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Just about every adult I know has something on the kitchen counter called “the pile.”You know them: it’s usually stocked full of receipts, original art work, birthday party invites, ads, coupons, and the like, and if you’re one of the lucky ones sporting said counter pile, you’ve definitely plowed through it on numerous occasions, looking for that holiday flyer or the dentist office reminder card you know is there.Let me show you a trick that virtually eliminates the time-sensitive items from your counter pile. It’s called a Tickler File, and you can have yours set up in minutes. It’ll change your paper-sorting life. How to Set Up Your Tickler File1. Get 12 file folders and label them by month.Put your Tickler in an easy-to-access location. A small file box, a little stacking tray, or the very front of your filing cabinet are great spots. It doesn’t need to be out in plain sight, you just don’t want to forget where you put it.2.
Reference Paper With a “Tickler Symbol” on Your Calendar.When you get a piece of paper that needs to be accessed or used during a specific month (examples below), reference the accompanying action or event on your calendar, and add a little T with a circle around it. This indicates that the paper you’ll need on that date is in your Tickler.If you use a digital calendar, you could use parentheses: (T).Then simply place those time-sensitive papers in the appropriate month’s folder.Sound easy? Now, let’s practice. Smog Check FormIt’s October 10th, and you get a form from the Department of Motor Vehicles, indicating that your registration this year requires a smog check. The smog check can be done during October or November, but the registration is due on December 12th. What do you do?Normally, we’d just stick something like this in “the pile” and hope we remember to get that smog check done in time. Then in January, when we get pulled over by a police officer who’s wondering why our car hasn’t been registered, we plead, “I’m sorry, but have you seen my kitchen counter?
Just about every adult I know has something on the kitchen counter called “the pile.”You know them: it’s usually stocked full of receipts, original art work, birthday party invites, ads, coupons, and the like, and if you’re one of the lucky ones sporting said counter pile, you’ve definitely plowed through it on numerous occasions, looking for that holiday flyer or the dentist office reminder card you know is there.Let me show you a trick that virtually eliminates the time-sensitive items from your counter pile. It’s called a Tickler File, and you can have yours set up in minutes. It’ll change your paper-sorting life.
How to Set Up Your Tickler File1. Get 12 file folders and label them by month.Put your Tickler in an easy-to-access location. A small file box, a little stacking tray, or the very front of your filing cabinet are great spots.
It doesn’t need to be out in plain sight, you just don’t want to forget where you put it.2. Reference Paper With a “Tickler Symbol” on Your Calendar.When you get a piece of paper that needs to be accessed or used during a specific month (examples below), reference the accompanying action or event on your calendar, and add a little T with a circle around it. This indicates that the paper you’ll need on that date is in your Tickler.If you use a digital calendar, you could use parentheses: (T).Then simply place those time-sensitive papers in the appropriate month’s folder.Sound easy? Now, let’s practice. Smog Check FormIt’s October 10th, and you get a form from the Department of Motor Vehicles, indicating that your registration this year requires a smog check. The smog check can be done during October or November, but the registration is due on December 12th. What do you do?Normally, we’d just stick something like this in “the pile” and hope we remember to get that smog check done in time. Then in January, when we get pulled over by a police officer who’s wondering why our car hasn’t been registered, we plead, “I’m sorry, but have you seen my kitchen counter?
Thanks for your comment, Archer! I do typically add the (T) to any item on my calendar or task list that has associated materials in the Tickler–just to make sure I don’t forget. Some items (like concert tickets) are no-brainers, but occasionally I’ll need to take papers to a doctor appointment or a visit to a friend’s home, and I like to remind myself to check the Tickler before I go.And the reason I call it a Tickler is because that’s what David Allen calls it in “Getting Things Done.” And because I think it’s fun to say. (I’m sure there are some other very good reasons, though:)). Hi Annie,I use a binder for bills (I think I got it from Flylady). Every Saturday, after the mail comes in, I bring up the basket (on the front desk, which contains all the mail) and sort it into keep/bills/recycling/etc.
