New GTDer - Q1

[clh]

I am about 2/3 through the GTD book. I am going to attempt the extended implementation time this weekend. I like this system because it's realistic for ALL people, not just executives. I liked 7 Habits, but I felt like it didn't allow for the actual work I get paid to do. It seemed to suggest that I delegate those hands-on tasks, but those tasks are my job!

Anyway - my first question is - do you all use the tickler file in its suggested format (lots of folders)? I can't imagine that I will put very much in those folders, and if I do, it will be notes reminding me to add something to my NA list. I think it would work better to just write those reminders on my calendar. Has anyone else tried this? Did it work? Did it not?

[Instigase]

Do I use the 43 folders? - Yep.

I treat it like a date specific inbox, with the intent that those items have to be processed that day. As opposed to my regular inbox which gets processed during the weekly review.

What do I put in them....
-Bills to process.
-Greeting Cards to send
-Permission slips to send out with the kids.
-Those pesky gift certificates that I want to use that day (as a treat to my self).
-Event Tickets
-A random $20 bill as an incentive to look in the folders - thanks for the tip Merlin!
-Agendas & minutes to review and bring to the meeting. (Yes I set one up at work.)

Earlier, I tried to put reminders in my calendar, but Id have to include a reminder of where that object was, etc. Or worse, I'd add another layer to my system of organizing stuff (yuck). An example, For a bill I recieve, I open a bill, scan the date due, subtract five days and place in that date. Also with cards, I buy the cards for my family's birthdays & anniversaries all in one trip and add them to the month folders. This method helps to put the "hard edges" in the system by keeping the calendar as a sacred place for the Hard Landscape of my daily life. I must admit that having as few items as possible in the calendar has a liberating psychological effect (that mind like water thing) - allowing me to control more of the decisions with my time.

It does require developing the habit to check it every day. But, once that habit is developed it becomes a very trusted part of the system and one part that requires the least amount of energy to operate and manage. Agin the mind like water feeling is a valid one, since once the item is in the folder, I truly forget about the task until I see it that day. My brain is free to work on other things...

Good luck

[ADD GTDer]

[QUOTE=Instigase]Do I use the 43 folders? - Yep.

...It does require developing the habit to check it every day. But, once that habit is developed it becomes a very trusted part of the system and one part that requires the least amount of energy to operate and manage. Agin the mind like water feeling is a valid one, since once the item is in the folder, I truly forget about the task until I see it that day. My brain is free to work on other things...[QUOTE]

I agree! I was just thinking this morning how much I LOVE my tickler system! It has simplified my life (and my lists) tremendously!

I don't spend any time looking for things like tickets to shows or bills, or wondering if it's WATER DAY at my daughter's camp anymore - my tickler file makes sure I see those things (and more) when I need to see them - but not before!

By all means, I say go for it! It's one of the best parts of GTD!

Janice

[Frank Buck]

Tossing something in a tickler file and then handling the physical object when it pops up is so much easier than writing it on a list, seeing the item on the list later, going to your "pending file" and hunting through the file for what you need. I have been using tickler files since college and couldn't see doing without them. In fact, during my first couple of years as a teacher, my entire organization system consisted of: 1) a rudimentary month-at-a-glance calendar; 2) a memo pad in my shirt pocket; and 3) my tickler files. Every new to-do got written on a separate page in the memo pad. The sheets then went into the tickler files. Each morning, I would pull the tickler file, dump it all on the desk, and arrange the slips in the order I wanted to tackle them.

Back then, I really didn't think about organizing things by category, but things really turned out that way on their own. Back then, I would instinctively toss file things that were errands in the folder for the coming Saturday. Bills were good candidates to be tossed in Saturday's folder. In the morning when I would arrange the little slips, I would instinctively put phone calls together, group several slips together that all involved talking to a particular person.

Don't want this post to run too long, so if this thread turns out to be a pretty active discussion, I will chime in again on a little technique I have been using the last year or so with my ticklers that combines the best of the standard 1-31 system with the system outlined in To-Do, Doing, Done.

