Done right, checklists set you free. They set a minimum bar for the completion of a task. You know when you've hit every point that you've considered at least t

Done right, checklists set you free. They set a minimum bar for the completion of a task. You know when you've hit every point that you've considered at least the things you thought were so important that you put them on the checklist. I have spent years refining one checklist. It has completely transformed how I think about that task and how efficiently/often I execute it. Checklists are appropriate for procedural tasks, or tasks that must be complete before moving on, not directly to R&D. One can might a clock-cycle of R&D with a checklist (Hypothesize, plan, test, analyze, repeat), but if a checklist feels like it is strangling you, it has not yet been sufficiently refined.