Tickler file: how the 1 to 31 system works, and a digital version

A tickler file is a set of date-labelled folders, 31 for the days of the month and 12 for the months, that puts a paper, a bill or a follow-up in front of you on the day it is due and not before. A digital tickler file keeps the idea in a list: every item has a date, the list is sorted by that date, and one view shows what is due today. In Customermates that is a "Next step date" field, a saved view sorted by it and the Upcoming widget on the dashboard.

This guide explains what a tickler file is, walks through the 43-folder system with a worked example, compares paper, an Outlook follow-up flag, a spreadsheet and a CRM, and sets up the digital version in Customermates step by step. Customermates publishes it and appears in its own labelled sections, including where it is the wrong choice. Third-party facts were checked on 11 November 2026; the sources are linked where they are used.

What is a tickler file?

A tickler file is a reminder system made of date-labelled folders. You file a paper or a note under the date you need to deal with it, and each day you open that day's folder. It is also called the 43 Folders system, and Wikipedia describes its structure as 31 daily folders plus 12 monthly folders (Wikipedia: Tickler file). The name refers to the file "tickling" your memory when the item matters.

The idea is older than productivity books. Wikipedia notes that law offices in the early twentieth century, and possibly earlier, filed tickler cards by date so that a lawyer received the card as a deadline approached, for example for a trademark renewal or a motion filing. David Allen, whose book Getting Things Done covers the system, calls it on his site "like having your own post office to mail things back for your attention and awareness" and says it demands only one second per day of new behavior (Getting Things Done: Be your own post office).

Anything you want to see again on a certain day can go in: a bill, a ticket, a form, a note to call someone. In business the most useful items are conversations that are waiting on a date: a proposal you sent, a prospect who asked you to call back after an event, a renewal you want to open early.

How does the 43-folder tickler file work?

1. Label 43 folders

   Label 12 folders for the months and 31 for the possible days of the month, which is how Allen describes the set.

2. File each item by date

   Something you need to see later this month goes into that day's folder. Something for a later month goes into that month's folder.

3. Open today's folder each morning

   Take everything out and deal with it: do the task, send the message, pay the bill, or file it again under a later date.

4. Move the empty folder to the back

   Wikipedia describes the daily rhythm this way: the current day folder is emptied and placed at the back of the set, so tomorrow's folder is at the front.

5. Empty the new month into the day folders

   On the first of a month, open that month's folder and sort its items into the day folders. Nothing needs a second look before its day.

Here is a worked example. It is invented, and it starts on Wednesday, 11 November 2026.

The digital version drops the folder rotation. Nobody moves a folder to the back, because the sort order does it, and the month folders disappear because a date in March simply waits in the list until it comes into view.

Which tickler file fits: paper, an Outlook flag, a spreadsheet or a CRM?

Four ways cover almost every case. The Customermates row is our own product; the others are described by what they do.

Microsoft documents the flag options for Outlook for Microsoft 365, Outlook 2024 and Outlook 2021, and notes that with an IMAP account you cannot change the flag text or set start and due dates. Checked on 11 November 2026 against Microsoft Support: Flag email messages for follow up.

How to choose:

• Papers you must physically keep: the paper tickler. Nothing digital holds the original letter.
• A follow-up that starts from one email, and you live in Outlook: the flag is the shortest route.
• A short personal list: a spreadsheet is enough. The Excel CRM template guide shows where a sheet starts to strain.
• Client follow-up across LinkedIn and email, with a history to read before you call: a CRM, because the date sits on the record the conversation sits on. From Pro, the unified inbox puts those conversations on the client.

How do you use a tickler file for sales follow-up?

Five rules turn the folders into a sales habit:

• One real date per open conversation. Use the day you promised, not "in a week", so the follow-up lands when the client expects it.
• Write the action beside the date. "Send revised scope" beats "follow up".
• After every contact, move the date or clear it. A deal with no date is the one that drops out of sight.
• Open the list at the same time every day and start with what is overdue.
• Once a week, look for records with no date. That is the leak a tickler cannot show you by itself.

A digital rolodex tells you who someone is; the tickler tells you when to write. For the wording of the message, read how to write a sales follow-up email. The client follow-up software page shows the same dated next step with LinkedIn and email conversations on the client record.

How do you set up a digital tickler file in Customermates?

First, how the paper parts map to Customermates:

1. Add two fields

   In Data model, add a field of type Date named "Next step date" and a field of type Text named "Next step" to Contacts or Deals, or to both if your leads live on deals. On a plan with Mate, you can ask it to add them. Tasks have no built-in due date, so the same Date field works there too; task management shows how tasks link to clients.

2. Save the tickler view

   Open Appearance, show Next step and Next step date, set Sort by to Next step date, Ascending, then click New view and name it "Tickler". The oldest dates sit at the top. Custom date filters take fixed dates, so sorting is what keeps the list current without editing a filter each week. Choose Share… in the view's menu to show it to everyone in the workspace or to selected roles.

3. Add the Upcoming widget

   On the Dashboard, press Add widget and choose Upcoming. Pick the list and the Next step date field, and filter out finished records, for example Won and Lost deals. The widget lists the records due in the next days and has an Overdue section for earlier dates.

4. Save a no-date view

   On the same list, filter Next step date with is empty and exclude Won and Lost in the Stage field. Whatever shows up here has dropped out of your tickler.

5. Work the list every morning

   Start with Overdue, then today. Do the step, write one line in the record's notes and move Next step date to the next promised day, or clear it when nothing is pending. Switch the view to Calendar on the same date if you prefer days to rows, and drag a record to another day to move its date.

Date fields, saved views and the Upcoming widget have no plan limit: they work on Free, on paid plans and self-hosted. To see the same dates in another calendar app, create a subscription URL in the calendar: it is a private, read-only feed, and your calendar app decides how often it refreshes. The dashboard guide covers the widget options and the calendar guide covers the feed.

Customermates Cloud has a Free plan for 1 person and 250 records, without the inbox, Mate or routines. Your first workspace starts with a 14-day trial of Pro and then moves to Free unless you choose a paid plan; paid plans start at €12 per user per month, billed monthly, see the pricing page. The open-source core can be self-hosted with no licence fee, without the inbox and Mate. To try the tickler on your own clients, start your 14-day trial: Pro, no credit card. Add the two fields to Deals first.

Common questions about the tickler file

Third-party facts checked on 11 November 2026 against Wikipedia on the tickler file, David Allen's Getting Things Done site and Microsoft Support on flagging messages for follow up.