Then, the bills go into the binder and I pay them on Sunday (sometimes, I can skip a Sunday if nothing is due for over a week). When I sort them in the binder, I put them in rough order of date due.I also keep stamps, extra envelopes, a pen, etc. In the binder.
I could, theoretically, zip it up and take it with me somewhere to write thank-you notes or something, if I were that sort of organized, thoughtful person, which I am not. 😉I love organizing but staying organized is another thing. I read GTD, but never implemented the tickler file. Maybe I will try it. Janell, I have two zippered pouches, one labeled “retail” and the other “restaurants” and I keep them in my car. Every so often (usually when I’m waiting in the carpool line) I clean them out and throw away the expired ones. This system hasn’t been perfect for me because sometimes I forget they’re in there and I have to throw away a good coupon that I wanted to use, but maybe I can add a note to my calendar/tickler file that reminds me that they’re about to expire.
If you have a gift card to a store that you also have a coupon for, paperclip them together. I am so like you. “organized chaos” or “chaotic organization”.
I’m very visual, so if things are put away, they are gone forever. I have a thin strip of metal that I use magnets with (got it at Ikea years ago) that hangs under my calendar. It holds school forms, notices, etc that we will need. It’s easy for the kids, hubby myself to see and reach. It can get a bit full and cluttered sometimes (and we have a new kitty that is obsessed with paper and tearing it up. So I find him jumping up to snatch the papers.
We might need to switch systems!). I may have to try this and see how it goes. See if my visual brain can adapt. I’ve lost many a paper and item by organizing and putting things away. I eve lost a vital piece to our baby gate for 7 years! It sure was in a “safe place”! I just found this blog, per “Simple Notebook” and am hooked!My prior/main method is just to keep the pile very small.
For example, if I get stuff that isn’t due for months, I send it all right in anyway. I pay bills when I get them, etc. Daily/weekly we recycle piles of useless paper.BUT, I will definitely be implementing this strategy in an attempt to kill the.pile. for good. Funny enough, I just bought some folders.
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I love them for organization, but could only find a pack of 50. It seemed overkill. The next day I read this blog. Maybe I will need all these folders after all!
I’ve always been awed by the organization power of a few manila folders.P.S. We have a tas manager software at work that uses “ticklers.” It’s been years, but to this day I still think that is a WEIRD word. It is so great to see this on hereI love POMs!This is great! I love how you can plan ahead and note on the calendar where to look. I’m adding this to my current system.I’d like to add that for my immediate action items I have found a LIGHT eight pocket organizer at Office Depot that works GREAT !
The first pocket has my printed calendar (current month and the next month) and the pockets that follow are assigned to my children. The last pocket is for me. That way I have places for everything to go each week right when it goes on the calendarThe month folders will be perfect to file things that are farther out. I go through it each Sunday and know that my immediate action items are on me that week and I have it with me if I have 30 minutes to blow at an appointment and I can sit and fill out a school form, etc. The SAME calendar going with me everywhere is also a huge help for planning!Thanks so much for these tips!
I’m excited to go make monthly folders!. Thanks for your question. It’s true, the Tickler only works for the date-related stuff.The full Mind Organization for Moms program goes into all the details for handling every little bit of paper (so your counters really are empty).But here are a couple of quick answers.For graded papers, I typically review them on the day I receive them, and then I put them into my “Sneaky Sorter” in the laundry room. (Papers in the top basket will most likely be thrown away, papers in the bottom basket will most likely be kept.) I empty/file those every six months or so. If a paper needs lots of extra attention, I put it into a project support cubby, and then I note on my task list to review it with my child.I do leave the cute art projects on the counter until they’re photographed (usually within a day, as well), or I add it to the Sneaky Sorter (top basket) and photograph everything at once before I toss it. We do twenty-minute photography sessions at the end of each school year (I give my kids the camera and let them go to town).You’re doing great! Thanks for the questions.
