Ask HN: How do you use checklists?

[mistakenot238]

I recently read about how routinely using checklists during complicated activities can have a transformative effect on the quality and efficiency of your work. Think Surgeons, Pilots, Civil Engineers etc.

How do you use checklists in your day to day life? Where have they been most transformative?

[subvocalize]

I use a lot of checklists, mostly via emacs org-mode. Here's an example of my daily sales workflow (B2B SaaS; formatting didn't survive very well, sorry):

* Daily work

DONE Check commission goal for EOY and update

DONE Start airtable timing

DONE Log in to TalkDesk (reboot, make sure active)

DONE Sales startup

* DONE select rotating priority of the day, tag with dailyFocus

* DONE check calendar for any major events unprepared for

* DONE check email and star anything urgent - skim. if you don't need to reply right now, don't

* DONE check new leads in uservoice for anything time-sensitive. if you don't need to reply right now, don't

* DONE rearrange plans on calendar to fit meetings etc in the day

Sales general workflow

* DONE Prepare for major interactions today

* DONE 1bd email, including new leads

* Tasks in SFDC: high, >20, or 0 (unweighted

* 2 definite reply email

* Tasks in SFDC: >3

* Contact all of dec/jan closes, to see if do again

* Weekly goals

* follow up on sammy's intros - probably a longer play

* devlearn followups

* Check out read receipts to see how can move along larger deals

* Create jump discontinuities for future, or set up ability to do same

[alexpetralia]

Interesting how much of this is strategic vs. operational.

Can you elaborate on this?

> Create jump discontinuities for future

[subvocalize]

This is a very operationally-focused list, since it's meant to be a guide for what to do next in "triage" modes. I almost never reach the bottom.

During this operationally-focused mode, I don't let myself innovate too much, though I'll take down notes with ideas. The "jump discontinuities" would be things like making a common sequence of responses into an autoresponder, outsourcing a common research task, or making a case to my team to add or cut a service offering.

In practice, the above strategic work happens during times I allocate and protect in advance, where I focus on improvement instead of running down the operational list. Typically for me these are 2-hour blocks, about 1-3x per week.

[skrebbel]

Wow this is a very good idea. FYI if you indent the whole thing with 4 spaces (each line), then

    *** HN keeps the formatting
     ^-> see?

[majewsky]

The code-snippet syntax needs only 2 spaces, actually.

But I like the original formatting better because lines wrap on narrow viewports (i.e. phones). It's frustratingly common that people post quotes with the code-snippet syntax and the lines are so long that stuff is nearly unreadable on mobile, unless you are masochistic and like reading in a scrolling viewport that only shows 40% of the line width at each time.

[linopolus]

Could you elaborate on how you manage this with org-mode? Do you have to manually reset the lists every evening?

[npsimons]

Not for TODO items, but org-mode specifically has the RESET_CHECK_BOXES property which will reset the checkboxes when a repeating task goes back to it's start state (eg, habits). TODO items can be repeating and there is a way to make it so that a parent heading will switch to DONE when all sub-entries are done (and that parent heading can be repeating as well).

Just to add my two cents to the conversation, it's a personal call between using checkboxes versus sub-heading TODO items, but I typically use checkboxes for physical items (packing lists) or actions with a duration that is sub-minute (eg, areas of vehicle to check for weekly inspection).

[tarboreus]

You can also have it revert at certain times or at a certain frequency: http://orgmode.org/manual/Repeated-tasks.html

[PurpleRamen]

Might be better to use the checklist as a template, and use a function to create a new file/subtree from it including the date. That way you can archive it and look up later what you did or forgot at a specific day.

[npsimons]

This is actually pretty close to what I already do; I've found writing org capture templates cumbersome, so I just have templates in the org files and I cut and paste and then edit as needed.

[tzhenghao]

There's a good archive of Marc Andreessen's blog posts here:

http://pmarchive.com/guide_to_personal_productivity.html

One section is dedicated to his general process on checklists, which I find extremely interesting and have started seeing my increased productivity since adopting it a few months ago.

[mistakenot238]

Nice resource. I'll take a look.

[marshf]

Keeping organized and safe on road trips.

I keep a book of cards similar to this on the dash. Fill one out on any trip over an hour. [1] Have been helpful in tracking tire/brake wear. Have not had a breakdown in the bush since using these.

