43 Folders Yes or No

[SalesDave]

I am working on setting up GTD for myself and have the following question for the more experienced among us:

Do you find that physically creating a 43 folder filing system for reminders a valuable use of time? Or do you find using an add-on to Outlook such as GTD or Jello Dashboard negates the need for the 43 folder system?

The reason for this question is to help me determine the best use of my resources when implementing GTD. Thanks in advance.

Dave

[Scott_TX]

Dave, one of the big advantages of using 43 folders for me is putting items in it that I want to see at a later date. This includes inspirational items to read, actual forms that I need to fill out at a later date. I also put 3x5 cards in my folders to remind me to do things like change the air filter on the first of the month. Some of these things can be done in Outlook, but others are easier to do with real folders.

[kewms]

Well, I "created" my 43 folders by buying 31-slot and 12-slot accordion files. So the investment of time was pretty trivial.

Usually the things that go in mine are either physical items -- like tickets -- or things that I haven't processed to the point of being ready to put into a more formal system. I no longer use Outlook, but even when I did I still found the tickler file useful.

Katherine

[unstuffed]

My 'creation' of the 43 folders took as long as it takes to write the numbers 1 - 31 and the months January - December on some folders. Voila, the tickler file.

And yes, it is useful, monumentally so. I stick bills and event notices in it, notes about stuff I don't have time for right now but want to get to soon, and a whole bunch of stuff.

Adding things to the tickler file takes about half a second, which is way less than it would take to type up the details and add it to an electronic record. I'm a big exponent of doing as little as possible.

[tominperu]

As others have suggested the investment in time in creating a tickler file is pretty minimal. I created and tried to use one before but I found that most days when I looked in it (at the beginning of the day) there was nothing inside. This meant I started to not bother looking into it and so the system broke down.

I find putting postdated actions in Outlook just as easy and this system hasn't broken down for me. The action just appears in Outlook which I look at every day without fail. If there is physical object associated with the action then have a sort of "general actions support material tray" (I've just invented the name!), which I put the object in and I refer to this object in the postdated action. It seems to work fine although I admit if if the tray started piling up with stuff it would be a problem.

You just need to try different systems and find out what works for your particular workflow and personal style.

[notmuch]

My experience mirrors tominperu's. I did the 43 folders for about 6 months, and then abandoned it.

I suspect if you are using a predominately paper system, and/or handle a lot of hard copy material, then the folders make more sense. I'm mostly digital so any recurring reminders are already automated. I also developed some bad habits where items just kept getting re-filed farther and farther back... rather than just getting them into my system (Active Support, Read & Review or S/M) or into the trash can. The final nail was that I travel a lot, often on short notice, so the fewer the files to check (or pack) the better. YMMV.

[jknecht]

My system is almost entirely digital (Outlook and PocketPC), but I do find the 43 folders to be helpful for those odd times that I need a physical piece of paper on a given day. It's also useful for parking things I just don't want to think about yet. Another thing I use it for is to park tasks that have a start date, but not a specific due date.

Most days, my daily tickler folder is empty. This used to create a bit of apathy on my part toward checking the file on a daily basis. There were whole weeks that would go by without me checking those folders, until I started sticking my keys in the tickler file each night before I go to bed. Now I'm virtually forced to check the tickler each and every day.

[Eutychus]

Well, I "created" my 43 folders by buying 31-slot and 12-slot accordion files. So the investment of time was pretty trivial.

Usually the things that go in mine are either physical items -- like tickets -- or things that I haven't processed to the point of being ready to put into a more formal system. I no longer use Outlook, but even when I did I still found the tickler file useful.

Katherine

Why did you give up Outlook??

[kewms]

I went to a paper-based system. And then I bought a Mac.

Haven't missed it.

Katherine

[tominperu]

...There were whole weeks that would go by without me checking those folders, until I started sticking my keys in the tickler file each night before I go to bed. Now I'm virtually forced to check the tickler each and every day.

Great tip!!