Are You Using Checklists Enough?

Posted on January 16, 2009 by Bruce Keener

The Independent recently had an interesting article on how a checklist might reduce a hospital’s death rate by almost 50 percent. Having a list of questions like

  • Right patient?
  • Right limb?
  • …

may seem simplistic, but can be life-saving.

I do not use checklists as much as I should. The reasons for this probably boil down to the typical excuses we all use:

  • A belief that I can remember what to do without checklists
  • Not having a good system for setting up and accessing checklists

In reality I know that the top excuse is not a good one. For example, I’ve done lots and lots of traveling in my life, and, when I did not use a checklist, you can bet that I forgot to take something with me on the trip.

As to the second excuse, when I used a Palm PDA, I did not have the excuse. The Palm was the perfect device for checklists. I could either set them up as memos, and store them under a checklist category, or use a program like HandyShopper or ListPro to set up and access a checklist. When I transitioned to a Pocket PC, I still used checklists a fair amount. But, I have gotten away from using checklists. Shame on me. They are great tools.

Just something for you think about. My guess is you will realize that there are some checklists that would make life a lot better for you.

Comments?

Share


 

This entry was posted in Getting Things Done, Productivity and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.
  • http://stein.everybody.org/journal/ Jeremy Stein

    The article title was misleading. The checklists had many questions. Those were two of them.

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    Jeremy, Thank you for catching that. Obviously I skimmed the article too quickly to pick up on it. Good catch. I will fix my article to address that.

  • pritchett4

    I’m trying to do more with checklists – have one for packing for travel, shopping for items when out and about, auto maintenance, etc. I use HandBase – used it on the Palm and now on WinMo. I was able to transfer databases from Palm over which was really nice. Pretty easy to build check lists and then take them mobile.

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    @pritchett4 I have also used HandBase a lot over the years … it is unbeatable for certain types of checklists, and its interface with Microsoft Access is really solid. Thanks for the comment!

  • http://ruudhein.com Ruud Hein

    HandyShopper’s also available as a (free) Pocket PC download here. I use it a lot.

    Apart from that I’ve started to use paper a whole lot more again lately and find myself doing quick check lists. Pencil in a box, write item.

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    Thanks for the comment, Ruud. I used HandyShopper on my Pocket PC for a while … it is a good app. I really don’t recall why I got away from using it … of course, I really don’t use the Pocket PC much now anyway, preferring my Touch, and, increasingly, paper. I am currently building a paper GTD system … all my “stuff” will reside on paper, except for the @Computer list, which of course resides on the computer.

  • pritchett4

    Bruce, maybe this is something for another post, but I was interested in learning your reasons for doing GTD more with paper than electronics. For me, I find it is easier to small carry PDA with me and only have to enter info once (note: I have read through your GTD posts = help!). Just curious.

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    @pritchett4,
    Probably is a good topic for another post, and I have been giving some thought to writing one about me “switching” to paper.

    Before I go into my reasoning, let me emphasize that I believe that people should use what works the best for them. Obvious, I guess, but I think some people struggle to make a PDA work when paper is better for them, and vice versa. I have been a big fan, for years, of using PDA’s as much as possible for productivity, because, in part, if you are going to own one, you might as well get something out of it. That’s the engineer in me … I hate to see features wasted.

    But, the waste of features is only part of what one needs to consider. For me, until I retired, a PDA was a great productivity tool, because it synced well with Outlook, which I used at work (in fact, it was set up to sync automagically with Microsoft Exchange), and because it weighed less than a paper-based system, something that is important when you travel. And, of course, I used it a lot for email, and a lot of my emails became actions, so it was easy to convert an email to a task, without having to print anything out. There were some trips, though, where I decided to experiment with a paper planner, and those trips went particularly well in my view. It is just so much easier to capture information on paper than on a PDA.

