How to track events/occurrences ?

[ivan308]

I often come across times when it would be good to be able to know when something happened in the past such as when did I last change the AC filter in the house, or when did I last rotate my tires or what date did some other event happen

How does everyone keep track of these things ? Tickler file ? Journal ?

Any thoughts or ideas are welcome

[Candid]

If you use a tickler file, you could simply start a sheet of paper that says, "Change furnace filter" put it in the correct month or day and then on that that day when you change the filter you put the date on the first line of the sheet and move the sheet to the correct next place in the tickler folder.

This won't help you if you need to see where you stand on various routine task, though.

So if you want to know when you did something, I'd put it in my reference system in a file folder that says "Furnace Filter" with a sheet of paper that you record the dates you changed the filter on. With the tires example this might mean just dropping in a receipt if you paid someone to rotate the tires.

You could do both, depends on what you need it for.

[cwoodgold]

For some things, I keep a record taped to the appliance itself or taped to the wall near
where I use the appliance.

Ask yourself: Where am I likely to be when I want to know that information?
You might want it when you're doing your weekly review or something, or you
might tend to get curious about it when you're actually using the appliance.

[Oogiem]

How does everyone keep track of these things ? Tickler file ? Journal ?

Any thoughts or ideas are welcome

I put most of those in my calendar. I use iCal and have several calendars for personal, farm and other categories of items so I can search or select only one at at time to view if I need to. I also keep a running journal of major projects that got finished and for a few of them I have a note in DEVONThink with the dates. It's a bit of a mishmash but it's working for me.

[egallagher2k]

I simply make those recurring or regenerative tasks in my system. If I rotate my tires six months after I rotate them I simply schedule them that way in my system. When I complete and check it off it shows up in my system 6 months later automatically. I have dozens of daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly items like this.

[bishblaize]

Personally I choose some point in the distant future that seems appropriate and put a note in my calendar saying 'New Project - Do X'.

[enyonam]

I also use a tickler for when I need to do it again. In the tickler item, I may add an actual note of when I did it last. If it's renewing an account (e.g. GTD Connect membership) I'll put a tickler for a week or two before the expiration date and put a note in the tickler of the actual expiration date.

[supergtdman]

I archive and keep all kinds of logs in Evernote. whenever I want to look in the past and see when did something happen - just search and sort by date. it will solve the problem perfectly.

tickler and re-occurring actions that most people mention here are a completely different thing (they don't tell you about the past, you need to log and archive past events somewhere for that)

hope this helps

[doug4knfpu]

I often come across times when it would be good to be able to know when something happened in the past such as when did I last change the AC filter in the house, or when did I last rotate my tires or what date did some other event happen

How does everyone keep track of these things ? Tickler file ? Journal ?

Any thoughts or ideas are welcome

I use Event Logger HD for Ipad. Its very convenient for what I need.

[Chas29]

I use a simple text file in Windows using Notepad. I call it LastTime.txt. When opened, it lists all items in alphabetical order which I want to remember the "last time" I changed that item. For example (in alphabetical order):

Air conditioner filter:
4/30/2012
5/17/2011
6/1/2010

Fluorescent Desk bulb:
2/3/2012
8/7/2011
1/17/2011

Tires changed on my Honda:
3/6/2012
9/30/2011
3/30/2011

Well, you get the idea. If you want, you can add notes after the dates, such as last time you changed your tires was at 57,000 miles or whatever.

Chas29