I read a few of the links Merlin referred to today in his GTD recap, especially the A Year of Getting Things Done installments. In it he admitted he had trouble actually using the 43 folders the site is named after.

I've found that's a hard point for me, too. Yesterday morning before work, I meant to get my emissions test done in order to renew my license plate. But I couldn't find the place because I left the printed Google Maps directions at home, in the Tickler folder for the 20th. Stupid me, I don't ever think about checking the tickler in the morning, or at night before bed. (Which would probably keep me up worrying about things I have to do tomorrow.)

So last night I decided to put all the tickler folders for this week into my bag. It looks like what I'll start doing is putting the upcoming week's tickler folders in my bag when I do my weekly review on Saturday morning, which is when I pretty much plan the upcoming week.

This is the first day I've tried it, but it's worked well so far. I just have a hunch this might actually work for me. It's based somewhat on my girlfriend's modified tickler file, where she only has 6 or 7 folders, one for each day of the week, in which she places things and to-do lists for that specific day.

Has anyone else come up with any sort of tickler file hack, or any other such tweak to your system, that might be somewhat subtle like this one? Or perhaps more overt?