[Day Owl]

if this thread turns out to be a pretty active discussion, I will chime in again on a little technique I have been using the last year or so with my ticklers that combines the best of the standard 1-31 system with the system outlined in To-Do, Doing, Done.

Do tell, Frank.

[Danny Hardesty]

I think whether a tickler file is beneficial depends in large part on the type of work you do.

Tickler files (all 43 folders) are very useful for attorneys. In my tickler file I put all kinds of reminders and deadlines which I sort throughout the month. It is easy for paperwork to "junk" up your desk or in-box and you can eliminate that problem with judicious use of your tickler file.

Good luck!

Danny Hardesty

www.dannyhardesty.com

[kewms]

Tickets and event-related materials of all kinds. In the tickler file, I know they won't get lost, plus they pop up as a timely reminder of the event.

Reminders of Someday/Maybe events. For instance, a local theatre company sends out flyers months in advance. I don't yet know if I'll want to see their January production, so I throw the flyer in my tickler file for November or December.

Reminders of household tasks. For a while, I was shuttling a handful of tile samples from my inbox to my tickler and back while I played phone tag with the tile guy.

Future reading, including stuff to take on the plane on my next trip.

Notes for my next monthly or weekly review.

"Future inbox" items. For example, I need to start research for a particular project at the beginning of next month. (Can't do it sooner because of higher priorities.) The reminder goes in my tickler. It could go on my calendar, I guess, but I prefer to limit my calendar to true "hard landscape," like deadlines and appointments. Plus scribbling a note on a scratch pad and throwing it in the tickler file is faster.

So yes, I find that the minimal time needed to set up the file is completely justified. Lazy people (like me!) who don't want to hand label 43 folders will discover monthly and daily accordion files at the local office supply store.

Katherine

[pageta]

I'm a SAHM, and though I don't have something in my tickler file every day, I have found it extremely useful. In fact, I would almost call it the single most useful tool I've learned from David. Following through at a later date was always something I've struggled with, and this helped immensely.

It does help provide a framework for your week. I put all of the bills as I get them in the file corresponding to my husband's next payday. I have a card that says "Clean House" that goes in the tickler one week from when I last cleaned it. A lot of my "waiting for's" go in the tickler file so I don't think about them until the appropriate time to follow up (say I order something and they say it takes three to four days to ship - into the tickler the printed receipt goes).

Bottom line - you don't have to have a file full of items every single day in order for this tool to be extremely useful.

[flexiblefine]

Anyway - my first question is - do you all use the tickler file in its suggested format (lots of folders)? I can't imagine that I will put very much in those folders, and if I do, it will be notes reminding me to add something to my NA list. I think it would work better to just write those reminders on my calendar. Has anyone else tried this? Did it work? Did it not?

I think I use my tickler much like you expect to use yours -- just a little note occasionally to remind me about something. I bought a 3x5 card box and two sets of dividers -- a monthly set and a daily set. My card box is my tickler file.

To make sure I check it every day, it sits on the corner of my desk where I put my sunglasses each morning. It's handy, I check it, and most days I just move the divider to the next month.

[Margaret Warton]

Like others, I find my tickler file to be an integral part of my life. Things in my file include:

1. Daily/Weekly housecleaning tasks --These include tracking of how many consecutive times I've done them for motivation
2. Tickets to plays, concerts and auto races coming up
3. Printouts of info for upcoming trips filed a few days before departure
4. Cards from my husband given to me at anniversaries or birthdays go into every Monday and Friday -- nice way to start and end the week
5. Fine Cooking Magazine and new recipes go into each Saturday since I plan my weekly menus Saturday mornings
6. Things I see in catalogs that I'm not sure I really want go into the tickler two weeks out
7. Weekly review checklist and my personal mission statement goes into the next Thursday file since Thursday morning is my review time
8. The backup card for my PDA goes in Thursday so I have a backup of my PDA after the weekly review
9. Forms/envelopes for charitable organizations to make sure we keep up with our annual giving schedule
10. Anything that has a date attached that comes through my physical inbox that I need to be reminded about

As others have said, once the tickler is a habit, it's indispensable. I do a "daily review" first thing each morning to process my inbox/tickler/email, make sure I've got NA's for all of my active projects and print my NA/calendar out (I prefer crossing things off on paper to the PDA). This process has worked very well for me since I implemented it two years ago.

