Setting up the system is easy. Learning to check it each day requires developing a new habit - or Success Practice.  But it's worth getting into this habit if, like most of us, you have too many details to follow up on each day.

A Tickler System is a must if you have piles of paper in your life. And the piles probably exist because there is some sort of action attached to the paper - phone calls, signatures, reading, etc. But where should you put it until you need it?  Back in the pile?  Not anymore!

The Tickler System is the most commonly used and requires 43 dividers with tabs labeled 1-31 and January to December. It will also require a filing folder or drawer.

Here's how it works.  Let’s say you received an invitation in June for an event scheduled for July 15. First, place it in the July section. When July comes around, you will sort each item you placed in that month’s section into the appropriate day section. The invitation will be placed on the 15th which is now available when you actually need it. No hunting necessary.

The Tickler System allows you be pro-active about what needs to be done which can reduce feelings of being overwhelmed. Each piece of paper is only touched twice - initially at the time you create or receive it (this is when you file it under the appropriate day or month) then again when you action it.  Having the daily and monthly tabs provide the flexibility to spread work throughout the month and only see the paper when you need to act on it. Items that need to be completed once a month or even twice a month will no longer go unnoticed, for example you need to do an action on the 5th and 15th of each month.  First file it under the 5th, then when actioned that day, file it under the 15th!

We have also taken the Tickler System one step further and created an electronic version to manage our e-mails in the same fashion.  In our ’Personal Folders’ in ‘Outlook’, we have created a folder called ‘Action E-Mails – Day’ which contains the sub-folders 1-31 and another folder called ‘Action E-Mails – Month’ which contains the sub-folders Jan – Dec (there is a simple trick to ensure they sit in order but contact us and we will explain this!).  Three times a day, the ‘Inbox’ is checked, and e-mails are sorted using the 4-D’s formula.  E-mails are therefore either dumped immediately (& lots of them are!), forwarded to somebody if it is being delegated, moved to today’s sub-folder if it is to be done today or moved to the appropriate day or month if it is to be done later.  This ensures that you are not a ‘slave’ to your ‘inbox’ and are only working on the e-mails that you have determined important for today. 

Beautiful!