New GTDer - Q1

[tuneczar]

One Tickler File for us

We're using a single tickler file, kept at home. Just seemed simpler for us.

I find that when I'm at work, and come across something that should be filed in the Tickler, I just dump it into a plastic folder to be filed when I get home.

My wife and I both put our future action reminders in the tickler, so it's a snap to quickly review them together in the morning over coffee -- and then we both feel more aware of what each of us "has on our plate" for the day. We often work together in the studio, so our professional life and home life blur a *lot.

Yet...I can see how 2 systems might work better for some, esp. when you want to keep work *at work, so to speak.

 

[ActionGirl]

I've been using a tickler for about a year--home only, as I don't have an office. The only glitch for me is what to do with stuff between when I take it out of the folder in the morning and the point in the day when I actually need or want to act on the item.

Where you put items such as that day's plane ticket, theatre tickets or driving directions for an evening activity, notes for a telephone call, items that were put there to gestate, etc., anything you'll want later that day, but not right then?

My impulse was to leave them out on my table or desk (where everything used to land pre-GTD) for lack of a better solution. I didn't like that and tried putting them in a "pending" folder with other active folders that sit in an upright holder next to my inbox. But too often I didn't look at the folder again for days...or much longer. I don't want to put anything back into that day's tickler file since I don't want to check it more than once per day. How do you bridge that last time interval?

Thanks, long live the tickler!

 

[kewms]

Where you put items such as that day's plane ticket, theatre tickets or driving directions for an evening activity, notes for a telephone call, items that were put there to gestate, etc., anything you'll want later that day, but not right then?

I keep "things I must have today," like theatre tickets, separate from "things I hope to work on today," like project support materials. This is sort of like the distinction between "hard landscape" calendar items, and "next actions."

For the must have items, you might try using a very visible folder -- red plastic or neon orange, maybe -- and putting it in a very visible place, such as under your car keys. Or, you could transfer them from your tickler to your briefcase, purse, paper planner, or other container that is *always* with you.

I keep "current work" items in a stacking tray underneath my inbox. Yes, there is a risk that they will sit there forever-- some of mine have -- but that's not a disaster because the task itself should be on your NA lists as a reminder. Come weekly review time, you can re-evaluate whether these items are still current or need to be pushed to the back burner.

Katherine

 

[Brent]

Where you put items such as that day's plane ticket, theatre tickets or driving directions for an evening activity, notes for a telephone call, items that were put there to gestate, etc., anything you'll want later that day, but not right then?

They go in my inbox. Later, on my desk.

 

[flexiblefine]

Stuff that won't fit in 3x5

Flexiblefine, what do you do with papers that are too large for the card file but have to be acted on at some future date?

I have an item like that right now, actually, sitting in my tickler for August 10. There's a card in the tickler, but the real item is in a "pending" slot in a wall-mounted rack in my office.

 

[ActionGirl]

I think I've found the simplest solution to my tickler time-gap problem.

If there's something in that day's folder that I'm not going to do immediately or I don't have a designated place for, I just leave the whole folder out in the standing file rack next to my inbox.

I added "replace tickler file" to my daily checklist. If I have tickets for something, I won't have to think, "now what perfectly logical place did I forget I put that." Most often the file can go immediately back into the tickler, but I think this will help for those things that I put in to gestate, or just need to do "later." Putting them in a different folder labeled "Today's Actions" in red didn't help because I could blow it off. But I NEED my tickler file to stay intact, so I'll have to do it or otherwise put into my system.

At least that's the plan for now...

 

[Michael Fahey]

tickler

I would like to get in on the 'tickler" discussion. I have tried the acordian style and one that lies flat on the desk. I did not like the acordian because it always flopped on the floor. The desk one works well but i am interested in hearing about how the 'file box" method is used and advantages/disadvantages of each tickler system.

I agree that checking it everyday is the key to the whole system.

MTF

 

[Frank Buck]

I like the idea Action Girl has--basically turning today's tickler into a "pending." For me, it's a shallow desk drawer. Just wanted to add one idea--before I put something in that "pending" drawer, I put an entry on my task list followed by an *. The * is my shorthand that tells me I have something in my pending drawer that supports the task.

 

[ActionGirl]

I like the idea Action Girl has--basically turning today's tickler into a "pending." For me, it's a shallow desk drawer. Just wanted to add one idea--before I put something in that "pending" drawer, I put an entry on my task list followed by an *. The * is my shorthand that tells me I have something in my pending drawer that supports the task.

And I like the * idea.

I've also discovered that I'm repelled by anything that says "pending." To me, it just mumbles, "I'm not really that important. Just ignore me." So I've just stopped using the word.

 

[Steve Riker]

I'll be the contrary one - I do not use a tickler. My GTD implementation:

a. computer program to keep track of NA's, due dates, projects, tasks. A reminder is put into the program as to paper-based items, a date and number is attached to the item, and it is thrown in a drawer. When I want to work on it, the reference to the date and number in the computer program sends me to the paper item and I work on it.

b. a portable capture system for appointments, NA's, etc. - I use the cards from www.nextactioncards.com since they are small and have a format that allows quick entry into my computer system later.

c. a computer calendar for appointments

Works for me, but of course, to each his own.

Steve