Setting a Higher Standard for Your Productivity

In this issue, I would like to introduce you to my favorite productivity tool. It is the simplest and yet most effective tool I know of.

Hi there,

Every week I send an email where I document my journey towards craftsmanship. I touch on subjects like personal development, personal finances, and time management. Today I’m writing about productivity.

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Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

There is a quick and simple tool that allows you to protect against memory and attention flaws. It helps you get the tedious tasks right and leaves room for craftsmanship, judgment, and the ability to respond to unexpected difficulties. And it supports the skills of expert professionals, providing the necessary discipline for higher performance.

The tool I’m talking about is a checklist 🤯.

In The Checklist Manifesto (beware, paid link), Atul Gawande explains that checklists are an effective tool for setting a higher standard of baseline performance. Put simply, checklists are the simplest way to manage complexity, uncertainty, and unexpected situations.

What kind of complexity, uncertainty, and unexpected situations are we talking about? It’s the same kind that is required to land a man on the Moon and to bring him back home. Or the kind that pilots face to safely fly us through the clouds and that engineers encounter while they build skyscrapers that reach the clouds.

The System

I’m a big fan of checklists. I have a checklist for almost every aspect of my life. I have a packing checklist, I have a checklist that the team employs every time we start working on a new user story (in case you missed it, I am a software engineer), and I have a checklist for when my kid gets a cold. I’ve made a checklist for setting my goals, I have a checklist for when I have to attend an out-of-town wedding, and there is a checklist for when I prepare a demo of my work.

And guess what? I also have a checklist that I will use before I press the publish button for this newsletter issue:

✅ Write the header section
✅ Write the footer section
✅ Add issue number in title
✅ Remove the issue number from the permalink
✅ Check spelling and grammar
✅ Proofread

But how do you create one? It seems that the best way to create a checklist is with a checklist. Here is a four-item checklist you can use to improve your productivity:

✅ Observe your process
✅ Record your process
✅ Refine your process
✅ Teach your process to others

You are now one step closer to tackling all the complex, uncertain, or unexpected situations that might come your way.

Frequently Asked Questions

Let’s explore what makes a good checklist and how you can create a practical one for your unique context.

What are the traits of a good checklist?

A checklist should be practical. Thus, it should:

• Be precise and to the point

• Be easy to use, even in the most difficult situations

• Offer reminders of the most critical steps

How do you create a practical checklist?

By just recording your process into a checklist you will get a huge boost in your baseline performance. However, if you want to take it to the next level, you can follow the guidelines employed by Boeing in crafting their airplane checklist handbook:

1. Define clear pause points. Unless the moment when the checklist is supposed to be used is obvious, like before you press the publish button for your newsletter, then make it explicit.

2. Choose a type. Is it a read-do or a do-confirm checklist? In Issue #3, I’ve introduced you to the shopping list. For me, the shopping list is a read-do checklist because I check each item off as I add it to the shopping cart. For my wife, the shopping list is a do-confirm checklist since she just checks it at the end of the shopping session to make sure she didn’t forget something (she also doesn’t mind adding more items to the cart than initially planned).

3. Make it to the point. Try keeping the list short by choosing between 5 and 9 items. Put only the killer items — those that are dangerous to skip and sometimes are overlooked.

4. Use simple and compact wording. Ideally, use the language specific to the context where you use the checklist.

5. Pay attention to the aesthetics. Try to fit the checklist into one page, free of clutter. Also, make sure to use a font that it’s easy to read (e.g. Helvetica 👍, Comic Sans 👎).

6. Test it in the real world. Use it in your daily activities and adjust it until it works consistently.

7. Define who’s accountable for making sure the checklist is followed. If the checklist is used within a team, then choose someone with the least power in the process and give that person the necessary power to enforce it.

How does a checklist raise your standards?

No matter how good we are at what we are doing, errors will still occur. We face two main challenges in our day-to-day activities, both at work and at home:

1. Our memory and attention have limitations, especially in routines that are overlooked or under pressure.

2. We tend to skip steps even when we know them since some steps don't always matter.

Thus, a checklist protects us against our flaws in memory, attention, and thoroughness.

How do you use checklists for team collaboration?

Make sure that the right people speak one with another, at the right time frame, and about the right aspect of the problem. In the company I work with, at the end of each project, we employ a handover checklist. One item on that checklist makes sure the right people from both parties are involved in the handover process.

Another way you could use checklists in your team is to create instructions for the team members to cover simple and routine problems and ensure they are not overlooked.

In general, checklists can be used to create communication and coordination instructions to cover complex and routine problems.

One example is to create a demo checklist that any team member can use to highlight the value of the team's work to their customers.

When should we use a checklist?

You should consider a checklist when you need to:

• Handle a complex situation

• Configure a machine

• Make priorities clearer

• Remember important steps that can be easily overlooked

• Function better within teams

Now more than ever, more fields — such as medicine, financing, lawyers, or software development, have become more complex to rely only on memory.

What tools should I use for my checklists?

I use the Apple Notes app to manage my checklists, however, any note-taking app should work just fine. Even simple markdown files should do the trick. If you like pen and paper, then you can create a physical notebook for your checklists.

However, try not to get blocked from choosing the perfect tool. You can start on a piece of paper or even a post-it and go from there. As you get better at organizing your life through the power of checklists, you will find the right tool for you.

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What do you think of today's issue? If you enjoyed it and would like to recommend my Substack, I would certainly appreciate it!

Best regards,
Alex from The Craftsman Mindset

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