Taped 3x5 cards to the steering wheel with packing lists and important equipment for field work. (Laptop, cell phones, Radios, spare clothing, chargers)

[1] https://www.fueloyal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/How-To-F...

[matt_the_bass]

I use a number of types of checklists at work. They include:

1. Printed checklists that we provide to our integrators that summarize the details we describe in our design guide (we make industrial equipment that needs to be designed into our customers physical and computer systems). These are intended for our customers to confirm the covered all the important details in our design guide.

2. We have a similar type of checklists as #1 for our dealers' technicians to follow when commissioning one of our systems. In this case, the technician needs to sign it and also get the customer to sign it (marking it complete). Plus the technician needs to submit it to us to ensure warranty coverage.

3. We have production checklists when physically assembling and testing our hardware. These require a signature from a supervisor. The purpose is to help ensure that no steps were missed. We keep these in version control with our other documentation and they are updated as we change the process/assembly or find improvements.

4. We have less formal checklists that we manage in Trello. We use them for lightweight project manager. We also save templates of some Trello checklists for reoccurring processes (think sw release todos).

I know that sounds like a lot but we try to keep things as simple as possible. We've found that checklists are easy ways to reduce mistakes and communicate progress/requirements across customers, colleagues, and partners.

[singhrac]

Every morning I make 3 lists: (1) do immediately, (2) goals for today, (3) do eventually.

I do (1) immediately. I work on (2) until I need a break, and work on (3) for a bit, then go back to doing (2). All 3 lists live in a single text or markdown file, one for each day.

Like most people, I have a bit of an attention deficit, so putting fun and long term useful (but not necessary) tasks on (3) makes it easier to take breaks but still remain productive. An example is writing a blog post.

[psyc]

Most comments are talking about todo lists. I use those a lot. I keep a detailed hierarchical list of tasks in OneNote, and move them to a done list when complete.

But I think you meant checklists like pilots use to avoid human error. I make those very reluctantly, preferring to simplify whatever system seemed to need a list.

[npsimons]

Sometimes, you just really need a check list. Two off the top of my head are packing lists and SOAP notes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOAP_note).

[Derbasti]

I use org-mode, of course. But more specifically, I wrote this little extension called org-journal [1], which auto-creates one org-file per day, is searchable, integrates with the Emacs calendar, and crucially, carries TODO items from the previous day to the current day.

This way, all my research notes, and my diary, and completed projects stays in the journal, but pending or ongoing tasks travel with me through time until they are done.

[1]: https://github.com/bastibe/org-journal

[romdev]

Thanks to all for the informative TODO list options. Getting back to the intent of the question...

Over the course of my career in financial software development I've participated in several large production events where an upgraded or new application would be deployed overnight to servers that require substantial uptime while serving millions of users. We minimize human error by developing the Go-Live checklist several weeks in advance from tasks discovered during "dry-runs" where we practice the deploy process on similar hardware with similar data. Task durations are recorded during the last dry-run to store in the checklist.

The checklist itself is pretty simple and is stored in a spreadsheet with these columns:

  StartTime Duration CompletedTime ResponsibleParty TaskDescription

Before starting all the columns are filled out except CompletedTime, which we fill out when each task completes. Each task can have a breakdown in a separate document, but this spreadsheet is primarily used to communicate status. The responsible party reports completion to the Project Manager, who keeps it updated on a Webex in real time for executives to know whether we're behind or ahead of schedule. When all the deployment tasks are done we test the site and have a Go/NoGo meeting to determine whether the update is good or should be rolled back to the previous state.

[mistakenot238]

I probably should of been a bit clearer with the question.

Interesting example. Do you find yourself reusing checklists or are they specific to the job?

[advisedwang]

My team is responsible for outage communication for a wide range of Cloud products. We want to post publicly within minutes and with a low rate of false positives and negatives (false positives are noise for customers, negatives result in customer stress). There are lots of business factors that change the way we need to post, so it's not a trivial process.

So over the last few years we have built, used and iterated on a checklist for this. It has been pivotal in meeting our goals here.

[damontal]

I've gone from checklists to a Kanban (for daily work tasks) in MS OneNote using a variation of this https://www.highmonkey.com/Blog/February-2013/OneNote-Kanban...

In addition to a backlog table I have a Waiting and a Someday table to capture things that are out there but not actionable yet.

[erichurkman]

I use a few sets of checklists using the app 'Things' (mac/ios). I separate out work vs. personal and try to not have them overlap in terms of time.

