Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of my Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to send those holiday cards. Yes, it
Speaker 1: takes time and effort to mail real cards with handwritten notes,
Speaker 1: but this is honestly one of the best investments of
Speaker 1: time you can make. I love receiving holiday cards. It's
Speaker 1: fun to see people smiling kids and cute pets and
Speaker 1: see how much everyone has grown since last year. I'm
Speaker 1: also a big holiday card sender. We book family photos
Speaker 1: sometime in the fall and make our Shutterfly cards with
Speaker 1: those pictures. I know a lot of people just do
Speaker 1: the postcard style photo cards, but we do ones that
Speaker 1: open and have space to write a note, which I
Speaker 1: do for everyone I send a card to. Why Well,
Speaker 1: First of all, it's the compiling and addressing of cards
Speaker 1: that takes the most time. By the time you're already
Speaker 1: doing that, it doesn't take much more time. I mean
Speaker 1: literally just six sconds per card to write something like
Speaker 1: hey Dave, so great to see you in the family
Speaker 1: this summer, wishing you all the best for a happy
Speaker 1: holiday season and a joyous If you're sending sixty cards,
Speaker 1: this is an extra hour to an hour and a half.
Speaker 1: If you're sending two hundred cards, it's a maximum of
Speaker 1: five hours. Now this isn't nothing, But if you're the
Speaker 1: sort of person who is sending two hundred cards, you
Speaker 1: may have someone helping you with the compiling and addressing anyway,
Speaker 1: and you know the power of a robust network. This
Speaker 1: network is built by treating everyone in it as an
Speaker 1: individual that you care about. A handwritten note makes that
Speaker 1: clear and almost new time. It's a great touch point.
Speaker 1: It takes a lot less time than meeting each of
Speaker 1: those two people for coffee. Your handwritten notes go out
Speaker 1: into the world where they do some good things. First,
Speaker 1: they remind people that you exist. Second, they generally make
Speaker 1: people feel closer to you. I've gotten some really lovely
Speaker 1: emails from people who have received my holiday cards and
Speaker 1: appreciated getting a handwritten note. I can't stress enough how
Speaker 1: few people bother to do this and how much you
Speaker 1: will stand out if you do. This is an incredibly
Speaker 1: easy way to strengthen a relationship. But even if you
Speaker 1: don't bother with notes, there are upsides to making the
Speaker 1: cards and getting them out soon. First, people have your
Speaker 1: mailing address, which means you'll get more cards from people
Speaker 1: with cute baby and dog photos. Isn't it great when
Speaker 1: the mail isn't just ads and bills? And if you
Speaker 1: make a photo card, this will either require you to
Speaker 1: take photos or to look through your existing ones. These
Speaker 1: are both great ways to spend time. I don't know
Speaker 1: anyone who says, geez, I wish I had taken fewer
Speaker 1: photos of my family. There are lots of ways to
Speaker 1: save time over the holidays, and we'll cover plenty of
Speaker 1: them in upcoming episodes of Before Breakfast, But skipping the
Speaker 1: holiday cards are skimping on them amounts to being penny
Speaker 1: wise and pound foolish. I promise that your investment of
Speaker 1: time here will be paid back to you in the meantime.
Speaker 1: This is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the
Speaker 1: number four then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart
Speaker 1: media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with
Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to
Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I
Speaker 1: heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit
Speaker 1: the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.