A couple of days ago I wrote about my morning checklist, which is a list of reminders and guide of what to do in order. There are a couple of advantages I’m learning to really appreciate about it:

  1. It keeps me in line by showing me what else I need to do
  2. When I finish it, I feel my job is slightly less of a chaos than it really is. This is mostly a mental perk, but it helps.
  3. It nudges me toward writing a journal entry, which in turn allows some creative thoughts out, and those are precious.

Point three above is what got me thinking I should also have a midday list.

I try to break my day into two parts and take a break around 15:00. This break usually includes a nap and some exercise before I tackle my other bigger, more time-consuming projects. Of course, meetings drag on, urgent matters need to be attended to, and the river of emails never stops.

A checklist to help me shift gears would be helpful. In a way, it would be like saving a game before moving on to the next level; it would serve as a soft reset, letting me relax enough to take that nap and exercise, which I need to stay productive and healthy.

I wonder if anyone else uses these sorts of checklists, even if they are only in their heads.