On Day 6 of the GTD Thirty Day Challenge, I am going to talk about how I set up my tickler file and exactly how to set up a tickler file.
After listening to some of David Allen's conversations, I think he uses 43 folders for his tickler file. The 43 folders are 12 for each month and 31 for each day. If it is January, I'd have 31 folder into the January folder of my months. After each day, I'd take that day's folder and move it behind the next month, in this case February. If it's the 20th, the previous folder for days 1-19 would be behind the February folder now.
How does this work? Let's say I got a bill today that I was due on February 3. Since it's important that I remember, I would put it in the February 3rd folder. When February 3 arrives, I would look in my tickler file and it reminds me to pay the bill.
Personally, I am not a big fan of the tickler file for three reasons. The first reason is that it's really hard to remember to check. You'll hear people ask "how can I remember to check my tickler file?" The second reason is that it is not very portable. It's a bulky way to remember things as a they come up. The third reason is each month that you move the tabs, you have to figure out what day items in that month go into and file them a second time.
For GTD, the tickler file set up is essential because you have to have a way to remind yourself of future actions. If you are a person who has tons of physical paper items then a foldered style tickler is the way you want to set it up. For me though, my work doesn't create many physical items and so I have a different method to setting up my tickler file to solve the above problems.
How I Set Up My Tickler File
The first thing to do is to create a plastic folder for your briefcase called "Waiting For" and put all the things you need to remember in the future in it.
Next, I created a folder in my email account called "Yahoo Reminders". You'll see this folder if you look at the image of my email folder structure in How To Set Up Your GTD Email. I then set up a filter for all Yahoo Reminders to go into this specific folder and not in my inbox for processing.
Finally, I use my Yahoo! calendar, to enter any item I need to remember and make it an "all day event" with an email reminder scheduled to be sent to me 2 days prior to when I need to do it. As a back up, I also have it text to me as well.
Using the example above, the bill that's due on the third of February gets entered onto my calendar as an all day event like "pay this bill" and an email reminder gets sent to me 2 days before that date. Then I slip the bill in my "Waiting For" folder in my briefcase.
On February 1st, an email is sent ot me that reminds me I have to pay a bill on the third. The email bypasses my inbox and is filtered into my Yahoo reminder folder. As a backup, I get a text message too. Using text and email both gives me a backup in case I can't check my Yahoo reminders folder I then have a reminder sitting on my blackberry too. I review my reminders each day on my Blackberry and if I am at my computer, I review them too.
This system is an extremely portable and streamlined tickler file. Everything reminds me on it's own and I don't have to move items around in my tickler file. Email reminders are awesome to remind you of things you have to do and you have no idea how much this helps your productivity until after you use them. If you use 43 folders, I'd still suggest using email reminders 100% to improve your GTD setup.
That is my version of how to set up a tickler file for maximum effectiveness. - 15431
After listening to some of David Allen's conversations, I think he uses 43 folders for his tickler file. The 43 folders are 12 for each month and 31 for each day. If it is January, I'd have 31 folder into the January folder of my months. After each day, I'd take that day's folder and move it behind the next month, in this case February. If it's the 20th, the previous folder for days 1-19 would be behind the February folder now.
How does this work? Let's say I got a bill today that I was due on February 3. Since it's important that I remember, I would put it in the February 3rd folder. When February 3 arrives, I would look in my tickler file and it reminds me to pay the bill.
Personally, I am not a big fan of the tickler file for three reasons. The first reason is that it's really hard to remember to check. You'll hear people ask "how can I remember to check my tickler file?" The second reason is that it is not very portable. It's a bulky way to remember things as a they come up. The third reason is each month that you move the tabs, you have to figure out what day items in that month go into and file them a second time.
For GTD, the tickler file set up is essential because you have to have a way to remind yourself of future actions. If you are a person who has tons of physical paper items then a foldered style tickler is the way you want to set it up. For me though, my work doesn't create many physical items and so I have a different method to setting up my tickler file to solve the above problems.
How I Set Up My Tickler File
The first thing to do is to create a plastic folder for your briefcase called "Waiting For" and put all the things you need to remember in the future in it.
Next, I created a folder in my email account called "Yahoo Reminders". You'll see this folder if you look at the image of my email folder structure in How To Set Up Your GTD Email. I then set up a filter for all Yahoo Reminders to go into this specific folder and not in my inbox for processing.
Finally, I use my Yahoo! calendar, to enter any item I need to remember and make it an "all day event" with an email reminder scheduled to be sent to me 2 days prior to when I need to do it. As a back up, I also have it text to me as well.
Using the example above, the bill that's due on the third of February gets entered onto my calendar as an all day event like "pay this bill" and an email reminder gets sent to me 2 days before that date. Then I slip the bill in my "Waiting For" folder in my briefcase.
On February 1st, an email is sent ot me that reminds me I have to pay a bill on the third. The email bypasses my inbox and is filtered into my Yahoo reminder folder. As a backup, I get a text message too. Using text and email both gives me a backup in case I can't check my Yahoo reminders folder I then have a reminder sitting on my blackberry too. I review my reminders each day on my Blackberry and if I am at my computer, I review them too.
This system is an extremely portable and streamlined tickler file. Everything reminds me on it's own and I don't have to move items around in my tickler file. Email reminders are awesome to remind you of things you have to do and you have no idea how much this helps your productivity until after you use them. If you use 43 folders, I'd still suggest using email reminders 100% to improve your GTD setup.
That is my version of how to set up a tickler file for maximum effectiveness. - 15431
About the Author:
Dojo Kuhn has been practicing GTD since 2005. To help you set up their Getting Things Done system, he wrote a unique GTD Thirty Day Challenge that you can use to help you set up your system. You can also find a video of how to set up a tickler file that shows you how he uses a tickler file.
