Your new self-care habit costs one stamp
Screen time is at an all-time high, and people are feeling it. In 2024, Americans spent about 70 hours a week — roughly 10 hours a day — consuming media across all devices, according to data and analytics company Nielsen.
As more of our world moves online, it makes sense that people are looking for ways to unplug, and some are landing on a pretty old-school solution: handwritten letters.
Taymoor Atighetchi, founder and CEO of stationery brand Papier, points to two things driving the shift: screen fatigue and a growing appetite for slower living.
“People are looking for ways to feel more present,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “And writing, even something as simple as a note, offers that in a way digital communication doesn’t.”
The numbers back him up. Papier saw notecard sales surge 33% year-over-year in 2025, with writing paper up 23%. Over the past decade, the brand has sold more than 14.7 million notecards and cards combined.
Millennials and Gen Z are driving a big chunk of that growth, part of a broader analog trend that has people swapping streaming for vinyl, iPhones for film cameras, and Instagram for pen pals. For this generation, a handwritten letter isn’t just correspondence — it’s a creative act. Pinterest has tracked surges in searches for “cute stamps,” “pen pal ideas,” “handwritten letters” and “snail mail gifts,” turning letters into art. The mail has become the medium.
“A handwritten note is something you can hold, display and rediscover,” Atighetchi says. “When someone chooses a card, writes it by hand and sends it, it says the relationship is worth slowing down for.”
The appeal goes beyond esthetics, too. Dr. Michael T. Treadway, a psychology professor at Emory University, says it comes down to what effort signals.
“Someone who’s willing to bear an effort cost to connect with you is demonstrating their care and interest,” he told the AJC.
Research has long linked strong social connections to better mental and physical health, and loneliness, now widely described as a public health crisis, is partly a result of how surface-level so much of our digital communication has become. A handwritten note cuts through that. It’s specific, it’s intentional and it asks nothing in return.
Ready to try it? Here’s how to get started
You don’t need fancy stationery or a lot of time. Pick one person you’ve been meaning to reach out to and write them a few lines. Treadway suggests starting small and making it a daily ritual, even if it’s just a few sentences.
Not sure what to write about? Letters don’t always have to be life updates or holiday cards. Try a writing prompt: What’s your favorite life hack? What was your most extravagant impulse purchase? NPR also recommends sneaking little gifts into your envelopes, like stickers, pressed flowers or a tea bag, to make opening it feel like an event.
“Don’t overthink it,” says Atighetchi. “Write from the heart, include small details, your own quirks. It doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to feel like you.”
About the Author
Avery Newmark covers travel, wellness, events and trending news for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. With a dual background in film production and journalism, Avery came to the AJC after working as a video editor. She enjoys film photography and live music in her free time. Reach her at avery.newmark@ajc.com.