My husband now gives me stuff that he needs to be reminded about so I can "tickle" it. Time to put "@Errands - get file box and 43 folders for Steve" on the list...

[Desultory]

I love my Tickler! It's like getting little presents every morning. I suppose if that feeling goes away, I could try the $20 bill trick.

Here's my variation:
I pay my visa bill on the 20th, so all the charity letters I get during the month go into -20-. On bill-paying day, I chose who I will donate to that month, record it, and toss the rest.

[Day Owl]

I bought a 3x5 card box and two sets of dividers -- a monthly set and a daily set. My card box is my tickler file.

Flexiblefine, what do you do with papers that are too large for the card file but have to be acted on at some future date?

[Frank Buck]

Tickler files come up as a topic every so often. Seems some people can't live without them (me for one) and have all sorts of things in them. Others say they don't have anything to put in them. (Maybe they can get some ideas from these last few posts.)

Here is the one valid criticism I hear of tickler files: "What do I do when I need an item before the date is automatically pops up?" In other words, you want to see this document again in a couple of weeks, so you toss it in a tickler for about that far into the future. Then somebody comes along and asks you for the document, and you haven't the foggiest idea of which file it is in because the date is arbitrary.

Here is something I have not seen in print anywhere that I have been using for several months and has been successful. It blend the concept of the traditional 1-31 tickler file with the A-Z system outlined in To Do, Doing, Done, and eliminates the need for a separate "project support" filing system.

My tickler files have a dual label. They are labeled 1A, 2B, ...26Z, then 27, 28...31. In addition, they are hanging files. That way, I can put other manilla file filders inside them.

When I am holding a document (or folder) that is *date specific*, I look at the numbered part of the tab (the tickets for the concert on the 13th, the driving directions for the trip I am taking on the 29th, or the birthday card that needs to go in the mail on the 24th). Those last three examples would go in files 13M, 29, and 24X). Should someone ask me for the those driving directions, it wouldn't be hard to locate them. I know they are filed for the date of the trip.

For documents (or file folders) where the *date is arbitrary*, I think in terms of the subject of that document and look at the lettered par of the tab. The "Supply List" goes in 19S. On the 19th of the month, it pops up and becomes my cue to see if I need to duplicate more. If I do, I am holding the master copy in my hands. If sometime before the 19th I see that I need more copies and want to put my hands on it, it's a no-brainer to look in 19S because "Supply List" starts with "S."

[Brenda]

I've been resisting setting up a tickler file for two reasons:

1. When I tried it a couple of years back I couldn't discipline myself to empty it daily, especially at times when I was about to go away for a few days and had to look at, say, a whole week's worth before I went.

2. I was worried about not being able to find things if I might unexpectedly need them before the date they were tickled for.

Thanks to Frank's post I can now see a way round my second problem. I may try setting up a tickler file again, and force myself to be more disciplined to use it properly this time.

[clh]

Well, OK, I guess I will give the 43 folders a try. But now this brings up another question. Do you have two sets, one at home and one at work? Or, do you keep show tickets and bills in your file at work?

