Reader Review: The Checklist Manifesto

This review was submitted by reader Josh Vogel. Please submit book reviews to metaist.blog@gmail.com.

(Image: Amazon)

Review
The Checklist Manifesto, by Atul Gawande, is a manager's guide to making the professionals under his charge play at the top of their game. Throughout the book, Gawande stresses that checklists have a place in every business sector, from aviation, to finance, and, his main emphasis, in the operating room of a hospital. He goes to great lengths to show the successes checklist implementation has accomplished in often short periods of time.

Perhaps the most appealing part of this book is the points Gawande makes about how a checklist is for everyone at every stage of their career. The need for checklists, Gawande says, is especially true for those who have excelled in their positions and feel that they are infallible and do not need to rely on such checks during their normal work routines. The book further stress the point that checklists are an inexpensive tool to implement that can result in large rewards both physical and financial. Gawande also does an excellent job of detailing how to correctly implement a checklist in a corporate/hospital setting, promoting top-down support of the project and placing the responsibility for its use in the hands of those least involved, (i.e. nurses, etc).

Towards the end of the book, Gawande does become a little redundant in his message. While he does cover it somewhat, more time could have been spent reviewing the need for checklists in today's world, bringing more evidence for failures that occur as a direct result of not having a checklist in place. Nevertheless, Gawandes writing style is easy to read and eloquent, wasting no words and making his points clear. Gawande is on to something and using his ideas can produce dramatic results with little cost involved.

Josh Vogel is a Candidate for the Master of Public Health at Boston University School of Public Health.

Review text licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Additional editing by The Metaist.

Pomodoro Technique

Technique
The Pomodoro Technique is a method for improving productivity by creating focused periods of attention as well as forcing breaks at regular intervals.

(Photo: Wikimedia)

Definition
A pomodoro is an indivisible unit of time (usually 25 minutes), plus a short break (3-5 minutes). Also the word for tomato in Italian. (The inventor, Francesco Cirillo, used a tomato kitchen timer when he came up with this technique.)

Commentary
Although I've only been using this technique for several months, I'm finding it an increasingly pleasant way to organize my day. In particular, I enjoy the focus on the down-time and context switching. Here's my adapted version:

• Task Lists - Believe it or not, I use a plain text file. In fact, I make a new text file every month for all the things that need to be done (unfinished items from previous months carry over). This text file is split into two parts: the top part has all the unscheduled tasks (i.e., tasks that have not been assigned to a day) and the bottom is a reverse-chronological list of tasks by date.
• Scheduling - Most days start by selecting which unscheduled tasks I'll do today. Occasionally, I create a "check-on-the-status" tasks which are derived from special unscheduled tasks that indicate that I'm waiting for something (e.g., someone needs to get back to me). Tasks are organized roughly in the order I want to accomplish them, and I add estimates for the number of pomodoros I anticipate certain tasks to take. Since pomodoros are indivisible I group small tasks together and estimate the total time for all of them.
• Countdown - I use an online stopwatch to count-down 25 minutes during which time I work on the next task in the list. If I finish early, I try to look over my work. When the bell rings I force myself to stop immediately.
• Recordkeeping - I use a variant of the notation in the book. Instead of "X"'s, I record the pomodoro number. This way, if I accomplish multiple tasks, I record the pomodoro during which they were accomplished. Internal interruptions (e.g., hunger, tiredness) are indicated by an apostrophe ('), external interruptions by a dash (-), and a lost pomodoro by a slash (/). (Pomodoros are considered indivisible, so if you get really off-track, you have to reset the clock.)
• Break - When the stopwatch rings, I usually take a three minute break, and take care of most of the interruptions that occurred during the previous pomodoro.

External interruptions are dealt with by announcing that you "are in the middle of a pomodoro" which usually works. Sometimes, however, I loose my pomodoro because of an external distraction that is anything but brief. But it's okay, because practitioners of the technique know that "the next pomodoro will go better."

Inbox Zero

Technique
Inbox Zero is a technique for processing your email and somewhat related to the concepts David Allen put forth in Getting Things Done.

(Video: YouTube)

Commentary
I have found Inbox Zero effective at dealing with the psychological barriers around checking and responding to email. I've adapted the process so that for every email (starting with the oldest) I choose one of the following actions:

• Label & Archive - This is the most common action since most of my email is purely information. By using filters, most the email is pre-labeled and I usually just archive it (or delete it if it's an unsolicited advertisement).
• Star It - I choose this for emails that require me either do something or that indicate that I'm waiting for something to happen (e.g., receipts for an order).
• Respond - Usually to acknowledge receipt of an email, or provide someone with a particular piece of information. This must take less than two minutes.

After all the emails have been processed, I view all the starred emails. I add all the items I need to do to my task list. (I will discuss how I process the task list in a future post.)

In the past two years, I have maintained an empty inbox at home and at work and have found that I spend more time doing what needs to be done rather then trying to keep it all in my head.

Easy Big Wins

Conjecture
Optimizations that are easier to implement and that have a higher return on investment are better than the alternative optimizations. Furthermore, most popular optimizations do not deliver high returns on investment.

(Photo: Wikimedia)

Technique
Ramit Sethi outlines (in eye-catching ways) how one can figure out which optimizations are worth your effort. Mostly, his advice hinges on differentiating yourself from everyone else:

As you can see, many Big Wins are actually easily within reach — if you choose the right targets and differentiate yourself from others. While you’ll have a few areas of life where you’ll have to go up against formidable competition, many other areas of life are wide open.