Hello and welcome back! I hope you’ve been keeping up with my blogs—I’ve written nearly fifty of them, if you can believe it. Loyal readers may recall from a previous blog that I recently had a thirteenth birthday party. A big one by Newman standards. In case you’re wondering how the party went, in a word: amazing. A bunch of my friends came, the food was super delicious, and everyone seemed to have a ton of fun.
Although I didn’t ask for anything, I got a bunch of gifts. According to my mom, even if you don’t ask for a gift, you still have to write a thank-you note to the gift-giver.
“It’s important to express your gratitude when someone shows you generosity,” she said. This was not music to my ears. Apparently, my friends are a generous group, because I got a lot of gifts. And based on what my mom said about gratitude, that also meant a lot of thank-you notes. It will probably take me forever to write all the thank-you notes. So, if I never write another blog again, it’s because I’ll be writing thank-you notes for the rest of my life. Just kidding!
While I’ve been trying to make a dent in my thank-you note pile, I’ve also learned a life lesson: when you have a big task to do, look for ways to break down that big task into smaller parts. That way, you get the benefit not only of being organized in your approach, but you also get lots of small victories on your way to finishing the task. It’s the perfect way to avoid thank-you note woes.
Let me share my story with you…
Food for thought
Ohhh, if only I could tell you all about how good the mini pigs in the blanket were and how delicious the pasta station was at my party. But I know this is not one of those food blogs that my mom likes to read. And, yes, I’m kind of procrastinating. I know, I know. Stay focused, Noodle. (Sticking to the task at hand is a key part of tackling a big project.)
Alright, back to the tale about the ton of thank-you notes I had to write. While I was appreciative of the gifts people got me, it meant a lot of thank-you notes. Right after the party, I asked my mom if I could just print out copies of the same note for everyone. Unfortunately, my big sister, Jill, overheard our conversation. So of course, she went and stuck her nose into my business.
“Noodle, puh-lease, you don’t have that many thank-you notes to write. You just need to set a goal for how many thank-you notes you want to write each day. Like ten per week. If you stick to your plan, you’ll be done in no time.” As much as I was annoyed at Jill for being unsympathetic about my thank-you note woes, she had a good point.
Was ten thank-you notes doable? I mean, I guess I could do five each day over the weekend if I really buckled down. But ugh. That still felt like a lot.
So for a week, I wrote a total of zero thank-you notes. I reasoned that I was still coming off the high from my party. I didn’t want to deal with reality yet. Avoidance didn’t make my thank-you note woes go away. They just hovered over my head. Or more accurately, on my desk, where I kept my stationery.
Drawing a blank
Week one turned into week two. By now, most people had probably forgotten about my party. Maybe that meant they’d also forgotten that they’d given me gifts? My mom was a firm “no” on that front. I still had to write messages to the gift-givers, thank-you note woes or not.
“But I don’t know what to write,” I complained to my mom one night after I’d finished my homework. Obviously, that excuse wasn’t going to fly. Together, my mom and I came up with some basic lines I could use for my messages. Then, I could personalize as needed. My mom went one step further. She also gave me a list of who gave what, with a special spot to check off whether I’d written them a thank-you note.
“Alright, Noodle, now that you have a plan, let’s go ahead and test out the system.” My mom sure was crafty. With a big sigh, I got out a piece of crisp, BLANK stationery. I sighed again for good measure. My mom quietly shut the door as she left my room. It was just my stationery and me.
Using my message template, I wrote one thank-you note to my grandparents. They gave me a really nice card (and yes, it contained a super generous gift.) One down. Only thirty-four more notes to go.
Even though the one note wasn’t all that exhausting to write, I felt like I’d done enough for one day. I wasn’t yet ready to face the huge pile of blank thank-you cards that were staring at me. Tomorrow was another day.
Putting pen to paper
Unfortunately for me, I had a big test to study for coming up that next week. After writing that one thank-you note, the momentum to get cracking on the others slowed from a crawl to a complete stop. When the week was finally over (and I hopefully did well on my test), I breathed a sigh of relief.
But on Saturday afternoon, my mom poked her head in my room. I was sitting on my bed, listening to music. Not writing thank-you notes. She spied the pile of stationary that I’d stacked neatly on my desk. Without saying a word, my mom raised her eyebrows and gestured over at the pile. I knew what I had to do.
It was time to put my thank-you note woes to rest. The only way I’d ever finish writing all those thank-you notes was to start. And so, with a perfectly selected thank-you note writing playlist, I got to work. Before I knew it, I dashed off four notes. I was in the zone. I decided I’d do two more since my hand was starting to hurt. Surely, I could crank out at least four more notes on Sunday.
It felt good to check off the names from my gift list. With my mom helping to address the envelopes, maybe I’d finish all the notes before summer vacation. There’s no way I was taking them with me to sleepaway camp!
Here’s the scoop
While I wish I could end this blog by triumphantly announcing that I’ve finished all my thank-you notes, I can’t do that just yet. But my thank-you note woes have since died down to a whisper. If I put my mind to it, I can probably finish my remaining thank-you notes in a few days. I’ll admit that, at times, I’ve procrastinated by counting the number of thank-you notes that I’ve written so far. But it helps keep me motivated to put those final check marks on the list.
So, my advice to you is if you have a huge project or some other big thing you’re not looking forward to doing, don’t despair. Think about how you can turn the big into small pieces. After all, you don’t eat a hot fudge sundae in one giant bite. At least I don’t! You take lots of small spoonfuls. (Otherwise, you’ll get brain freeze.)
Think about tackling your big to-do like you’d enjoy a sundae. Maybe you start by eating around the toppings first. Or, perhaps you try to mix every bite with hot fudge and save the whipped cream for last. The point here is to figure out your approach and then dig in. Finishing your big undertaking will be the cherry on top. Literally.
Until next time, be your best you.
Do you have any stories about learning an important lesson from an experience? Please share with them me in the comments section!