And a semi-related question - what about "mini systems" that are already working? Example - I produce a weekly newsletter, and I have a clear plastic file on my desk labeled "reference" for things that I regularly have to look at to produce that newsletter. Now that I'm reading this, I guess this folder could be in my file drawer.
But, I also have a green plastic "invoices" file. I put all my received invoices in there along with a stack of blank check request forms. I fill out the forms when I collect a little stack of invoices. Sometimes it's once a week, sometimes I have no new invoices for three weeks. Having that folder in my line of sight reminds me how many invoices are there and that I need to fill out those forms. I can see how this might go against the GTD grain. How do you deal with work-related invoices? :?:

[spectecGTD]

My 43-folder tickler file has become an indispensable management tool for me.
I trust it completely to bring things back around at the right time, and I can hhonestly say that when I drop something in there I can forget about it.

After about a year of GTD, I can't imagine conducting business without the tickler file.
I only wish I had developed the habit years ago.

[Frank Buck]

CLH,

I have a set at home and a set at work. I used to maintain one just at work, but found that too many papers started at home, rode to work in the briefcase, got filed in the tickler at work, popped up on the given day, went home in the briefcase, and were acted on at home. (Makes me tired just thinking about it.)

For things like your Invoices file, I would label a file folder "Invoices" and then put that in one of your tickler files (my ticklers are hanging files). How often do you want to be reminded that you need to look in the folder? If it's once a week, I would pick a day (I like to handle bills on Saturday) and let the Invoices folder go there. If a once-a-month reminder is good enough, I would put it in tickler file 9I. On the 9th day of the month, it pops up. If I wanted to put my handson it before then, I think "I" for invoice, which sends me to the same file.

[Brent]

I maintain separate tickler systems at home and at work, as well.

[pageta]

Well, OK, I guess I will give the 43 folders a try. But now this brings up another question. Do you have two sets, one at home and one at work? Or, do you keep show tickets and bills in your file at work?

And a semi-related question - what about "mini systems" that are already working? Example - I produce a weekly newsletter, and I have a clear plastic file on my desk labeled "reference" for things that I regularly have to look at to produce that newsletter. Now that I'm reading this, I guess this folder could be in my file drawer.
But, I also have a green plastic "invoices" file. I put all my received invoices in there along with a stack of blank check request forms. I fill out the forms when I collect a little stack of invoices. Sometimes it's once a week, sometimes I have no new invoices for three weeks. Having that folder in my line of sight reminds me how many invoices are there and that I need to fill out those forms. I can see how this might go against the GTD grain. How do you deal with work-related invoices? :?:


I think what you're doing sounds like it's working just fine. You don't need to use the tickler file for everything. The newletter file sounds like a project file, as does the invoices file. David talks about having files on your desk for active projects that you're working on - I see nothing wrong with continuing the system you already have, unless you truly want to forget about the invoices until a certain day (something that I wouldn't necessarily want to do, but I'm not in your shoes).

[ADD GTDer]

I have separate ones at work and home. Once you get into the habit of using them, you may find both are quite active.

Janice

[tuneczar]

We're using a single tickler file, kept at home. Just seemed simpler for us.

I find that when I'm at work, and come across something that should be filed in the Tickler, I just dump it into a plastic folder to be filed when I get home.

My wife and I both put our future action reminders in the tickler, so it's a snap to quickly review them together in the morning over coffee -- and then we both feel more aware of what each of us "has on our plate" for the day. We often work together in the studio, so our professional life and home life blur a *lot.

Yet...I can see how 2 systems might work better for some, esp. when you want to keep work *at work, so to speak.

[ActionGirl]

I've been using a tickler for about a year--home only, as I don't have an office. The only glitch for me is what to do with stuff between when I take it out of the folder in the morning and the point in the day when I actually need or want to act on the item.

Where you put items such as that day's plane ticket, theatre tickets or driving directions for an evening activity, notes for a telephone call, items that were put there to gestate, etc., anything you'll want later that day, but not right then?

My impulse was to leave them out on my table or desk (where everything used to land pre-GTD) for lack of a better solution. I didn't like that and tried putting them in a "pending" folder with other active folders that sit in an upright holder next to my inbox. But too often I didn't look at the folder again for days...or much longer. I don't want to put anything back into that day's tickler file since I don't want to check it more than once per day. How do you bridge that last time interval?

