Well, it sounds so dull but one of the most effective productivity tools I’ve implemented thus far has been creating an actual set of 43 folders as described in GTD. No more cluttered bulletin boards or overdue bills or stacks of things I don’t want to put away because they’ll be relevant ‘soon’.

Yes, it’s a good idea. I’m going to a couple of concerts later this month, and I’m wondering where the heck I put the tickets when I got them months ago. It would be much easier if I’d put them in a tickler for the date.

Yes, yes, I realize this thread is from six months ago.  So?

I have never successfully made myself go anywhere near the actual 43 folders thing.  It just seems like a hassle to me, as opposed to putting things in their proper reference places and calendaring them with, well, a calendar.  (In my case, typically Google Calendar.)  I will admit that I keep my bills in a stack sorted by due date so I don’t have to dig for the appropriate one, but that’s not how I track what’s due—that’s all in the calendar.

I have always had an odd fascination for the 43 folders, though, simply because people swear by it and it seems so amazingly unappealing to me.