WEBVTT - Second Cup: Checklists save time

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that checklists save time. When you maintain a

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<v Speaker 1>list of what you need to do on various occasions,

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<v Speaker 1>you increase your efficiency and you are far less likely

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<v Speaker 1>to drop the ball. I have five children, and moving

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<v Speaker 1>a family of seven anywhere involves a lot of logistics.

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<v Speaker 1>If I just packed randomly for trips, we would inevitably

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<v Speaker 1>forget something important. So for our journeys, I have written

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<v Speaker 1>out checklists of what we need to bring swim diapers, bottles,

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<v Speaker 1>bug spray goggles, headphonesification documents. I am not saying the

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<v Speaker 1>packing or traveling has always gone perfectly, but we generally

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<v Speaker 1>managed to get where we're going without needing to check bags.

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<v Speaker 1>And I define packing for seven people for a week

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<v Speaker 1>in a couple of carry ons as success. I also

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<v Speaker 1>use checklists when I am planning my weeks. I have

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<v Speaker 1>a number of ongoing projects, so as I plan my

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<v Speaker 1>weeks on Friday afternoons, I go through the checklist to

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<v Speaker 1>make sure I have listed something for each project. It

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<v Speaker 1>is hard to forget producing a daily podcast, but what

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<v Speaker 1>am I doing to promote my upcoming book Tranquility by

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<v Speaker 1>Tuesday by putting that category on my planning checklist, I

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<v Speaker 1>will put something on the schedule for the week. A

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<v Speaker 1>lot of people read Attulgawande's bestseller, The Checklist Manifesto. He

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<v Speaker 1>wrote about how important it was and fields like medicine,

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<v Speaker 1>for people not to rely on memory. If you need

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<v Speaker 1>to do seven things before a medical procedure, make a

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<v Speaker 1>checklist and check them off. This reduces errors tremendously. In

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<v Speaker 1>the case of checklists like Apgar scores, you can immediately

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<v Speaker 1>see which babies need more attention. But checklists are great

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<v Speaker 1>in far less complex situations. The beauty of a checklist

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<v Speaker 1>is that you just work your way through what you

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<v Speaker 1>need to do, without wasting time deciding what's the next thing,

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<v Speaker 1>or racking your brain about what you are forgetting. You

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<v Speaker 1>don't need to worry so much about dropping balls because

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<v Speaker 1>all the balls you need are spelled out. You can

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<v Speaker 1>decide that you don't need to do something, but that

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<v Speaker 1>is an active choice rather than one of a mission.

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<v Speaker 1>So think if there are areas in your life where

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<v Speaker 1>a checklist might help. One obvious one is meetings. I

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<v Speaker 1>was recently visiting a company where there was a poster

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<v Speaker 1>on the wall with a checklist about what each meeting

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<v Speaker 1>was supposed to include. Among other things, you had to

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<v Speaker 1>identify who were the decision makers. You had to identify

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<v Speaker 1>the decision being made. Does that sound like extra labor

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<v Speaker 1>when you are just marching to your two o'clock, your

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<v Speaker 1>three o'clock, your four o'clock, Well, that is somewhat the point.

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<v Speaker 1>If you are planning to devote an hour of your

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<v Speaker 1>precious time on this planet to something, you want to

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<v Speaker 1>make sure it is worthy of it. I am not

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<v Speaker 1>a big fan of meetings that are just about the

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<v Speaker 1>status of projects. Is everyone still doing their jobs? But

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<v Speaker 1>if you are going to have such meetings, checklists are

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<v Speaker 1>great here too. You want to come out of these

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<v Speaker 1>meetings knowing exactly where things stand, what is left to do,

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<v Speaker 1>and who is responsible for it. Working through a checklist

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<v Speaker 1>of project parts will help make sure this is all clear.

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<v Speaker 1>When you identify a checklist that could be helpful for you,

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<v Speaker 1>start by jotting down the tasks you think you need

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<v Speaker 1>to do in the order you think you usually do them. Then,

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<v Speaker 1>the next time you are in a position to use

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<v Speaker 1>that checklist, consider it a draft work your way through

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<v Speaker 1>it and also add items as needed. Shift the order

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<v Speaker 1>to reflect what you typically do or what makes the

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<v Speaker 1>most sense. It may take a few uses before you

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<v Speaker 1>get your checklist the way you want it, but once

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<v Speaker 1>you're happy with your checklist, keep using it. That means

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<v Speaker 1>looking at it. Don't assume you have internalized it. Save

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<v Speaker 1>yourself the mental effort of thinking about what you need

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<v Speaker 1>to do and the stress of hoping you have done

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<v Speaker 1>everything you need to. Instead, just work through your checklist

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<v Speaker 1>knowing you are doing exactly what you need to be

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<v Speaker 1>doing at that moment. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making them those of

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<v Speaker 1>our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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<v Speaker 1>You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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<v Speaker 1>Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four then

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<v Speaker 1>Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me an email at

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com.

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<v Speaker 2>That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 2>Thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.

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