Checklists don't get a lot of respect. My purpose here is to convince you to develop some well-constructed checklists to ramp up your efficiency and your purposefulness in your day.
What's the big deal? — it's just a checklist…
I once read “The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right” by Shane Parrish. It was a review of the book by the same name written by Atul Gawande on the origin of the checklist and how checklists can prevent us from making errors.
Parrish noted the backstory of the checklist dates to 1935. After two of five airmen died in a test run of the Model 299 plane, a pilot's checklist was designed in order to avert future catastrophes. The pilot's checklist detailed everything that needed to be handled, from takeoff, flying, landing, and taxiing. Apparently, that checklist helped to prevent any future mishaps with the Model 299 plane.
After reading Parrish's piece, I realized I had never really associated making checklists with preventing errors. I’ve always used them as last-ditch efforts to get myself moving when I have been stuck. I’ve also tried to use them for travel packing efforts, but since I tend to be disorganized, those packing checklists tended to be only partially helpful.
Details of my own checklist experiment
A few months after reading Parrish's article, I was inspired to take checklists more seriously and to use them to help revamp my own life. I found the inspiration in an article entitled, My Morning Checklist for 2016 written by “Bob.”
I was intrigued by the amount of detail Bob shared about his 90-minute morning routine. It seemed that Bob could get a lot done in a 90-minute span. He even noted that he set a timer for 90 minutes each day to make sure he didn't waste any time. I could visualize someone going through the steps Bob had laid out for himself. I was hooked and was encouraged to design something for myself.
I decided to include the following actions in my own morning routine:
- take medications
- drink water
- make bed
- walk dogs
- feed dogs
- do one load of laundry
- decluttering for 10-15 minutes
- make and eat breakfast
- plan for the day, define priority item
- writing
- check messages
- connect with family
I had, of course, been doing many of these items already, but putting all of the items together in a checklist format helped me to get through them more quickly. After a few weeks, I didn't need the checklist anymore because the whole process became a routine. And the routine-ness of the morning helped me to set the day off with a positive, healthy, and calm attitude. I could feel successful even though it was still the morning.
The checklist I had made for my morning routine completely altered my mindset and attitude – for the better.
Yes, these checklist items all take time, and some of you may not have as much flexibility as I currently have in the morning. That said, I heartily encourage you to use what time you do have and to try your own version of the morning checklist.
Make use of the morning time which is an open, clean space for you to fill and to appreciate more and more. Just think about it — your mind is not cluttered or weakened by the events and stresses of the day in the morning. You are at your most clear then.
What's on your checklist?
Is there room in your life for a hard-working checklist? Maybe even a few checklists?
We could make quick checklists for:
- recurring projects
- calls we need to make
- grocery shopping
- making the most out of the rest-of-summer plans
- financial matters to be handled for taxes
- marketing plans for the launch of a book or other product
- business practices
- dividing duties up among different people
- cleaning tasks
- travel packing
- back-to-school items
- thank you lists
- party planning
- books to read and movies to see
- a decluttering plan of attack
- morning, afternoon, and evening routines
See how the power of checklists might affect your own life for the better. Might you make fewer errors? Get more done? Feel less stressed? The potential here is enormous because the potential within you is enormous. Get crackin' today.
If you need some more ideas for how to use checklists in your day, please use this free download I've created for you — Check My Lists:
Click here to receive the CHECK YOUR LISTS downloadable sheet to help you get more organized today!
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