Reply Tray
A quiet place to keep track of the letters you owe someone an answer to. Reply Tray doesn't compose anything for you — it just remembers what came in, what's still open, and what you already sent back, so nothing sits unanswered by accident.
Six things Reply Tray keeps track of
An inbox log
A simple entry for every letter that arrives — sender, date received, and a line about what it needs.
A soft due window
You set your own reply window — a week, two weeks — and the tray marks a letter open until you close it.
Draft notes
A margin for a few lines you want to remember to say — not a text editor, just a place to jot the gist.
A closed archive
Once you've sent a reply, the entry moves to an archive you can search by person or by year.
Correspondence streaks
A gentle count of how many letters you've answered in a row — no leaderboard, just a private tally.
Print-ready address cards
A small card view with the return address formatted the way it should sit on an envelope.
Three steps
Log the letter
When something arrives, add a line: who it's from and roughly what it asks of you.
Let the tray hold it
It sits as open until you mark it answered — no notifications, no badges, just a list you check when you choose to.
Close it when you reply
Mark it done and it moves to the archive, dated, searchable, out of the way.
A few things people ask
Does Reply Tray send anything for me?
No. It only tracks what's open and what's answered. You still write and mail the letter yourself.
Is it only for paper mail?
It's built around physical correspondence, but some people use it for long personal emails too.
Can I use it with a shared household tray?
Yes — several people can log letters to the same tray, which is handy for a family mailbox.
Read more about the habit of replying on time in our piece on the forty-eight-hour reply, or browse the full glossary of correspondence terms.
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