People use checklists effectively to:
- Reduce task saturation. Task saturation is simply too much to do and not enough time. Checklists help you reduce that overwhelming feeling – probably not all of it, but some of it.
- Lower stress. Checklists minimize forgetting something. This relieves the stress of worrying about forgetting (especially when consequences are very bad).
- Free the mind. You don’t have to waste your prefrontal cortex on mundane things. Basically, checklists free you up to worry about higher level issues.
- Be a refresher course. You can use checklists as a tool to remember a sequence of actions for the next time you do something, like submitting a check request or packing for a trip.
This month’s sources include: Wikipedia and www.sourcesofinsight.com. Do you feel inspired? Do you have suggestions for future topics? If you have questions or comments, or just want to comment on what you’ve read, please send a note to the Nominating Committee.