Keeping Things Tidy (Updated)

I don't know about other letter writers, but I feel the need to keep my correspondence organized. I'm not always successful at it but I do my best to keep my "to be answered" from my "answered," my incoming from my outgoing. I'm not particularly good about remembering who I've told what so I apologize to my pen friends for my repetitiveness.

A friend sent me this great Decomposition Book and I use it to keep a record of each friend, what they send me, and what I send them. Everybody has their own (unalphabetical) page. I have a basket where I keep my "to be answered" items, and a set of pockets on the wall where I store the outgoing answered mail that's awaiting its trip to the Blue Box. How do you keep your mail organized?

1/20/2013

I'd kept this notebook for a short while and quickly learned that it wasn't cutting it. I love the notebook itself and will repurpose it for another use. In the meantime, I have switched to using a Google Docs spreadsheet to keep my mail organized. I have columns for incoming date/incoming items, outgoing date/outgoing items, and One Timers (those are things like thank you notes to Etsy sellers or other random mailings). As I get new items in, I add it to the incoming list and as I respond to them, I cross them out and add their name/stationery/brief note about content to the outgoing list. Does this seem complicated? I think it's much better to see all the incoming on one page instead of each person having an individual page in the notebook. Also, though I do have a basket where I try to keep the incoming in need of a response, items don't always make them there and often end up in the random pile of incoming, outgoing, mail art supplies, etc. that piles up to the right of my computer on my desk. The pile grows and grows until it ends up in several piles that take over the floor and the arm of the couch, and well, ok, the couch itself!