Interestingly, I’ve recently come across versions of this same sort of tickler file recommended in mid-20th century textbooks for filing and indexing in business contexts:
Cadwallader, Laura Hanes, and Sarah Ada Rice. 1932. Principles of Indexing and Filing. Baltimore; Chicago: H.M. Rowe Company. page 134: https://archive.org/details/principlesofinde0000laur/page/134/mode/2up
Kahn, Gilbert, Theo Yerian, and Jeffrey R. Stewart, Jr. 1962. Progressive Filing and Records Management. 1st ed. New York: Gregg Publishing Division, McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc. page 190: https://archive.org/details/progressivefilin0000gilb/page/190/mode/2up
The careful observer will notice that both of the photos in texts by different authors nearly 30 years apart are the same! I would suspect that they’re from a manufacturer’s catalog (Remington Rand) earlier in the century. It’s even more interesting that one can still quickly create such a set up with commercially available analog office supplies now.
Fascinating how some things just work!
Always love seeing your system. Looking forward to more updates.
I love this! Thanks for sharing!
I would love to do this. I keep hoping to find printable templates for 4×6 cards but all I’ve found are 3×5. I’ll keep working on my own templates.
So nice!
I have a very similar setup with my 3×5 system, which I’ve been using for a few years. It works better than anything else I’ve tried.
This system is really great. Not for me, I need to carry my tasks with me, but in general awesome!
Once saw a video of someone keeping track of the household with this, with different colours for weekly, biweekly … tasks, and after done, they get sorted into next week etc
Usually I’ve got two or three cards with me at all times: today and tomorrow and a longer list of this month’s to do items. Three cards folded into my pocket take up less space and are far more portable than any notebook-based bullet journal I’ve ever used including A6 notebooks and Field Notes sized notebooks. The drawer-based portion are for cards upcoming and cards filed and done for potential later reference.
For times when I’ve needed to travel with more than a handful of cards, I take a small pouch: https://boffosocko.com/2023/11/06/index-card-cases-wallets-covers-pouches-etc/
I’ve got portions of repeating household tasks set up within my system which uses the following color code:
– purple: daily
– blue: weekly
– green: monthly
– yellow: quarterly
– red: annually
One of the best and most thorough descriptions of this sort of workflow can be found in:
Young, Pam, and Peggy Jones. 1981. Sidetracked Home Executives: From Pigpen to Paradise. ed. Sydney Craft Rozen. New York: Warner Books. http://archive.org/details/sidetrackedhomee00youn (November 3, 2023).
Incidentally, I’ve only laid out a year’s worth of cards in advance because I’ve been doing this pretty reliably for over three years. When I started, I only made cards as I needed them.
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This is really cool. Thanks for sharing!
Would you be willing to explain more about how your system works? I’m interested in adopting something similar, having seen this.
Looks so good. Where do you get this boxes?
You’re in great luck. I’ve written quite a bit about boxes which may help you narrow things down and pick what’s right for you: https://boffosocko.com/research/zettelkasten-commonplace-books-and-note-taking-collection/#Boxes
Watching local sales on eBay and Facebook Marketplace have been the best and most economical routes for me so far, especially for the bigger boxes. One filing cabinet came from a secondary market office furniture company that buys and resells furniture.
i love this idea, update us as you fill it with stuff during the year
I’m following this. I’m trying to experiment with different systems and can’t make a decision on what to stick with. Today I receive a free pack of the ugmonk cards plus batonfig index cards and going to experiment that as my edc. Currently I’m trying the Everbook with a pocket bound book as my catch all and is good. But I like these other systems but can’t decide to commit lol.
Thank you for this
What do you put in it? Like, you don’t have to go into details but like, what sort of things are in there now and how do you decide to move them about you know?
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Most of these cards get material of a planning/calendaring nature and my daily to do list material. (Here’s a somewhat sanitized and broadly “prettier” version than happens regularly as an example: https://boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/wp-1690441223893-scaled.jpg) Generally besides being pulled out a few at a time for daily/weekly use, they all stay in the same place in date order. In practice, I also put some diary/journal material either on them or on separate cards that get filed and indexed with them.
I have separate Eisenhower section of cards that has project material that is sorted by priority. (Photo: https://boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/wp-17637674618087127597355356991352.jpg) These tend to have more motion around the system.
There’s also a section filed by project, particularly for bigger/longer term projects that have multiple moving parts delineated with sub-to-do lists.
Here’s a few posts where I’ve delineated parts along with pictures of some cards:
https://boffosocko.com/2023/07/28/a-year-of-bullet-journaling-on-index-cards-inspired-by-the-memindex-method/
https://boffosocko.com/2023/12/26/memindex-set-up-for-2024/
Photo: https://boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/wp-17036136494736271373556873842458.jpg
Often I’ll also write quick reminders on the daily cards that gets transferred to their own separate card and get fleshed out and filed elsewhere (commonplace and zettelkasten-like practice; see: https://boffosocko.com/research/zettelkasten-commonplace-books-and-note-taking-collection/)
If you practice any of the Memindex, diary, GTD, Bullet Journal, 43 folders, or tickler file traditions, it’s exactly those, just done on index cards rather than on paper in a notebook. There’s a lot of similar ideas around the title “hipster PDA”.
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Do you have another calendar besides this card file?
A normal tickler file only has daily folders for the next 31 days, and information for specific days next month may not make it to the day specific folder until the month begins. For example, if today (November 24) I want to store something for December 27, I would put it in the December folder because the 27 folder is still being used for November 27. On November 27, I would move the folder to the December area, but I wouldn’t go through the December folder looking for things filed for December 27; that would only happen on December 1. By the same token, information specific to December 3 may currently be in the December folder as opposed to the 3 folder.
All this is to say that a regular tickler file doesn’t function well as a calendar. If I’m scheduling an appointment for next week, I want to be able to easily see what I have scheduled for a given day without having to sort through the December folder. So do you use something else for your main calendar?
I’m thinking about retiring my Filofax planner and looking for ideas for other analog options. Cards are pretty attractive for many of the different GTD subsystems, but I don’t yet see their value for the primary calendar/planner.
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As you may notice in my tranch of cards for 2026, I’ve got and labeled a card for each day of the year and they’re separated with card dividers with each month labeled, so if I want to schedule something for December 27th, I pull out that card and write it down.
For more the more visual planners, you’ll see the calendar card for the month at the front (labeled December 2025), and often I’ll put big events there as well. I’ve got 12 cards like this for all of 2026.
For dates beyond 2026, I’ve got 12 monthly cards for each of the months on which I’ll put advance dates. So for a future dentist appointment beyond 2026, I’ll write in the day, the time, the dentist’s name on the card for March 2027 and simply transfer it when that set of cards has been put together. This method also works if you don’t want to do a whole year of cards in advance, but since I’ve been so consistent with them, it’s much easier to spend an hour or so laying everything out a year in advance. I’ve also got a reminder card for changing the filters in my air conditioner and I’ll file that right behind the card for the date it’s due. If I didn’t have cards going out so far, I’d just place it in date order at the back and file it once those dates had been created either a day or a month at a time. This flexibly allows you to plan as much or as little ahead as you like based on what you’ve got to hand.
There are examples in the Bullet Journal space for creating Future planning spreads which easily translate into index cards. (Any Bullet Journal spread you might do in a notebook can just as easily be done on an index card.)
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How did you make the monthly calendar cards? Print on cardstock, then cut out?
I love your blog btw. Was excited to just discover you’re on Reddit.