Thread resurrections. gotta love 'em.
When I was a short story writer and always had ten or thirty envelopes out there (ahh, big envelopes with that fold crease in the center...nostalgia break) I made a pen and grid-paper chart, with magazines in prestige/pay order along one axis, story first word along the other, and a little "/" at submission that turned into an "X" at rejection.
In addition, I had a 3x5 index card box where each magazine got its own card. I'd write the story names on it, the sub date, the return date, and any name of an editor who'd signed a personal rejection, other notes on mag.
This was back in the days before I had spreadsheet software, so it was my only option.
I did novel queries five years back snail mail, and all I did was save all cover letters in a doc and imbedded a comment when I got a rejection. This time, email only, so I'll just make a Word doc: agent, agency, date sent, response (if any).