Published March 24, 2015

Savory Handwritten Notes

I have a file called: GOOD STUFF.

Are you like me?  I have bits and pieces that come over my desk that are too good to throw away, but not good enough to deserve a file of their own. When I get these, and I want to save them, I put them in my GOOD STUFF file. (Try it. It works.)

I was going through that file the other day looking for a piece I wanted to find for something I was writing. I didn’t find it, by the way.

But I did come across something I wanted to bring to your attention. It’s a song I’ve been singing for the last couple of years.

Your friends and supporters typically get 50 to 100 e-mails a day. I had one a week ago who said he usually gets 200 e-mails a day. And I had lunch the other day with one of my clients.  He showed me his iPhone. It had over 900 e-mails. He simply hadn’t deleted them.

There’s a piece I had saved in my file from the Harvard Business Review. It’s called: Handwritten Notes Are a Rare Commodity. They’re Also More Important Than Ever.

The author points out that in a recent study, it was indicated the average corporate e-mail account sent or received more than 100 e-mails per day. Ages between 18 and 29 now receive 100 texts per day.

Now note this. The average home only receives a personal letter once every seven weeks. This is from a study that was done in 2010.

I read an article the other day. It described the savory (yes, savory!) feeling people get when they receive a handwritten note or a typed letter. It turns out this is true even of a third class mailing.

The joy of getting something in the mail (other than a bill), feeling the envelope, opening it, and unfolding the letter or note. Savory!

If you would like to see the article from the Harvard Business Review, click here.