The Tickler System

Recently, I read the book "Getting Things Done" (by David Allen), a productivity enhancement guide. This book has spawned a movement called GTD (del.icio.us | wink | technorati). I have started implementing some of the GTD methodologies in my life. The most useful of these is what Allen calls the tickler system (TS).

As per the dictionary definition, a tickler, besides being the person who tickles you, is also a file to aid your memory. The TS is a simple and yet powerful reminder system which has the potential to enhance your productivity (and reduce your forgetfulness) dramatically.

The GTD TS consists of (at least) 43 file folders labeled for the 12 months and the (possible) 31 days in a month. You use these folders to put reminders, documents, notes, forms, etc., of upcoming events and tasks. You can use file cabinets, drawers, bank boxes or any other file holder to store these folders. I use legal size, 1/3 cut, plain manila folders in a separate drawer of my file cabinet. For the "day" folders, I use the right position folders and for the "month" folders, I use the middle position folders.

Let's say you want to set up this system today (4/5/6). The first folder in your system would be labeled 6. This would be followed by folders labeled 7 through 31. Then comes May, 1 through 5, June through December, 2007, and January through March. The idea is that you put reminders and support material in the appropriate folder for when they might be needed. Some examples:

• Your vehicle registration notice has come in the mail today and it's due on April 30. You can then put this notice in the folder labeled 29, giving yourself at least one day to pay it off.
• You are planning to climb a big mountain on August 15 and the permit has come. You can put this permit in the folder labeled August.
• You are going to sky dive on April 10. You put the printout of the online reservation on the folder labeled 10 and a reminder to check your will on the folder labeled 9.
• Fry's has promised you a rebate on your latest purchase from them and you filled the form and sent it to them today. You are supposed to contact them if you don't get the rebate within 6 weeks. You diligently put a reminder in your May folder for now but with a note mentioning the exact date.
• You are being forced by your spouse into seeing Coldplay in concert on September 22. You put the concert tickets on the folder labeled September.

As you might have surmised, you always have in front of you a place to put stuff for the next 31 days and the next 12 months. Every morning, you spend a couple of minutes going through the folder for the day and moving it to the back. So tomorrow, you will review the contents of the folder labeled 15 and move it after the folder labeled 14 in the back (but before the folder labeled May). When it comes to the end of the month, you can empty your monthly folder into the appropriate day folders. You can also have a Someday/Maybe folder to put those things for which you are not sure of a date but might do in the future.

If you are going on a trip and won't have access to your TS for the next five days, make sure you review the TS folders for those days before you go. If the support material is too large to fit inside the folder, you can put a note in the folder mentioning where the material is kept. In order for this "perpetual" filing system to work, you need to review it every day. The two to three minutes it takes for you to do this will save you hours over time.

You might wonder why we can't put all these reminders in our personal planners (PDAs, Outlook, Online calendar, etc.). The idea is not to overload those systems with so much stuff that we feel overwhelmed. According to Allen, your calendar is sacred ground and you only put the things that you know you will do on a certain day there. Besides, a personal planning system is not really suited for support material such as concert tickets, brochures, permits, etc.

You can take this further by having labels for the next few years labeled 2008, 2009, etc. For instance, I have dreams of owning a Porsche Carrera. A gentle reminder for this is kept in the folder labeled 2010.