Tip Tuesday – What’s the Date?

As many of us sit down to send greetings to loved ones during this holiday season, I have a suggestion: ALWAYS include a FULL DATE at the top of ALL correspondences! At least be sure to include the YEAR in all of the handwritten notes that you make for yourself or for others.

I have sorted a lot of paper professionally over the last 17 years. The sorting process goes much faster when dates are clearly written out on documents. Knowing the YEAR of a document is especially important.

Imagine gathering up lists and notes littered around your office or home. If you could quickly see that “this all dates from 2015 or earlier,” then you could easily determine that those papers have “timed out” and are ready for recycling. But, without a year to go by, it is much more difficult to quickly sort through paper and make those decisions.

And when you discover cards and letters from your past or from long-gone relatives, it is often crucial to know from which YEAR they date to place them in a historical perspective.

So, I implore you, ANY TIME you write a note to yourself or others, please include the year. Bonus points if it is listed at the top and easy to find! Your future self and relatives will thank you!