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I have a problem that I suspect many other entrepreneurs have. It's called a scattered mind. It seems like at any given time, I have a million of ideas, a million tasks to do. The problem is that I'm overwhelmed and I often don't know what tasks to start with first. It's a mixed feeling of excitement and overwhelming anxiety. In recent years, I have self-diagnosed myself as having severe ADHD. Luckily, I discovered something that changed the way I work and drastically improved my level of productivity each day. It was a book called, The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gwande.
The premises of the book is quite simple. Gwande looks at how checklists have been incorporated into almost every industry and every business and why. From healthcare to airlines to restaurants, Gwande discusses how these industries have saved and made millions of dollars by incorporating checklists into their daily routines.
My favorite story from the book:
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On October 30, 1935 a Boeing 299 crashed shortly after take off killing the pilot. This new plane was being reviewed by the US military before being purchased. It was a huge contact for Boeing, but being Boeing, they practically had this account sold before the flight even took place. So, this test flight was merely a formality. Unfortunately, as the plane took off, it suddenly nose-dived into the ground, instantly killing the pilot, as the military and everyone else watched in horror.
An investigation revealed that nothing mechanical had gone wrong with the plane. The crash was due to pilot error. But, this pilot wasn't an ordinary pilot. He was the best pilot in the world. The investigation revealed that this new airplane required the pilot to manage four engines, landing gear, wing flaps, electric trim tabs which maintain stability at different airspeeds, propellers regulated with hydraulic controls, among many other features. While doing all of this, the pilot simply forgot to release a new locking mechanism on the elevator and rudder controls, which caused the plane to nose-dive and crash after take-off. The pilot new release this mechanism; however, he just simply forgot. A newspaper later described this new plane as, “too much airplane for one man to fly.” Boeing nearly went bankrupt.
Today every pilot in almost every airline around the world uses checklists before takeoff and during every major procedures to make sure nothing slips their mind. Millions (maybe billions) of dollars and thousand of saved lives can be attributed to using checklists in the airline industry.
The moral of the story is that we all forget simple things, whether it's milk at the grocery store, a homework assignment, tasks at work to do, events, or millions of other things. That's exactly why I created http://checkli.com. Being the owner of a boutique digital marketing agency while growing a new start up has left me overwhelmed with tasks. In a nutshell, checkli is a free web application where you can create, save, and share checklists.
To my surprise, people all over the world, in all walks of life, experience this same overwhelming sensation of the daily tasks in their lives that need to be done. Since checki's launch in November of 2013 I have done zero marketing and already have of 1,000 members. who regularly login to manage the checklists of different tasks they create to manage their lives. The feedback has been amazing. I get emails every day thanking me for creating this free tool.
Conclusion
I know this may seem as a pitch for my own website application, but I assure you that my intentions are to solely help my fellow entrepreneur by presenting a solution to a problem I have (had) and how I solved it. Thanks for reading and good luck.
