Pen Pal Log

Two mail-related things happened last week that made me sad. First, after not getting any mail for a few weeks, my husband came home from the Post Office with a small stack of envelopes, none of which were posted recently; two had been mailed (domestically) before Christmas! We have no idea where it has been all this time - perhaps in the box of someone who doesn't visit often? I was able to notify all but one of the senders immediately online, and sent a post card to the last, so they knew I wasn't ignoring them.

The second thing that made me sad is the reason I'm finally doing a post on this subject. When I went to log that new stack of mail, I found a hole in my letters to write checklist: no checkbox where one should have been. Oh, crap! I wrote a lot of letters and cards over the holidays, but had neglected to respond to one. Luckily, the letter wasn't lost, and once aware of my mistake, I was able to make responding a priority. If I hadn't kept that log, however, I might have come across the older letter, assumed I had already answered it, filed it away and that pen pal would never have written back (having nothing to reply to), assuming I wasn't interested in corresponding.

This is why I keep a log. I'm sure everyone has some kind of system that works for them. Maybe a stack of letters to reply to. Maybe a spreadsheet or a simple to-do list. I use a redundant system to make sure I don't have to rely on my memory. It's in a book, which is harder to lose than a sheet of paper. It can also be changed easily if I find something in the future that works better. I know that not being able to arrange or remove pages would make me crazy, so the notebook I selected allows that.

I don't make a lot of videos, as evidenced by my camera work (which I hope will improve), but here is a tour of my pen pal log.

There are two main parts to the book. First, every pen pal has their own page, where I put their contact info, and list details about both incoming and outgoing mail. They're sorted alphabetically, and separated into groups, so it's pretty easy to find whatever page I need. On the back of each page, I tape their response to the little question card I send out. (I use washi tape, so I can easily move the card to the front of the page when the list flows over to the back.)

At the front of the book, I keep the heart and soul of the log system: my "Letters to Write" page (top picture). It's simply a list of letters I need to write that I mark when in progress, and when sent. Whenever I get mail I need to reply to, I first add the person's name to this page, then add more detail on their own page. It was the gap on this page that led me to realize I was long overdue in responding to one pen pal.

Beyond that, I try to keep a list of goodies sent on an "enclosure" page (one section per type of enclosure). I'm not great at keeping this up to date with things like washi tape samples, but have been pretty good when it comes to CD mixes and smashed pennies. This way, I hope to avoid sending the same little giftie to the same person twice.

I have a section for extra pages, one for basic postal rates, and one for inactive correspondents. These are either people I don't write to a lot, but want to keep a record of which cards I send, etc., or they are people who were pen pals who stopped responding (or never responded at all). This way, I don't have to flip past their pages over & over, in the "active" section and be reminded that they've dropped off the radar. I go through it every couple of months and move truly retired pages to a drawer.

I'd love to see what others are using! How do you keep track?

Interested in making your own pen pal log like mine? In a few days, I'll be posting the files, plus a list of resources. Stay tuned!

Update:

• Part 2, with download links for this size pages
• Post with link to full-size pages