OK well it’s been 8 days that I’ve been using the folder system. So far, it hasn’t really helped me get any more done in a day, but it has helped majorly in other ways:

1. My desk has about half as much clutter as it would this long after I last cleared it since the papers are all in the folders
2. I find I can avoid hyperfocusing at the expense of an urgent task (which I sometimes do for fear of fogetting something later) by dropping a note to myself in the folder for a more appropriate day to focus on a task
3. I have a “tactile” feel for how many different tasks I’ll need to think about in a day based on how many slips of paper are in a folder. I also can put off a task for another day without fear of forgetting it by just moving the slip of paper.

It’s a good feeling to get just a little more organized, enough that it makes a small but noticeable difference. I recommend the 31-day folder method!