Why Creating Checklists Will Make Your Workday and Your Home Life Easier
How often do you carry out the same tasks at work over and over again? It’s something you do time and time again. You can do it with your eyes closed. But then you forget a step. Often. What you need is a checklist. A reminder of what steps to go through so you don’t forget any.
Let me give you an example of one I use in my day job. I interview people as part of my role. Each situation is different, but the questions I have to ask are the same. I’ve been doing my job for fourteen years, so you’d think that I would remember what to ask, but unfortunately before I created a checklist that was often not the case. In order to solve this I would spend time before each interview writing out the questions that I needed to ask. And guess what I discovered? Those questions were the same ones each time. Basically, I was reinventing the wheel i.e. I was wasting time. So one day I just took the list I had written out and typed it up. Now every time that I am interviewing someone I open this document and go through the questions to ensure that I cover everything that I need to ask.
Let’s have a look at another example of a checklist that I use. This is when I am planning my work. Again there are certain enquiries that I need to make in each situation. Now if you follow me you know that I am a fan of time blocking. When I have a new project I like to plan out my work in my calendar. And each time the tasks are very similar. So, you guessed it, I have a checklist of the regular tasks that I do and need to put in my calendar for each of my projects. When I am planning a new project I just open up the checklist, adapt it as needed to that particular project and add the tasks to my calendar.
So, it might take a little time to write out, but for many tasks you probably already have a list in your head anyway. Maybe you have written lists in the past and thrown them away. Next time you find yourself going through a checklist write it in a notebook and keep it. Next time you can just open your notebook and there it is, a list, already written for you!
Before I finish up I want to give you a few examples of checklists you can use in your home life to save time. Here goes:
Weekly cleaning checklist (tasks to tackle each day of the week). Mine looks like this… Monday - sweep and mop kitchen floor, Tuesday - dusting, Wednesday - vacuuming, Thursday - clean bathroom vanity units, Friday - kitchen worksurfaces, hob and sink, Saturday - toilets or showers. Fortnightly I change our bed.
Monthly deep cleaning checklist for tasks that need doing less often.
Grocery shopping checklist - I use mine to check the cupboards to see if we’ve run out of something. It’s easy to see if you’re running low, but if you’ve run out altogether you may not notice the gap, or at least I don’t.
Holiday packing checklist - mine covers all types of holidays e.g. hiking trip, beach holiday and I just pack the items relevant for the trip I’m taking.
So why not take some time over the next week to think about where in your life you could use checklists, whether that’s at work or at home. You might find yourself writing out a list. Before you go to throw it in the bin when you’ve finished with it take a moment to consider whether you’re likely to be writing out a similar list next week and use it as a starting point for a permament checklist. Then each time you come to use it just adapt it to that particular situation. I promise you it will save you so much time. And guess what you can do with that time? Yep, use it to work on your side hustle.