tickler alternative?

[Anonymous]

Since many of use are in front of Outlook much of the time, couldn't one just do the following instead of the traditional tickler system:

(1) "Tickler" category in your Tasks list
(2) Each item to be tickled is a Task with a particular Due Date (tickle date)
(3) You keep your paper items in a plain folder. When a tickle reminder comes up, pull the paper out of the file.

Am I missing something or is this a viable alternative to getting in the habit of checking your tickler every morning?

[spectecGTD]

Might work for someone with a relatively small number of items in their tickler file, but not for me. I probably have 120-150 separate pieces of paper scattered throughout my tickler file altogether, and I don't want to see any of them until their time comes around. But I can see how your system would work for many people who are more virtual with their whole system and don't have a large paper-based element.

[jmarkey]

I agree with Spect that it depends on how many paper items you are working with and also, in part, whether you work better with the items on your task list. I find the paper tickling files to be a great place to put those items that seem to have nowhere else to go. It only takes a split second to drop these items in a folder and forget about them, knowing that I will be reminded at the appropriate time. Generally there are only a few pieces of paper for any given day and many days may have none at all. It is a lot easier for me to open my tickler file for the day and grab my directions to a meeting I'm attending than to go through a stack of all the papers in my tickler. On the other hand, I do use the due dates on my Palm to tickle many next actions to my attention. My hard and fast due dates are on my calendar. If I attach a due date to a task, it's just my way of tickling the item to my attention, so I guess in a way I use both a paper and a virtual tickler system.