Glossary Tickler
Tickler
Also known as:
tickler file, 43 folders, bring-forward file, follow-up fileProductivityMethodologyGTD
Definition
In GTD, a date-based holding place for things you do not want to see until a particular day — a reminder, a document, a ticket to re-check — physically 43 folders (31 days and 12 months), digitally a dated deferral that surfaces the item on the day
The tickler is defer with a date attached and the item out of sight until then. The 43-folders form is Allen’s: today’s folder is emptied into the inbox each morning and moved to the back. This site has a ticklers collection that does the same thing for the garden — a note with a date that reappears on the dashboard when the date comes — which is why the word is in the sidebar.
Out of sight on purpose, back in sight on schedule. The tickler is how a system says not now without saying never.