Sending a birthday card to family and friends has never been my strong point. I always start with the best of intentions, but somehow in the past, the fullness of daily life hindered me from completing the card-sending process. I would get stuck on choosing a card, or not having a stamp or not knowing the address. Before I knew it, the birthday came around, and I yet again sent my wishes electronically instead of by post.
And while there is nothing wrong with a message sent through my iPhone, it wasn’t the only way I wanted to wish my family and friends a happy birthday. I want to send handwritten cards, and even better if they arrive by mail. Because receiving something in the letterbox that isn’t a bill still puts a smile on my face.
So I made sending cards one of my 2019 goals.
I knew back in January that if I wanted to succeed at this goal, I was going to have to come up with a foolproof plan. I needed to condense the steps required to send a card, reduce the decision fatigue and get organised ahead of time. Here are the steps I took:
Step 1: Write a list of card receivers
In the dreary days of January, I got together a list of people I wanted to send cards to throughout 2019. I went through my 2018 planner, my online calendar and Facebook to find the birthdays that were missing from my memory.
Step 2: Collect addresses
Thanks to my Christmas card address list, I had a head start on my new address list. I corralled the names and addresses into a new spreadsheet organised by month of birthday.
Step 3: Choose cards to send
I knew from past experiences that the decision fatigue from choosing a card for each birthday was a barrier in my card-sending process. So to avoid this, I decided to buy all my cards for the entire year at once. With my list of birthdays in hand, I tallied the number of cards required and purchased them all in one go.
I decided since I have a hard drive full of images that I would print my own cards. I kept the process streamlined by choosing four pictures, one each from winter, spring summer and autumn. I designed and printed the cards through BookFactory, a local printer, which I also use for my yearly photo albums. Their software is so simple to use!
Step 4: Order stamps
Referring to my birthday list, I figured out which cards I needed to post and which value of stamps I required for each. Did you know you can order stamps in Switzerland online? And there are cute designs too? I was able to get some stamps with pots of fondue, jass cards and other swiss scenes. You can also design-your-own to print at home, or the post will print them for you.
Step 5: Putting it all together
Once my photo cards and stamps I arrived I spent an afternoon with my cup of tea, some music on and the birthday list addressing the envelopes. I popped in the seasonally appropriate card and then finished it off with a stamp.
I bundled the prepared cards into months and stored them together with the extra blank cards and stamps in my office cupboard ready for the birthdays to roll around.
By preparing the cards ahead of time meant that in 2019, I sent out more cards than I have even have done in years. All I had to do towards the end of each month was grab out the bundle for the month ahead, write a message, let Z draw a picture inside and pop them into the letterbox. I am so happy with the outcome that I have already decided upon the designs I will send out in 2020.
Tips I learned along the way
- I ordered extra cards and stamps for unexpected birthdays and events needing a card.
- My original list is ever-evolving, I added people I had missed, or got to know better to the list as the year went on.
- To avoid forgetting to write the cards, I will in 2020 write a reminder in each month.
- Some cards that I sent to Australia did arrive late. Next year I will add those long haul international cards to the month.
- Ordering cards through BookFactory is more cost-effective in packs of 10.