My work lists:

- 'today': things I need to get done, or follow up on, today. This can be items in other lists (it's a filter of a tag with a shortcut key).

- 'tomorrow': I use Apple Script to move 'tomorrow'->'today'. 'tomorrow' starts with a few fixed repeating tasks (email, pipeline, a few others) and an ingest of my calendar for tomorrow via Apple Script. Every evening I go through tomorrow's meetings or events to take notes and mark up things I need to cover.

- 'interviews': a task per person in my pipeline, with ongoing notes. I change the due date as interviews progress with next steps. Keeping it in a single todo item gives me a quick overview of people.

- 'near': things I need to do in the near future, < 2 weeks

- 'future': things I should do in the future; reviewed weekly to move things forward or ideally delete things, I keep this capped at 30 things

[userium]

I often use my own or available checklists for making sure I have covered all the important tasks. (For example before launching a new website: https://stayintech.com/info/UX)

Recently we have been using Wunderlist for grocery shopping.

[feifan]

My entire productivity system is a checklist in a pocket-sized notebook. When I get to work, I write down the things I need to do, have been asked to do, and want to do (in that order) — most days it's 3–5 things. Each item is a specific task that I know how to do.

This system, if you can even call it that, works for me for two reasons:

1) It gets the thoughts out of my head, so I don't have a constant "background noise" reminding me of something I have to do.

2) It separates the planning from the doing. This keys off the fact that many people feel good about getting organized, even if we tend to procrastinate on doing actual work. Separating planning from doing turns scary tasks into a short, clear bullet point.

For me (working mainly as a software engineer), the hardest part about any task is scoping and defining it. There are no hard tasks, only vague ones.

[dboreham]

Problem with a book (there are many benefits of course) is : you lose the book.

So I have a strict policy these days of only taking notes either on a piece of paper that sits on my desk, or in electronic form synced to all my devices (using OneNote fwiw but document files in Google Drive would probably work just as well).

I also have around 20 notebooks scattered around the house, office, car, friends's houses, etc.

[feifan]

Long-term stuff goes elsewhere (Trello with the team at work, for example), but my notebook is only day-by-day. So I actually wouldn't mind losing it.

In return, I get something that works closer to the speed of thought than any digital tool — I can write down a thought in less time than it takes to unlock my phone or open a Google Doc. That's important for me because it's too easy for me to not bother writing it down if it breaks my flow.

[hawski]

You can also periodically take photos of new pages and sync that.

[dboreham]

Been there, done that..

You can also take pictures of all letters you mail, right before you slide them into the mailbox, so if you ever wonder if you really mailed the mortgage check or perhaps it just slid under your car seat or blew away when the car door opened, there it is in your phone..

[arca_vorago]

I found my tier 1/2 techs would often miss steps during certain functions, and started making required checklists in jira before jobs could be closed. Rates of "this still isn't fixed" went way down, which is a great, low effort high reward thing in an IT department.

[mistakenot238]

Did you ever have problems getting people to take it seriously? It can be hard to introduce automated Jira gates / hooks without people just seeing them as irritating.

[thraxil]

Wrote a blog post about one way that I use checklists: https://compiled.ctl.columbia.edu/articles/anders-daily-chec...

[SirLJ]

While building stock trading robots, essentially I am automating check lists from the stock selection, trough the trade until the exit... No guess work, can be precisely back tested, etc...

It literally did transform my life and made me free and independent...

[quickthrower2]

All programming is "automating check lists", when you think about it.

[SirLJ]

Yes Sir!

[mistakenot238]

Nice. Was this automating stuff like fundermental analysis, ratios, that sort of thing?

[SirLJ]

... and more :-)

[zentiggr]

I've used a lot of to-do apps over the years to try to remember everything from daily routine (I can get very distracted/demotivated over dailies) to a full calendar. Checklist format has been the best way for me to see a bunch of next items so I don't feel that things are hidden "further down".

That said, I've made a custom spreadsheet to handle my real-time prioritizing the way I think about it, so I've gone beyond simple lists by quite a bit.

I do feel like I have a decent grasp on the whole range of activities I do, though, from daily pet care/home stuff to social calendar, bills, projects, etc.

[tmaly]

You are talking about the book The Checklist Manifesto.

I use checklists for planning vacation trips and for grocery lists.

I also use them to describe processes at work. This has been the most helpful when on-boarding new employees in our group.

