It's probably happened to every sweepstakes hobbyist. You hand-write a stack of entries, you address and stamp the envelopes, then you put the stack on the counter... planning to send one entry per day. You send one or two, but then the stack gets pushed aside. Before you know it, the sweepstakes is over & you're left with a stack of worthless entries. Don't ya hate that?!
Here's a good way to keep that from happening: Set up a tickler file.
Don't worry -- there's not actually any tickling involved. A tickler file is just a filing system used to remind yourself about things that need to be done on a certain day. And it works great for organizing mail-in sweepstakes entries.
Basically a tickler file consists of 43 file folders: 1 for each day of the month + 12 for each month of the year. To use it, you file your item (a completed sweepstakes entry, for example) on the day you're actually going to need it. When that day comes around, you take out the envelope & put it in the mail.
For example, if you're sending in 14 daily entries for a sweepstakes that ends in two weeks, you would send today's entry, then put an envelope in each of your next 13 daily folders. Each day when you process that day's folder, you'll see only the entry that needs to be dealt with that day. Take it out, put it in the mail. It's that easy.
It's just a bit more complicated over a longer time period. Let's say you want to send in 6 entries to a mail-in sweepstakes that ends in 6 weeks (Sept 18). You want to spread the entries out a bit to get the best odds -- so you'll send in 1 entry each week. You send one today (August 7), leaving 5 to spread out over the next few weeks.
- File 1 entry in the "14" folder. You'll send this on August 14th.
- File 1 entry in the "21" folder. You'll send this on August 21st.
- File 1 entry in the "28" folder. You'll send this on August 28th.
- File 1 entry in the "4" folder. You'll send this on September 4th.
- Since the "11" folder still refers to August 11th, you'll need to file the remaining entry in the "September" folder. You may want to write the appropriate date (11th) in pencil on the back, so you don't have to re-figure it later. When you do process the September folder (on September 1st), you can move this envelope to the "11" folder that will now refer to September.
Once you get the hang of it, you'll realize that tickler files are a great way to handle your mail-in sweepstakes entries (not to mention your bills & birthday cards!). All you have to do is check that folder daily. For more info on using Tickler Files, download the free PDF from David Allen's site, or read his excellent book, Getting Things Done.
If you like mail-in sweepstakes, you might be interested in the Sweeping America newsletter -- the weekly newsletter for people who are serious about winning "snail-mail" sweepstakes and contests. Sweeping America is one of the sponsors of our contest, which ends in just a few hours. Get your last-minute entries in now!
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