The Power Of A Checklist

Recently lists have been getting a bad reputation. A ‘todo list’ plays into the overwhelm and busyness that so many people are experiencing, creating this unreal expectation for the day that leaves us disappointed when we don’t get it all done. 

Goal lists are great at getting clarity on what we’re working toward, but sometimes we stick to them too rigidly and actually pull ourselves off alignment in an effort to achieve the things that no longer represent what we want, or what most satisfies the true intention. 

However there’s another type of list that is underestimated, which is a checklist. A checklist is a step by step, written out procedure that helps guide our actions. Rather than trying to remember every detail required to complete a complex task, a checklist outlines it for us and makes it easy for us to produce the desired result with minimal effort and error. Atul Gawande wrote a book called “The Checklist Manifesto” to demonstrate the incredible power of a checklist, citing examples of how pilots, surgeons, and other high performers use checklists to ensure the quality of their work. 

The reason checklists work so well is because they’re a type of system, creating leverage that maximizes value out for what you put in. It takes time to build out a check list, but it’s just an upfront investment that makes things go smoothly every time moving forward.

In my morning routine, I have a checklist. There are specific tasks I want to do every single day, and in order to not forget them, I run through the list. This ensures that I maximize my daily priming and set myself up to have a killer day.

When I make my schedule for the day, I have a checklist. Instead of randomly putting things on a calendar I have a process for putting in external commitments and appointments, then my exercise and self-care, then my most priority tasks, and so on.

Using a checklist is not a sign that you’re less capable and need help doing basic things... It’s a failsafe way to create efficiencies in your life, hold yourself to a higher standard, and improve the quality of what you do. If that’s not one of the intentions of self-improvement, then I don’t know what is!