Paper is my nemesis. Did I spell that right? Your idea combined with my online Cozi calendar and wall calendar may save me. I lose everything. I pay late fees so often. I feel out of control much of the time because of my inability to do what seems to come “naturally” to others.
I find myself searching and searching for answers to try to find ways out of my chaos. I am a member of Flylady.net. I am working on that. Up until I read your Tickler idea, when important papers came in, I scotch taped them to my wood cabinets for safe keeping. Conference forms. It makes my kitchen look messy and is not good for the cabinets.
Thank you I am setting this up today. I have a same sort of system, only I use a binder with lots of page protectors and 5 tabs. I love that it is just one item and that nothing can really fall out of it. Instead of months, my tabs are labeled To Do List (stuff pertaining to my never ending list), Needed Soon (tickets, driver’s licence renewal, papers for the doctor’s appointment), Important Papers (info that I would like to have on hand for a couple of months, such as general gymnastics info), Lists (packing list, gift list) and Reference (papers with no expiry date – doctor/hospital info, bank info, recycling info).
I love having a place for papers!!!!!!!!!!. My two cents: I bought a 3″, three-ring binder for each of my kids and put in dividers (one for each school year all through pre-, middle- and high-school), and a couple of clear plastic page protectors in each school year. Now important tests, teacher notes, special assignments and report cards have a place (only those tests and papers worth saving). It has made decluttering school papers easier, and saving the important ones too.
And it is only one binder per kid, so it really doesn’t take much space on a shelf, and I can hand it to them when they leave home. As for important documents, I just got a plastic accordion file and gave each family member a slot to organize everything from birth certificates to id cards. At least if I need a copy I know where to look, although I also scanned the docs.
Want to tie those little apron strings a little stronger? I’ve got 8 tickle games no toddler or preschooler can resist.
Created in the lab of my own living room, these are the tickle games that earned me the most giggles, the most “AGAIN!”s and by far the most memories.
8 Unforgettable Tickle Games Your Kids Will Love:
- The Buzzy Bee
- The Tickle Spot
- Favorite Kisses
- May the Odds be in Your Favor
- Mom’s Orchestra
- Tell You a Secret
- The Chilly Finger
- The Talking Backpack
I have one rule when it comes to tickle games: No fake “stops”. If she asks me to stop (even while giggling) I stop. Period. Game over. This nurtures her soul by respecting her personal space, and makes yet another small deposit in the bank of “You Are Control of Your Body”. It ALSO reinforces the concept that “stop means stop”. No teasing with that word. It’s a solid wall.
Tickle Game #1:
Buzzy Bee
Buzzy Bee is a tickling game created especially for babies. It’s so simple, even an exhausted mom who doesn’t want to get out of bed can play it. (I speak from experience.)
- Lay down with your infant and put your finger in the air.
- Make a bzzzzzz sound and swoop your finger around until it finally lightly touches some part of his exposed chubby little body.
Eventually, just putting your finger in the air will be enough to prompt excited squeals of happiness. (Pavlov’s Law at work!)
Tickle Game #2:
Tickle Spot
You know the game I’m Thinking of an Animal? Now replace it with I’m Thinking of a Tickle Spot. Only in this version, they only get ONE guess.
Guess correctly, and they get to tickle Mama.
Guess incorrectly, and…well… *wink*
Tickle Game #3:
Favorite Kisses
This is one game my kids ask for EVERY single night before bed. It’s very easy to play, and doesn’t really have a lot of tickles, if you have one of those kids who likes the concept behind tickles more than the tickle itself.
It also is a great way to encourage creativity. I love discovering what “kisses” my Isabella has come up with that night!
Here are a few of our favorites to get you started:
- The Butterfly Kiss—eyelashes against the cheek
- The Eskimo Kiss— rubbing noses
- The Doggie Kiss—a nasty tongue swipe on the cheek. (Do overreact, if you child chooses this! He will be so excited to gross you out!)
