Tickler file as described by DA

[ko]

I'm new to GTD - I've only been using it for a couple weeks now. I've implemented most of DA's suggestions, with great success. One thing that I haven't implemented, though, is the tickler file.

I can see where this setup would be helpful, but only for a very few items. It doesn't seem that I would get too much use out of it. For those of you who do use a tickler file, for either personal or professional use, could you please explain how you use it? Specifically, what things do you put in it?

I'm hoping input from others will help me to evaluate whether I want to set up something similar.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Okay, I'll give it a shot...
I have found the Tickler files to be very helpful. I use them for my personal and volunteer commitments. I'll start with the months...I love having a place to put the random info that comes in. Some examples:
* I'm visiting my parents during Spring Break and came across an article that had some interesting kid places to visit near where they live. I stuck this in my April Tickler file.
* Ideas for my son's birthday party go in the July file. Ideas for my daughter's party in the January file. When it gets closer they get their own temporary file, but I don't like to have a tons of files.
* April has a flier for Earth Day activities.
* May has a flier for a 1-day enrichment program that my son might be interested in. It also has a form that is due in June.
* June has fun summer kid activities.
* Sept has a United Way flier that I need to distribute to local companies for my volunteer org.
* October has some Halloween costume ideas.
* November has an article about a new test (Vertical Auto Profile) for cholesterol that I want to see if my Doctor will do when I go for my annual exam. (This actually worked great in 2003. I had just implemented GTD and in my November file was an article about C-Reactive Protein, a blood test for heart disease indicators. I took it with me to my appt and my doctor ran the test. In the past, I didn't have any way of remembering to do this.)

Some of these could have their own file, but then I probably wouldn't go to the trouble of digging out the file.

My daily files (1-31) are used for various things:
* info that I need to pass on, like an article for someone that I'm going to see at church or Bunco would be in the file for the date of that event
* my referral form (gotta love managed-care; not!) would go in the file for the date of my doctor's appt
* directions or info on an event I'm attending goes in the file for that date

Most of my daily files are empty, so it really is quick to go thru it. But the days when I have something there really is no other easy place to keep the stuff. (That misc stack can get pretty high.)

Hope this helps!

[ThomasDerwin]

My number one use is for bills. Bills get opened, verified, and filed in the tickler to "arrive" 8 days before the due date, when they get paid.

In these days of the $35 late fee, my tickler file is priceless.

Any other paperwork I'll want on a specific future date goes in the tickler, too. Shows up right on time.

Regards,
Tom

[DavidAllen]

Gotta say, tickler file is one of those things, like the labeler, that embeds the myterious secret magical power of a way-cool simple little structure that can add serious value to your life and work. Pay attention to the previous posts on this. I use it still for hundreds of things of like quality and interest and potential value. Nothing else does the trick...

David

[Anonymous]

I set one up at work for my secretary to keep up with bills and Accounts/Receivables.

Customers who make payments have a folder in the alphabet system and is sorted by last name. Underneath their name is penciled in a number that thier payment is due. A payment card (with name and the day of the month it is due at top) is then placed in the 1-31. The payment card continues to move into the next day until it is paid. Once it is paid it is recorded on the card and placed back in the number at the top of the card. If a customer sends in a payment weeks before it is due, and I don't know what day it is due, I simply look thier name up in the alphabet section. Underneath their name is the number it should be stored in.

At home I use it for bills and "Read Sometime" magazines.

Deavers

[Anonymous]

Most of my office stuff is electronic, and I have little need for it at work.
However, it really is useful for home things in my life.

If you think you might not need a big file in a drawer, consider an "Everyday File" from Globe-Weis. It's a self-contained file/sorter thing with 1-31 tabs and tabs for January-December. It sits on my home desk - it isn't folders in the filing cabinet. I get mine at a big office chain store.

I don't use it all that often, but it is very handy when I do have things I've got to get my hands on.

HTH,
M.K.

[susie]

Question,

Hubby and I were listening to the DA tapes. We understand about seperate workspaces and inboxes. Although that just came to us. We had what we thought was an inbox that was really a collection box.

Anyway, we set up a tickler for us (household, combined life) but now we question whether we each need our own tickler. We both have the same home base (home)

Another verification question -- inbox is stuff that NEEDs to still be processed.

Any advice in this area would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[QB]

I second the Everyday File. It's about the size of a notebook so it doesn't take up alot of space. When I leave a the end of the day, I put it in my desk so there's nothing cluttering it up. It's great and only about $18.

[Frank Buck]

I have been using tickler files my entire adult life. (I first saw the idea as a little kid--my dad was a one-man law firm and used tickler files religously. I actually used to think he thought up the idea!)

For a while, the tickler file was my entire organizational system. A kept a memo pad in my pocket. I would jot each task to be completed on a different sheet. On a daily basis, I would tear out the used sheets, make decisions on when iI wanted to accomplish them, and drop them in the appropraite files.

If I tasks that repeated, the sheet would include the task and then instructions for when to refile the sheet for when it should pop up again.

For projects, I would take a whole sheet of paper,list all of the steps as best I could, assign a date to each step, and file the sheet for the date the first task needed to be completed. Through the life of the project, that piece of paper would continue to reappear on exactly the day I had planned to complete the next task, and would then disappear until time to do the next one.

I rely on my Palm (synced to Outlook) to keep up with all of the things I used to jot on a memo pad, but the tickler file is still essential for the things that show up as something physical:
1) I plan out a series of inspirational messages for my students (I am a school principal) to read over the intercom to start the day. I get a while bunch of them lined up at one sitting, and then throw then in the tickler file to pop up on the appropriate dates.
2) I buy birthday cards for the whole year at one time. At one sitting, I address them all, put on all of the return address stickers, and (in the spot where I will later stick the stamp) pencil in the date the card needs to go in the mail. I sort them all into the tickler file and forget about them. Each card pops up on the day it needs to be mailed.
3) As bills come in during the week, they get thrown into Saturday's file. On Saturday, there they all are, and we handle them all at one time.

These are just three examples of using tickler files to "batch" similar items. I could go on for days. For the past half a dozen or so years, I have been doing workshops on time management and organization for educators around Alabama. Particpants I run into months (or years) later keep pointing to the tickler file as the thing that made the biggest change in their lives.

Frank

[ko]

Okay, I'm convinced!

I set up a tickler file at work this past week, and initially there was very little in it. But during my weekly review Friday I ended up moving a lot of items to my tickler file - reminders about upcoming birthdays, routine information, reminders to check on the release locations for a movie coming out next month, etc.

I'm finding there are things in there that it just doesn't make sense to put anywhere else.

Thanks for the replies.