Shoutout to a simple checklist that saved my shipping process

I always thought checklists were for people who couldn't remember things, you know? Last spring I was running a small Etsy operation out of my basement in Portland and kept messing up orders. I'd forget to double check the address or miss a fragile sticker. One bad week I had three returns because of packing mistakes. My buddy who runs a warehouse told me to just write down every step on a whiteboard. I did it half heartedly at first but after I stuck to it for a month my errors dropped from 12 percent to almost zero. Now I have a laminated sheet that takes me 30 seconds to glance at before each shipment. Has anyone else found a super basic tool that fixed a big headache in their workflow?

2 comments

2 Comments

ramirez.sage3d ago

Did it feel weird at first to write down stuff you thought you already knew?

gavincampbell3d ago

You said "did it feel weird" like this was some deep life changing experience. Nah, not really. It's just putting words on paper, it's not that serious. I already knew the stuff but writing it down just helped me organize my thoughts a little better. Honestly the only weird part was trying to read my own handwriting after. Do you really think it needs to feel weird for it to be useful?