The promise log
I'll let you know when it's back in. I'll send you that link. I'll find out and get back to you. I said these all day and kept maybe half. Now every one of them gets written down the second I say it.
Tabled for now. Built, not on the homepage, still true.
The job I gave away
Remembering what I promised. In my activewear business the big one is I'll let you know when it restocks. In life it's the recipe, the name of the good plumber, the photo I said I'd send. None of them are hard. They're just too small to remember and too real to drop.
What runs now
Every promise goes into one log the moment it's made: who, what, what I said they could expect, and when I said it. Nothing waits until later, because later is exactly when I forget. Once a week my system reads the log against what actually happened, the item came back, the order landed, the person wrote first, and tells me which promises are done, which are overdue, and which are still waiting on someone else. Every verdict says what evidence it used.
The free version, ten seconds per promise
One note called Promised
The second you type I will in a message, add a line: the name, the thing, and today's date. Ten seconds. Do it before you send the message, not after.
Friday, open your chat app and paste the note with this:
Sort these promises into three lists: overdue, due this week, and waiting on someone else. For each overdue one, write me a one-line message I can send that keeps the promise or honestly resets the date. Do not delete anything. Mark what I tell you is done and keep it at the bottom.
Keep two promises, reset one, and let the list get shorter.
What it hands back
Overdue:
- Erin, enchilada recipe, Aug 20
Message: "Sorry for the delay, Erin, sending the enchilada recipe today!"
- Priya, lake weekend photos, Aug 31
Message: "Priya, I owe you those lake photos, sending them tonight!"
- Nadia, the book, Sep 3
Message: "Nadia, sorry for the wait, I'll drop off your book this weekend."
Due this week:
- None
Waiting on someone else:
- Coach Tom, confirm Maya for Oct 4 tournament, due Sep 2 (waiting on Dave's work schedule)
- School, volunteer for book fair, due Sep 4 (waiting on them to send sign-up link)
2 more lines follow.
Where this goes wrong
Matching on the name alone. A thank-you I sent in July blocked a follow-up due in August, because the check asked did I message her instead of did I message her about this. Every promise is a name plus a thing plus a date, and the question is always about all three.
The rule underneath
The promise goes in the log before the message goes out. My old list was half fiction because I did it the other way round.