E tickler

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Kathy,

I love your idea of an E tickler :idea: , can you tell me more about it please?

Do u actually have a sort of category called E ticlers, or are they just all-day events on your palm like for an action?
do u type 'E tickler' before the item to know it is a reminder and not just a 'have to' action for that day?
how do u deal with things you have to be reminded of 'next month' or any month without a specific date?

Thanks in advance :)

Ludmilla
 
Ludmilla hi, :-)

I set up a beautiful tickler file - one for every day of the month, and for each month - I was really proud of it but I found I wasn't using it. I was using hanging files, it was accessible etc - the thing is I try to be as 'E' as posssible like Kathy and after some interim trials that didn't seem to cut it as well 'this week, this month, this year'.... I just have now one tickler file - it is in the front of a portable box that carries my project files - when I have some supporting documentation or anything that I need to take with me on a particular date I just put (T) next to the appointment or task and I know that I have to go to the tickler file before leaving the office to take it with me. It's working for me - I tend to try to ditch as much paper as I can and to me the full on paper tickler sometimes seme like a quasi legitimate shuffler of paper.... hence if I can document the necessary info in outlook and turf the paper then I feel happy.
I am actually using this system .... and the file is not too full yet - if necessary I"ll make a second and third hanging tickler file (T1), (T2) etc but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

cheers
Helen
 
"E" is for "Electronic" Tickler

Ludmilla -

Since Kathy seems delayed in responding (probably busy "Getting Things Done"); I understand her system to be the same as what I am doing.

I believe we've both set up "Repeating Tasks" on our PDA's. Some of mine are "@Errands - @Post: Comcast Cable (due on 11/15)." I have any bills that need to be mailed set to show up one week before their actual due date. This way it shows up on my "Next Action" To-Do List one week in advance, but no sooner (I have my Palm preferences set to "Show Only Due Items.")

This is a way of reminding me that "It's that time again..." for things that SHOULD be done around a particular date, but don't HAVE to be "do-or-die" (Hard Landscape = Calendar). They also stay "in my face" every day, until they are completed and checked off. Then they stay "invisible" until they are due again - one month later. (I do the same thing with haircuts, etc...)

This works very well for me personally.

SPECIAL NOTE: You can set up Repeating Tasks/To-Do's only in Palm Desktop for MAC; or Outlook. Palm Desktop for PC does not have this functionality. If that is the only "desktop" software you are using, you may have to try a "bolt-on" third party application like "To-Do Plus."
 
thanks

thanks for your replies, very helpful in deed

Like you Helen, I set up a nice Tickler file and was very proud of it but am not using much of it, so i think I am going to end up with only one Tickler Folder or 'Holding Folder' as some seem to call it - thanks for the tip ! :)

Rich, I think one way of dealing with repeated To Dos on the palm for PC would be to change the due date to the next month once the task is done

I like your idea of hiding the non-due items but I don't think it would work for me because I use the due date a lot for NAs that I have to do ASAP but not after a specific date, , and I enter the real date then, so if these were hidden i would simply forget about them and they would only appear when it's too late. (For example call X before dateY because that's when he's leaving town for 2 weeks) so I need the NA in front of me in my list to make sure they are done ASAP !
how I deal with those repeating tasks is by putting them in the calendar with an attached note telling when they were done last so I know I can reschedule if necessary (for example : 'put flee drops on cats' and the note would say: last time done on 1st Oct - or 'make appointment with hairdresser' with a note 'last time date XXYY') but i'm not sure it is the best idea, any other suggestions anyone?

thanks a lot again
cheers :wink:
Ludmilla
 
Hi Ludmilla,

Sorry for the delay in replying here :) I've changed my tickler system a bit since that post, but I'll explain how I was doing it, and what I'm doing differently now.

PREVIOUS METHOD:
E-Ticklers on the Palm mainly. I had a todo category named "Ticklers" and each item would go there. A date would be attached - when I wanted to revisit an idea, when I wanted to make a decision, etc.

At that time I used Action Names/Agendus for the Palm, and the tickler category was given its own highlight color. Agendus only showed my dated "todo" items on the calendar, so when the tickler date rolled around, it automatically showed below my appointments with a highlight color. When it turned up I'd either address it, trash it, or "file" it to another date.

WHY I CHANGED:
I stopped using that method primarily because I stopped using Agendus. The new versions seem too cluttered with "features" and I was wasting too much time playing/configuring/etc. I know the power and simplicity of a "vanilla" Palm OS (I actually wrote a booklet on it a few years ago), so I went back to using that.

I also realized that the majority of my ticklers were related to bills. So...

CURRENT METHOD:
Now I have a "todo" palm category called "Bills to Pay". This is just a simple list, sorted by dates in this format:
[date] [Item] [$ Amount]

If the amount is approximate, I put a ~ in front of it. So the phone bill for instance, might look like this:
10/27 Phone ~$50

I try to update the books weekly, and when doing so I have the bills list in front of me. Anything due in the next week will get a check cut, and the entry checked off the list. When new bills come in, I simply enter it's new date and amount to the list.

This list is also useful when money comes in. I look to see what $ committments I have to deal with soon, so I'll know if I can "splurge" and by how much.

And of course if you run into tight times and have to push some bills back, seeing their original due date sitting at the top of your list keeps you aware of how far behind it is.

Any OTHER tickler type items that are not bill related, are entered as an untimed event on my calendar, usually in the form of a question:
Subscription due: $X - Cancel or Upgrade?
Order XYZ Book?
Act on this promotion/idea?
Change/implement this habit?
etc.

Hope that all makes sense and hope it helps a bit :)
Kathy
 
Same Here!

Kathy:

My tickler method is identical.

I guess that when it comes to Bills, time and tilde wait for no...er...person!

Andrew
 
thanks Kathy

thank you very much for taking the time to explain your system
it does help in deed
specially the question mark, it's what makes the difference for me, I didn't want these tickler items to look like have tos!

cheers :wink:
Ludmilla
 
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