When I cleaned out my office, I threw out as much as I could. I had amassed so much paper, some of which I hadn’t looked at in 20 years.
You know what I didn’t throw out? A drawer full of hand-written notes.
I couldn’t.
I love getting a nice text or a kind email. I’ll always remember someone taking the time to call and check in. But there’s something so special about a hand-written note. In an age of ephemeral, transactional, punctuationless communication, a physical card is a beautiful gesture.
I spend a lot of time imploring people to leverage new technology. When you want to let someone know you’re thinking about them, nothing beats pen and paper.
Hand-write notes and you will stand out. But don’t hand-write notes to stand out. Hand-write notes because you want someone to feel just a little more special. You want them to know you care about them.
So, order some cards with your name on them, and find reasons to let people know you care about them or you’re worried about them or they made your day. Thanks to all who took the time to do that for me. It didn’t go unnoticed.