Forgetting Important Stuff? This Will Help (And It's Not Another App)

Stop forgetting steps and making mistakes. Learn how simple checklists can transform your marketing workflow and save your mental energy.

Hey marketer! 👋🏻

Imagine this: You publish a post on Facebook. You write the text, add an image, click “Post” - and only an hour later you notice you forgot to add the product link. Or you send out a newsletter and immediately after sending realize the subject line has a typo. Or even worse - you only sent it to part of your list because you forgot to set the right segment. Sound familiar? 🤦🏻‍♂️

This happens when we rely solely on memory. Yet there’s a simple way to avoid these mistakes - checklists. Or if you prefer: process lists that you create once and then just tick off.

What exactly is a process?

A process isn’t anything complicated. It’s simply a list of steps you take every time you repeat a certain task. Fulfilling an order. Publishing a blog post. Adding a new product to your online store. Preparing a newsletter.

Each of these activities has its steps. And once you write them down, you don’t have to figure them out again next time - you just tick them off and have the confidence you haven’t forgotten anything.

Simple yet effective

Surgeon Atul Gawande wrote a book called The Checklist Manifesto, where he describes how implementing simple checklists in hospitals dramatically reduced errors during operations. Specifically, they reduced mortality by 47 percent (PubMed Central) and complications by a third. The World Health Organization then implemented a surgical checklist in hospitals worldwide with similar results.

If checklists help save lives in operating rooms, why couldn’t they help you with order fulfillment or content publishing?

Gawande distinguishes two types of failure: ignorance (we don’t know how to do something) and ineptitude (we know how to do it but don’t apply it correctly). Checklists solve that second problem - they remind us of steps we know but easily skip when we’re in the thick of things.

When to create a process?

The ideal moment is when you’re doing something for the first time and know you’ll repeat it. Right at that moment, you’re thinking through every step - so just write them down.

It doesn’t have to be perfect. Processes can always be adjusted and refined. After each use, you’ll think: “I forgot this, I’ll add it.” Or: “This step is unnecessary, I’ll delete it.” Gradually, you’ll create a system tailored to your needs.

For me personally, discovering processes was one of the most fundamental skills in business. When my wife and I were building our sportswear manufacturing company, this approach allowed me to think strategically right away about every phase of production - from receiving inquiries through design approval, manufacturing to shipping. Today I have dozens of processes mapped out - for working with clients, for team collaboration, for recurring tasks. And I’m constantly refining them.

Where to use processes in practice?

A few examples from everyday marketing and e-commerce practice:

Publishing a social media post: Check text for typos → Add image in correct format → Insert link → Add hashtags → Schedule publication time → After publishing, verify everything works

Fulfilling an order: Check product availability → Print invoice → Pack → Insert business card/flyer → Send tracking to customer → Mark as shipped in system

Adding a new product to your store: Upload photos → Write description → Set price and variants → Add to category → Set up SEO (title, description) → Check display on website

Sending a newsletter: Write text → Check all links → Set subject line and preheader → Send test email → Check mobile display → Schedule sending

Onboarding a new client: Send welcome email → Create folder in system → Get access credentials → Schedule intro call → Prepare brief

Tools for working with processes

You don’t need any special software. A notepad or Google Doc is enough. But if you want more, tools like Todoist or Basecamp can work with task templates - you create a process template once and then just repeatedly use it for each new task. I personally have all my process templates in Basecamp and it works great for me.

What’s the takeaway?

Your brain capacity is limited. Every decision, every “I need to remember what else to do” costs you energy. Checklists take that burden off your shoulders.

So next time you’re doing something you know you’ll repeat - stop for a moment and write down the steps. You’ll be calmer and make fewer mistakes.

Looking forward to the next article! 👋🏻

Jan Barborik

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