What should go on your coffee shop prep checklist?
Airplane pilots are world-famous for their dedication to checklists. It makes sense; checklists help to keep them safe and help them to fly some of humanity's most complex machines.
If a checklist is good enough for pilots, it should be good enough for us heading out to work from a coffee shop.
Now, of course, I am not equating landing a $100 million plane at night in fog to popping down to Starbucks to write social media posts. What I am proposing is using the principles of checklists to help you stay on top of your daily rountine.
As Atul Gawande said in the Checklist Manifesto:
“Good checklists, on the other hand, are precise. They are efficient, to the point, and easy to use even in the most difficult situations. They do not try to spell out everything--a checklist cannot fly a plane. Instead, they provide reminders of only the most critical and important steps--the ones that even the highly skilled professional using them could miss. Good checklists are, above all, practical.”
Using a checklist before you leave to go work is an important part of any trip to your favourite coffee shop. Now this article is not going to harp on about the need for a checklist or make further grand statements about the importance of checklists.
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My Coffee Shop Mini-Checklist
I am just going to highlight that you should have a mini checklist before you depart, that looks something like the below:
- Have you packed your laptop? Y/N
- Have you packed your mouse? Y/N
- Have you packed your headphones? Y/N
- Have you packed your notepad? Y/N
- Have you packed a pen? Y/N
- Do you know which coffee shop you are going to? Y/N
- Do you have a backup coffee shop? Y/N
- Do you have a schedule for your work day? Y/N
- Do you have a home time for finishing work? Y/N
How will this help?
The checklist above I run in my head every day before I head out of the door. For you, it might be a little bit different. Using something similar to the above can help you too. Checklists like the above will:
- Help you get the most out of your time.
- Stop you forgetting things (I've forgotten my laptop before).
- Help to keep you on track.
- Help you from wasting time.
Final Thought
A simple checklist will help you to feel less stressed, more prepared and enjoy a productive day.
Purchase the Checklist Manifesto here.
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