Checklist amnesia

Kamazing

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Sometimes I forget to use my checklists. I'll finish a task or project when suddenly a light bulb goes off - Oh! I had a checklist for this all along.

I'm constantly kicking myself. Why do I keep forgetting about them?
 

thomasbk

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Perhaps quarterly, or at least once a year, during a weekly review, review your checklists to see if updates need to be made or new ones are required. That can help keep those lists at the front of your mind when you start a project. Or perhaps make the first action of every project, "See if I have a checklist for this." Either approach will help build muscle memory.
 

Kamazing

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Thanks, happy to hear some new ideas around this. The "see if I have a checklist" action is one I can start doing right away.
 

gtdstudente

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Sometimes I forget to use my checklists. I'll finish a task or project when suddenly a light bulb goes off - Oh! I had a checklist for this all along.

I'm constantly kicking myself. Why do I keep forgetting about them?
How about Check-List(s) be Placed in Support-Folder , , , since most Next-Action(s) and Project(s) List(s) require, one way or another, separate Support Folders?
 
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Wilson Ng

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I have two clipboards with my checklists printed out. If it's on my computer as a digital document tucked away in a directory/folder somewhere, it tends to get lost in the digital ether.

I grab my clipboard to see if I have a checklist. If I lose the checklist page, I print another one out. No biggie. Having that clipboard on my desk has saved me time. If I don't see in my clipboard, I probably don't have a checklist made and I'll need to add that to my "systems maintenance" project.

Like @thomasbk said, it helps to review and update them. There are many times I would skip a step because I didn't really need a step that I thought was important. Or that step might just be in the wrong checklist.

If I forget where I put my first clipboard, I have my backup clipboard to fall back to until I find the first one (sigh, it happens a lot) ;-)
 
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gtdstudente

Registered
I have two clipboards with my checklists printed out. If it's on my computer as a digital document tucked away in a directory/folder somewhere, it tends to get lost in the digital ether.

I grab my clipboard to see if I have a checklist. If I lose the checklist page, I print another one out. No biggie. Having that clipboard on my desk has saved me time. If I don't see in my clipboard, I probably don't have a checklist made and I'll need to add that to my "systems maintenance" project.

Like @thomasbk said, it helps to review and update them. There are many times I would skip a step because I didn't really need a step that I thought was important. Or that step might just be in the wrong checklist.
Agree that clip boards are very GTD useful, thank you
 
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