It might seem strange that we are encouraging you to all get involved in writing thank you notes or letters. However, it’s been proven that there are a whole host of benefits to writing thank you notes from improved life satisfaction, increased happiness and reduced feelings of depression (check out the details of this study here). And thats not to mention the benefits that the recipient gets from receiving the note or letter as we generally always underestimate how much it will mean to them to receive the note (more details on that study here).
So have we convinced you that it’s good to say thank you? Yes, great. Well what are the next steps then? Even though it seems old fashioned to actually write things down with pen and paper/a card, it shows that you have taken time and effort to put your thoughts onto paper, rather than just firing off a quick email or message.
You can also write thank you notes or letters for a whole host of things it doesn’t just have to be for when you receive a gift. You could thank your parents or grand parents for something they have done for you. You could thank a teacher or youth worker for the impact they have had on you (even if it was a really long time ago – trust me this will mean even more!). You could thank a friend or relative for being there for you during a hard time. The list is literally endless.
Now that you have decided that you want to write a thank you note or letter and you’ve decided who you want to write it to, you are probably wondering where you start. Well the team here at Youth Online have your back yet again, check out this video below from southern living which in a really simple format lays out the methods of threes for writing thank you cards – you can apply their structure to letters too, just increase the amount you write for each section.
So watch the video below then get your pen and paper out and start writing those thank you notes.
Did you have a go at writing some thank you notes after reading this activity? If so we would love to hear if they were as well received as the scientific studies suggest or if you found any mental health benefits from getting involved in them too. Get in touch with us via the submit your activities button on the right hand side of this page and let us know how you got on!