Handwritten Thank You Notes: The Power Of Detail

Handwritten thank you notes have power. It is a deliberate act that starts from the heart to be printed on paper. Is the ink feelings forming a thank one I love, one miss you … People are forgetting the healthy exercise of writing and how this practice, immortalized in single notes, postcards or letters, smiles awake and emotions.

Now, this does not mean by any means that our immediate messaging based on whatsapps and other systems has less value. Those ‘good morning’ or a ‘how are you?’ It is something we have become accustomed to, something that shapes our day to day with the people we care about and that undoubtedly reverts to our emotional well-being.

However, the handwritten note has another kind of significance. It’s enduring, it takes effort, and it shapes the kind of detail that intensifies any message. It is a prosocial act that is not seen as often anymore. Because we are not talking about the simple postcard of rigor that one can send for Christmas or for a birthday. We refer to a handwritten message to thank, for example, a friend for being so magical and special in our life.

They are clever phrases to tell a co-worker that it is “worth gold.” It is also that post-it that we put in the suitcase or between our partner’s clothes to surprise him with an ‘I love you’. Or it can also be a sincere and friendly letter to address our parents, siblings or grandparents reminding them of how special and valuable they are in our lives.

Handwritten thank you notes, the power to intensify positive emotions

Amit Kumbar, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin , in the United States, conducted a curious and striking study on the effects that handwritten thank-you notes could have. The work was published in the journal Psychological Science and they revealed data that invite us to reflect.

Not everyone appreciates or understands the power of handwritten notes

In this research, Dr. Kumbar and his team asked a large sample of people to write thank you notes to people around them. Also, two more things were asked of them. The first to predict what effect that gesture could have. The second, that they noted how the response of those nearby figures who had received the notes had actually been.

Thus, something that they could see in that experiment is that there are those who completely underestimate this practice. What’s more, a part of them saw it with some discomfort due to a very simple fact: they were not used to giving thanks, to showing feelings openly. Doing it in writing was not comfortable for them either. The experimenters defined this behavior as selfish bias.

A prosocial act that maximizes well-being

Writing handwritten thank you notes was for a good part of the experimental group, a wellness exercise. It was because they imagined that this gesture was going to be received in a positive way. They predicted the effect and that generated greater illusion. Sender and recipient lived that simple experience in a very positive way.

In addition, they made use of the surprise factor. Writing notes by hand to thank you, to recognize the people you loved, to dedicate an I love you or a feeling of admiration, is not something very common. It was a prosocial act that was experienced in many cases in a very positive way.

We do not expect anything in return, it is a gesture of recognition made with authenticity

When we send a message by WhatsApp, on average, we expect two things. The first is that they read us and see the blue check validating the reading. The delay in seeing that symbol often generates anguish and even concern in many people. The second thing we want is an answer; sometimes even a simple smiley is enough for us.

However, the same is not the case with handwritten thank you notes. It’s an old-fashioned exercise. We will not know when the receiver will read the message, we will not receive a notification, nor the blue check, and even less a response. In fact, the common thing is not to wait for it, because the purpose of these notes goes in only one direction, to reach the heart of the receiver to get a smile, an emotion …

The Anatomy of the Best Handwritten Thank You Note

What should the best handwritten thank you note look like? Very short? Original, fun, extensive, with a colored paper, wrapped in an envelope or better a postcard with a photograph or drawing included? In reality, there is no one exact formula that works in all cases.

However, there are two indispensable variables: sincerity and simplicity. The note gains value when the illusion of surprise travels with it. It can be short or it can be long, but whatever it is, better handwritten, with good or bad handwriting, but let it be ours, starting from the depths of our feelings.