[mistakenot238]

Yup, enjoyed reading it. Your on-boarding example has some o erlap with another checklist example given in another book (The E-Myth?) whereby employees at a hotel used comprehensive checklists to ensure that every visitor had the same consistently high quality service during their stay.

[mynegation]

I use Paperless iOS app, synchronized with Dropbox. http://crushapps.com/paperless/

Usual stuff: groceries, travel packing list, travel bucket list, ideas, restaurants to go to, date ideas, hiking trails, places to notify about address change, wishlist (things to buy), books to read (separate list for fiction and non-fiction), gift ideas, beers, wines, document checklists for more or less complicated things like mortgage or visa applications, conferences.

[tnhaeo98taeo]

I constantly tell Siri to add a Reminder to the Reminders app for something I need to do. I specify a time that I need to be reminded and I'm automatically reminded. I used it over Thanksgiving to tell me when to put each dish into the oven or when to take them out. It was awesome! Anytime I think of anything, I just raise my watch and say "Hey Siri, Remind me at <time> to do <task>". That way I never forget, there's no book to lose or checkboxes to uncheck at the start of each day.

[marpstar]

Same here, and also take advantage of the geofenced notifications, e.g. "Hey Siri, remind me to pick up milk when I leave work".

[linopolus]

I more than one time tried to incorporate checklists in my daytoday life, like for morning/evening routine, starting work for the day, etc. The problem I had is the medium:

* Paper: You check it today and have to rewrite for tomorrow, as the checkboxes are filled. Also, I tend to not look at my notebook at all, or lose it. Its never gonna be where I am.

* Apps: I tested a few, from regular todo apps to specialized "routine" apps, but they all have their quirks.

So if any of you use an app for that and are happy with it, please tell me so I can try to!

[patrickmay]

I like OmniFocus. It works on laptop, tablet, and phone.

[linopolus]

Which is, to my best knowledge, a relatively pure todo app, not really suitable for checklists, or am I wrong?

[jotjotzzz]

For work, I use the Kanban method and created myself a Kanban board using Trello.

For day-to-day personal tasks, I use a list through rememberthemilk.com and accompanying app.

However, half the battle is actually sticking with the system you created. So it's a challenge to make it simple and a bigger challenge to make it into a solid habit.

[robodale]

Hey folks, I'm building a web app where you create and work through checklists (part of a larger system for service companies that need procedures and work instructions for their service technicians).

I'm not going to shamelessly promote it here. Messsage me if you want to try it come demo time.

[muzani]

Isn't there a lot of apps that do this? E.g. Basecamp, Asana, Workflowy

[misterbowfinger]

Mostly through Wunderlist. I try to keep as few lists as possible so I force myself to prioritize, so I only have two: Work and Not-Work (my "Inbox").

I'll make temporary lists for specific, detailed tasks like a moving checklist or a packing checklist. Afterwards, I'll delete them.

As for the tasks themselves, I try to make them as fine-grained as possible. Like, "write tests for that function you wrote", or "talk to Allen about something". Sometimes they're just questions I have that I need to think about, like "what about this edge case?" or "how far back do we look?"

Usually there's something else that tracks what I have to do at a higher level, i.e. JIRA or Trello. In those cases, at the end of my current tasks, I simply have a "look at JIRA"

[0gdd]

There is good book I can recommend on the subject by Atul Gawande: "The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right" Basically, keep it simple.

[mistakenot238]

That's the book I'm talking about. Didn't want to mention it in the question incase it sounded too plugy.

It would of been interesting to see the comparisons he would of made if he had spent time with the infrastructure department of a software company.

[ecesena]

I use the bullet journal [1], except I don't really report for each day. I mostly like the notation to distinguish todo vs ideas vs other stuff.

Other times I use notes (typically Apple Notes just because it's auto-synced between mac and iphone, but I don't really care about the app) to create small lists of things I really have to do in order, and then I check them along the way.

[1] http://bulletjournal.com

[ecesena]

Why downvoted!? Did I misunderstand the question?

[d12bb]

checklists != todo lists, might be the reason

[superasn]

You can also try the Pomotodo app that is a combination of Pomodoro and Todo lists. The twist is you focus on the task in indivisible time slots which I feel really helps you stay focused. This isn't a checklist technically, more like a task list for getting the work done but it works really well for me.

[justadudeama]

I use Todoist. Just about every task has either the Next_Action label, or Waiting, as well as the location.

Then I can see all of my next action tasks I can do at my current location.