- The Kitty Kiss—small little kiss on the nose
- The Ghost Kiss—blowing gently into his ear (expect a lot of squirms!)
- The Hug-n-Kiss—a strong hug, with gentle forehead kiss
- The Tummy Kiss—mommy blows on child’s tummy
- The Neck Kiss—mommy blows on child’s neck
- The Eye Kiss—mommy blows raspberries (gently!) on each closed eyelid
Of course, my last kiss is always the same.
It’s the MOMMY KISS.mwah ha ha!
- Pin hands down for clear access to the cheeks and forehead.
- Kiss rapidly all over the face.
- Abruptly stop and ask “NOW do you know how much I love you?”
Reply Guide:
Yes = Express disbelief and repeat, adding tickles.
No = Express shock and repeat, adding tickles.
My three girls LOVE the Mommy Kiss!
Tickle Game #4:
May the Odds Be In Your Favor
Tell your child that you’ve picked a number between 0 and 100. Ask them to see if they can guess your number. When they fail to guess correctly (because the House always wins), you win the right to tickle in the spot of your choice.
Tickle Game #5:
Mom’s Orchestra
Did you know your child is really a one-child band? Here are the different instruments for you to choose from:
- Piano ~ play the back like a piano, particularly on either side of the spine.
- Drums ~ rat-a-tat on that cute little bum.
- Tuba ~ big tummy blows.
- Violin ~ rub your index finger back and forth under the neck.
- Trumpet ~ blow little raspberries on the neck.
- Bagpipes ~ place one finger in an armpit and blow on the neck at the same time.
“The Tickle Monster Laughter Kit is one of our favorites. Usually I’ll wear one tickle monster mitt and my 3-year-old will wear the other and we’ll take turns making each other giggle. The book and whole box set with tickle mitts is just the cutest. I’ve given it as a gift too. So sweet for memory making with my little girl!” – Christy Hall
Tickle Game #6:
Tell You a Secret
Whisper “I have to tell you a secret!” to your little one, gesturing for her to come. Then lean super close to her ear/neck and whisper nonsense. These little whispers and blows tickle the hairs behind her ear and will send her into a mass of laughs.
When she pulls away (because she will) say, “Hold still! I’m trying to tell you a secret!” and repeat.
Tickle Game #7:
The Chilly Finger
My 100-year-old house is pretty drafty in the wintertime. Poor old thing. On particularly chilly days, my index finger will decide (on her own, I’m completely innocent) to crawl into the closest child’s underarm cave to hibernate.
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Ms. Pointer doesn’t move. She just sits there, nice and cozy. Her presence, however, sends my little heater into squeals and squirms.
Tickle Game #8:
The Talking Backpack
This is a great tickle game for after a good nap. (Not before, or you can kiss any rest goodbye!)
First, hide under the covers with your toddler. Then say “SHHH! Did you hear that?” while running your fingers on the outside of the sheet. (It was at this point my 2-year-old Lauren would whisper, “It’s the Talking Backpack!” Gracias, Dora.)
With much excitement, let your toddler throw back the sheet and look around for the culprit. Repeat a few times, before letting your fingers crawl under the covers for one. last. tickle.
The REAL Purpose
behind These Tickle Games
Tickling is more than just a fun activity to play. It’s part of a deeper agenda. Someday, when these tickle games are long gone, each of my children will come to their teenage crossroads and make a choice:
- Will they let me stay on board their little ship of hormones?
- Or maroon me on an island and sail on alone?
I want them to invite me to stay with them through the storms of teenagehood. I want their hearts so tightly bound to mind, they would never dream of sailing off alone. (After all, I make a great danger-avoiding lighthouse!)
Gentle soft tickles (not pokes) are a good first step to secure a conversation stop at the future Teen table. (Which is going to come a LOT faster than you think!)
These tickle games provide a strong heart-rope! So start tying!
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