Thanks, long live the tickler!

[kewms]

Where you put items such as that day's plane ticket, theatre tickets or driving directions for an evening activity, notes for a telephone call, items that were put there to gestate, etc., anything you'll want later that day, but not right then?

I keep "things I must have today," like theatre tickets, separate from "things I hope to work on today," like project support materials. This is sort of like the distinction between "hard landscape" calendar items, and "next actions."

For the must have items, you might try using a very visible folder -- red plastic or neon orange, maybe -- and putting it in a very visible place, such as under your car keys. Or, you could transfer them from your tickler to your briefcase, purse, paper planner, or other container that is *always* with you.

I keep "current work" items in a stacking tray underneath my inbox. Yes, there is a risk that they will sit there forever-- some of mine have -- but that's not a disaster because the task itself should be on your NA lists as a reminder. Come weekly review time, you can re-evaluate whether these items are still current or need to be pushed to the back burner.

Katherine

[Brent]

Where you put items such as that day's plane ticket, theatre tickets or driving directions for an evening activity, notes for a telephone call, items that were put there to gestate, etc., anything you'll want later that day, but not right then?

They go in my inbox. Later, on my desk.

[flexiblefine]

Flexiblefine, what do you do with papers that are too large for the card file but have to be acted on at some future date?

I have an item like that right now, actually, sitting in my tickler for August 10. There's a card in the tickler, but the real item is in a "pending" slot in a wall-mounted rack in my office.

[ActionGirl]

I think I've found the simplest solution to my tickler time-gap problem.

If there's something in that day's folder that I'm not going to do immediately or I don't have a designated place for, I just leave the whole folder out in the standing file rack next to my inbox.

I added "replace tickler file" to my daily checklist. If I have tickets for something, I won't have to think, "now what perfectly logical place did I forget I put that." Most often the file can go immediately back into the tickler, but I think this will help for those things that I put in to gestate, or just need to do "later." Putting them in a different folder labeled "Today's Actions" in red didn't help because I could blow it off. But I NEED my tickler file to stay intact, so I'll have to do it or otherwise put into my system.

At least that's the plan for now...

[Michael Fahey]

I would like to get in on the 'tickler" discussion. I have tried the acordian style and one that lies flat on the desk. I did not like the acordian because it always flopped on the floor. The desk one works well but i am interested in hearing about how the 'file box" method is used and advantages/disadvantages of each tickler system.

I agree that checking it everyday is the key to the whole system.

MTF

[Frank Buck]

I like the idea Action Girl has--basically turning today's tickler into a "pending." For me, it's a shallow desk drawer. Just wanted to add one idea--before I put something in that "pending" drawer, I put an entry on my task list followed by an *. The * is my shorthand that tells me I have something in my pending drawer that supports the task.

[ActionGirl]

I like the idea Action Girl has--basically turning today's tickler into a "pending." For me, it's a shallow desk drawer. Just wanted to add one idea--before I put something in that "pending" drawer, I put an entry on my task list followed by an *. The * is my shorthand that tells me I have something in my pending drawer that supports the task.
And I like the * idea.

I've also discovered that I'm repelled by anything that says "pending." To me, it just mumbles, "I'm not really that important. Just ignore me." So I've just stopped using the word.

[Steve Riker]

I'll be the contrary one - I do not use a tickler. My GTD implementation:

a. computer program to keep track of NA's, due dates, projects, tasks. A reminder is put into the program as to paper-based items, a date and number is attached to the item, and it is thrown in a drawer. When I want to work on it, the reference to the date and number in the computer program sends me to the paper item and I work on it.

b. a portable capture system for appointments, NA's, etc. - I use the cards from www.nextactioncards.com since they are small and have a format that allows quick entry into my computer system later.

c. a computer calendar for appointments

Works for me, but of course, to each his own.

Steve