Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to let checklists lighten your mental load.
Speaker 1: You will foster teamwork and maintaining your household, and you
Speaker 1: won't feel like all the responsibility is on your shoulders.
Speaker 1: So I often hear from people, and to be honest,
Speaker 1: women in particular, who are frustrated by the cognitive load
Speaker 1: they bear in their households. In two parent families, both
Speaker 1: parties might be involved in, let's say, driving kids to activities,
Speaker 1: but one of the parents is the one who knows
Speaker 1: what activities happen when and beyond that is keeping track
Speaker 1: of uniforms and equipment, and whether children are in enough
Speaker 1: activities or too many, or are practicing the flute four
Speaker 1: times a week and are signed up for the recital,
Speaker 1: and whether that conflicts with somebody else's soccer game or whatever.
Speaker 1: Both parties might be willing to cook dinner or clean
Speaker 1: up afterwards, but one party keeps asking the other what's
Speaker 1: for dinner, fully expecting the other party to have an answer.
Speaker 1: Party A is willing to change the sheets ahead of
Speaker 1: the house guests arrival if asked to do so, but
Speaker 1: has not thought through whether there is soap and shampoo
Speaker 1: in the bathroom or anything else, and how the family
Speaker 1: schedule needs to change based on house guests being there,
Speaker 1: and so it goes. People get frustrated about having to
Speaker 1: share all the steps and ask for help with these
Speaker 1: steps and remind people how to do things. But maybe
Speaker 1: you don't personally have to be the reminder. Something else
Speaker 1: can take on that role. Using a checklist can be
Speaker 1: a great way to externalize some of the knowledge that
Speaker 1: is in your head at say tool Gowanda explains in
Speaker 1: his book The Checklist Manifesto, which is about checklists for surgery.
Speaker 1: In the like, checklists help teams share responsibility. Everyone can
Speaker 1: see what needs to be done and everyone has a
Speaker 1: role in making sure it gets done. So, for instance,
Speaker 1: if you are getting ready to have house guests, you
Speaker 1: can make a checklist of everything that needs to happen,
Speaker 1: such as having breakfast foods available, changing the sheets, putting
Speaker 1: the spare keys in an obvious place, et cetera. If
Speaker 1: you are preparing for a day trip somewhere you go
Speaker 1: a lot, like a local beach, you can make a
Speaker 1: checklist of what you need to bring towels, sunscreen, some
Speaker 1: snacks and waters, sand, toys, or whatever it is you
Speaker 1: take with you. If a child goes to daycare in
Speaker 1: the morning, you can make a checklist of what needs
Speaker 1: to happen before that. Eat breakfast and get dressed, Bring
Speaker 1: extra clothes, diapers, whites, and a packed lunch, or whatever
Speaker 1: your required items happen to be. You get the idea.
Speaker 1: If you write down what you know needs to happen
Speaker 1: on occasions like these, your partner, your kids, or anyone
Speaker 1: else who is around can easily contribute to the preparation
Speaker 1: efforts without asking you to tell them what they can
Speaker 1: do to help. All they have to do is take
Speaker 1: a look at the list you've left on the kitchen counter.
Speaker 1: In addition, your partner and kids may think of things
Speaker 1: you have forgotten and add those tasks to the list,
Speaker 1: And if you're lucky, maybe complete those tasks and check
Speaker 1: them off too. When we render work visible by putting
Speaker 1: it on a checklist, we are better able to share
Speaker 1: it now to be sure. The ultimate in sharing might
Speaker 1: be to give complete ownership of various task areas to
Speaker 1: each person. One person might become fully responsible for groceries
Speaker 1: and meal planning, another person becomes completely responsible for trash.
Speaker 1: That said in the interim, a checklist allows knowledge to
Speaker 1: be passed along without nagging. The party who currently keeps
Speaker 1: track of whether a child has a present for this
Speaker 1: week's party and whether it is wrapped, and whether the
Speaker 1: waiver for the bouncy house park is signed can put
Speaker 1: all those steps into a document, so if someone else
Speaker 1: takes on the birthday party matters, they are not calling
Speaker 1: from the car saying wait, is there a present. Checklists
Speaker 1: also provide a really good way to share task lists
Speaker 1: with people who might be helping just occasionally date night babysitters,
Speaker 1: pet sitters, house sitters. When you know what you would do,
Speaker 1: it is easy to let someone else no to do it.
Speaker 1: By getting the knowledge of what needs to be done
Speaker 1: out of our heads and onto paper, we can share
Speaker 1: the responsibility of managing households and reduce our cognitive load.
Speaker 1: And doesn't that sound like a task it would be
Speaker 1: nice to accomplish. If you try using checklists, I'd love
Speaker 1: to hear how you do it. You can reach me
Speaker 1: at Laura at Laura Vanderkam dot com. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart
Speaker 1: media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with
Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to
Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I
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