    Anyway, to shorten up what is turning into a long story: now that I am retired, I really do not do any traveling … I have traveled extensively for over 30 years, so I am really not interested in doing any more of it, especially with airline security as crazy as it is. And my home and my office are one. I still use @office and @home lists, because that’s a great way of separating stuff, but they are the same place. And, I like paper for weekly reviews. And, finally, and this is really the biggest thing: it wraps my different areas of focus (Purpose and Values, Vision, Goals, Areas of Responsibility, Next Actions) all up in one place. I don’t have to use different tools for Vision and Next Actions. Both are on paper and in one notebook. The reason that is the most important to me is that I have found that I have been slipping away from the Purpose and Values/Vision/Goals thinking and just staying buried in the details (the next actions). I felt that part of the reason for this was that my system has not been supportive of keeping everything in one place, to help me stay attuned to all of those areas of focus. I could do it with a PDA, of course … I have. But, paper just seems “more right” to me for this. It feels less “bounding,” which I believe is an important consideration when you are talking about the higher areas of focus.

    Hope that helps you understand where I am coming from on it. Again, whatever works for You is what you should use.

    Thanks for the question!

  • Todd Lapp

    Hello Bruce,
    I am brand new to reading and learning from your site and have found it very interesting and extremely useful. I will be researching it more in the days to come.

    I’m also brand new to GTD and just finished David’s first book. As soon as I started reading it I have been trying to apply it but really I’m not really doing it very effectively yet. It is very attractive to me because I have been a “list-maker” for a long time and just never knew how to organize it into a system.

    My current dilemma in starting GTD is what medium to use for my lists and next actions. I have devised my own system using Excel but this only works when I’m at a computer and I have realized it must be more accessible to me. I was starting to lean towards buying a Palm but now that you mentioned the Palm OS is going away I don’t know if I should go that route. However, I do use Microsoft Outlook at work and perhaps I would benefit from the compatibility with Palm as you mentioned. So basically I’m in need of some guidance on which direction to go. I first thought of using a paper system as outlined on David’s site but thought that since he uses a Palm then I should start with a Palm. I know you said it’s not so important on which medium you use but since I haven’t started I want to reasearch it and make a good first choice. Plus you said the one you start with is probably the one you will always like the best. Maybe I need to be looking at a Pocket PC instead? I am definitely undecided and that is not good. Plus, if it involves spending money then I have even a harder time deciding because I don’t want to waste money.

    The reason I was compelled to comment though is that I am very interested to hear from you how you’ve set up your paper system. My worry is that a paper system would become too bulky for me to take to and from work every day. I am looking forward to reading more of your past posts though and maybe they will answer some of my questions.

    Also, thank you for your comments about “First Things First”. I was given a copy but did not start to read it because I thought the Covey system was sort of “old” and the people I knew that started it have stopped it because they felt it was too taxing. I will have to start reading it now that I heard you found it very useful.

    Sorry for the long post! I look forward to any feedback you might have.
    Thanks,
    -Todd

  • http://www.keenerliving.com/ Bruce Keener

    Hi Todd,
    Welcome to my site, and thank you for your detailed thoughts.

    While I learned GTD on the Palm, and think it is a great system for GTD, Pocket PCs are really just as good (I like the Notes app on Palm better because you can use categories with it, but that’s not a major deal).

    But paper is actually a great way to learn, and you don’t have to make a decision on what gadget to buy. Then, you don’t have to worry about what software to buy to go on your gadget. And, then, you don’t have to worry about getting distracted by the gadget to the point that it hinders more than helps.

    One of the most important aspects of doing GTD correctly is CAPTURING all of your actionable items, and paper is really the best medium of all for capturing. Although David uses a Palm still (a Treo), he captures a lot of information on his Notetaker Wallet and on a legal pad (he says he keeps one handy just about anywhere he is setting, including near all phones).

    Given that, and given that paper is cheap, I would definitely recommend it as your first path. You can put all of your tasks in Outlook if you like (smart thing to do actually), and then print each category (context) out and keep in a separate section in a binder or in separate folders. Plus, you can print your calendar out, and Outlook has several useful printable views: daily, weekly, monthly.

    After processing work the GTD way becomes a habit to you, then you can reflect on whether you want to use a gadget or not. But, paper will definitely better help you establish the habit, because it is so easy to use, even in the capture aspect (both Palm and Pocket PCs are slower at accepting input than plain old paper is).

    I hope that is helpful. If you’d like to discuss further, please feel free to continue to do so here in the comments or feel free to email me directly at brucekeener [at] gmail.com