might start carrying around a letter or two in my bag. Writing a letter while I'm waiting for someone/something is much more appealing than wasting time on my iPhone.
So annoying anal that I need to point out that I meant to write, "This is how I organize my mail." I don't know what an amil is, but I'm sure if I did, I'd have an organization system for that too.... ;)
ReplyDeleteThis is something I never thought about! I have been keeping penpal letters from friends after one of them said she does this "incase one of us becomes famous one day".
ReplyDeleteI respond to my letters pretty instantly after I read them so I have a pile of 'outgoing' mail. Recieved mail I put in a file cabinet and I put postcards on a wire that's hung up on my wall in my bedroom. I bought it at target and it has bird decals along with it. I'm going to expand it when I move this summer and have a whole wall filled with cards and letters on twine. At my desk at work I also have twine strung along my corkboard where I hang letters (stationary cards) from penpals. These are letters I've brought to work to read/stationary thats really pretty.
I can't decide if my wall in my new room will be all postcards or a mix of cards and letters. Probably a mix. I'll take a picture and send it to you this fall, Anne.
Please do! I won't lose the picture I promise. By then I will have implemented some of these great suggestions and will be organized :)
DeleteI think I'm also going to bring a few postcards and/or letters to decorate my office. What a great way to cheer me up when I'm trapped in the world of excel spreadsheets :)
DeleteHey Anne,
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard from you in awhile and was thinking maybe you lost my letter haha.
I organize my mail in a small tote thing I found at Target for a dollar. I just put my letters in it after I reply. Simple but it's on my coffee table in my living room and makes good conversation starters with my millions friends...or really Langley just likes to stare at it when he sleeps on the coffee table :)
Letter to you going out in tomorrow's mail! :)
DeleteI have a page-a-day diary for the year. For each day (if applicable), I write in sent and received mail (letters, Postcrossing postcards)...
ReplyDeleteFor letters, I also have a small whiteboard I write on, two columns, one for sent letters (with date), and the other for received letters (yet to be replied to, with date). I now have no letters to reply to (other than just putting in the finishing touches to two - farewell greeting, and envelope).
Letter storage.... I currently use zip wallets (A5 size), but for some penpals, these are bulging. One person I did write to threw all her received letters away.... Letters are to be treasured.
I can't imagine throwing letters away!! I really love whiteboards (use several of them in my office at work)so that idea is tempting
DeleteI've been penpalling for 16 years, and it's just impossible to keep all the letters I've received over the years in my tiny room (trust me, Japanese houses are so small), so every once in few years, I throw away letters only from those people who stopped writing me. I keep the cards and things that they sent me though. I keep all the letters from my pals I still write.
ReplyDeleteI keep the letters in boxes, and when the box is full, I bring it to my parents' place as they have bigger space. I used to tie letters from the same person, but some of them have semt me over 100 letters as we've been writing so long, so I gave up to tie them up. Haha. Now I just tie maybe 20 letters at max. :)
Here is my system of how I organize my mail. I am also among the anal ones.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments on my blog, it was lovely to discover this mail blog. I've just added your blog to my own list of links - thanks for having mine already linked from yours!
I keep my incoming mail in a mail sorter (which someday I have to Mod Podge to make more personal) like this one, though much older. I get about 5-10 pieces of mail a day, so sometimes it is a challenge to stuff it all into its proper slot. I recently started using the Twitter hashtag #ShowAndMail as a visual record of incoming mail, but I don't keep track of all incoming in any other way.
ReplyDeleteSince I can get up to 50 pieces of mail a week, I can't possibly keep every single piece. There are many letters I keep forever, and most postcards are kept forever. Those go into plastic storage, though not super organized. I usually recycle the rest of my mail into mailart. Other bits of mail find their way into a mail journal, which is a collection of interesting postage, scraps of letters with paragraphs that make me wonder, envelope art, and sometimes whole letters if there is something that really strikes me, and my own notes about mail. Sometimes I rant in my mail journal about how I would be the best Postmaster General in the world. Delusions of grandeur, I know. Or maybe just delusional.
My outgoing mail is recorded to within an inch of its life. I currently have 9238 contacts in my Mac Address Book. And I've only been using that since 2006. I have noted everything I've ever sent to anyone for the last 6 years. Before that I keep it all on paper. Some address entries have many notes, and some only have one. But every one of those 9238 contacts have received at least one mailing from me. The notes are simple descriptions of what I sent and a date.
Welcome to the wonderful world of mail enthusiasts! It is a fabulous world indeed.
I use Paper and Types letter ledger ( you can see how i use it here http://paperpastries.blogspot.com/2012/01/letter-writing.html )
ReplyDeleteIt has changed how I write letters! I am much more organized and I never send someone the same stationery twice. I keep my recent letters on my writing desk, and once they are answered they go into a storage box. Once that box is full I move it to my mom's attic. I live in a small apartment :)