Create checklists for repeated tasks
Unit ID: AIT-M09-U03 Estimated active time: 15-20 minutes
The main idea
Checklists are useful when tasks repeat and errors are easy to miss.
They work for the steps that are easy to do and easy to skip — the ones experience makes you confident about rather than careful about.
Why this matters
A checklist that is used is worth more than a complete one that is not. Length is the main reason checklists get abandoned.
Safe example
A publishing checklist includes links, images, alt text, mobile check, and final review.
Five items, each answerable in seconds, each covering something that has actually gone wrong before.
Better working habit
Ask for a checklist with required, optional, and review items.
Three groups keep the required list short, which is what keeps it in use.
What to watch for
Do not create a checklist so long nobody uses it.
Past about ten required items, people start ticking without checking, which is worse than having no checklist.
Mini practice
Create a 10-item checklist for one repeated task.
Then use it once and delete any item you did not actually check.
Check yourself
Before moving on, answer:
- Is every required item answerable in seconds?
- Does each item cover something that has gone wrong before?
- Which items did I tick without really checking?