Throw away your address book. Seriously.
But, just before you do that, copy each address onto its own individual 3×5 card and file it alphabetically in an index card box. If someone moves or changes their phone number, there’s no need for an eraser or Liquid Paper–just toss that card and replace it with a new card containing the new information.
Kick it up a notch and use the back of each card to note whether or not you sent each friend a Christmas card, and whether they sent you one, year by year. (I started doing this when I realized that I was sending out over 100 cards and only receiving about 80!)
Works for me! Here’s what works for Shannon.
GREAT idea! Think that would help me and my problem of having too many different planners/address books/online/email keepers. And YAY YOU on getting/giving out so many Christmas cards! I’m luck if I remember to buy them at all!
Great idea. I’m always trying to computerize my addresses somehow, but haven’t mastered that idea yet.
This is a really great idea. I’m definitely incorporating this right away.
Great idea – and I just blogged about this last week too
http://organisingtips.blogspot.com/2007/06/ask-organiser-telephoneaddress-books.html
I love this idea! I need to update my address book, anyway. I’m always losing the darn thing, but I doubt I could lose a box! (Well, maybe I could, but it’s worth a try!)
(I started doing this when I realized that I was sending out over 100 cards and only receiving about 80!)
Okay, that is funny!
Great idea! My hairdresser does the same thing and uses the back to remember what color treatments she uses on my hair.
Great idea!
I’m impressed you receive 80 our of a 100 cards! I need to do this, I’ve worn through some of the pages in my address book by erasing….
Glad you all like the idea!
The only reason I send out and receive so many cards is that I have lived in five different states and tend to keep in touch even with my parents’ old friends.
An added tip which I got from my mom: keep your cards from one year and refer to them when it’s time to send out cards the next year. This helps so much in remembering the names of new babies, or job changes, etc. It makes the correspondence that much more meaningful if you mention something that came from the card the year before!
good idea – practical & easy. I try to keep all of mine updated in my computer, but I panicked when the computer crashed & I wasn’t sure if I had it all well backed-up. An index file won’t go down in a power surge.
Wow. You get 80 Christmas cards? We get, like, six. Maybe if we sent them out more often….
Seriously, though, this is a great tip. My parents used to do this when I was a kid. A nice low-tech solution!