Our physics professor in college was an old man who’s “Give a Bleep” had long been thrown out the window. In addition to giving students nicknames, which he randomly came up with, he could pull some fantastic stories out of his head that had absolutely nothing to do with physics.
“Are you not entertained? Is this not why you are here?”
It felt like that most days!
On one occasion he brought out a tickle stick.
My first thought was…”Am I supposed to know what that is?”
Next thought…
“Was that an adult purchase type of thing?”
It turns out the tickle stick is used by fisherman to coach unsuspecting and uncooperative lobsters into traps while diving.
Who knew?
That story has nothing to do with tickler files whatsoever. Yet, every time I think of the term “tickler file” that story always pops into my head.
About a month ago I decided to get organized about my communications and follow up. I wanted a system that could adapt easily. I wanted something that I would stick to. I wanted something that was tangible…analog… living in the physical world. Something that I couldn’t ignore or minimize on a screen.
Every CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software out there seems so bloated and difficult to use. All I need is contact information, a record of what I did, and a record of what I am going to do next.
I have searched for months on how to make this system as fool proof and as easy as possible. This probably wouldn’t work for a business…but for a small operation or the one-man band…this system I have developed is awesome.
Now my “rolodex” is digital…I have found Microsoft Access to be the perfect program to track all of my contacts, and record how I have reached them.
The tickler file is the other part of my system…the most important part. My Tickler file is big, it spans three months.
There is a file for every day …for the next 90 days. When today is finished, today’s file goes to the back. Example: Today is October 3, 2024….when I complete everything in the Day 3 file folder, it moves to the back behind the Jan. 2nd file folder. Very simple. (Look these up on the internet if you are having trouble visualizing.)
This is getting long…Tomorrow I will show you how I use it.