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Tickler File Hack
Brad Blackman | Mar 21 2006
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? 28 Comments
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 Tickler File is lynchpinSubmitted by eccentricpeasant on May 29, 2006 - 5:17am.
I use a modified tickler file as the centerpiece of my "system" and I too got the idea on AnalogGTD list. I took a 7" x 10" spiral-bound sketchbook and tabbed it off into Weekly, Mon - Sun, Next Week, Jan - Dec dividers. So 21 "folders" instead of 43! I put everything in it on the day I intend to do it, including recurring tasks. During my weekly review, I check the Weekly tab where I put all the cards/notes for recurring tasks e.g. checklist for weekly review. So that makes my tickler more of a planner, I guess. I put one task per card or note and toss when I'm done. Each day I pull out the tasks and arrange them into my portable bleacher so I can set it out on whatever surface I'm working at and see all my get-er-dones at once. I'd been struggling with implementing GTD for months when all the talk on different boards lately about contexts caused an epiphany: my contexts are "when" not "where". Obviously "where" is important - I can't do online research while I'm teaching a class or cooking supper - but my life is very routine and structured by time over the course of a week. For instance, I only get to do errands one day a week so that day's divider is where the shopping list/coupons/anything associated with errands go until I need them. I know that this is not strict GTD, but it's working better than anything else I've tried. I'm doing a weekly review/preview each week and very little is falling through the cracks. And that's the important part so I don't let anyone down. » POSTED IN:
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