What Is It About Making Lists?

Ever wonder why your Mom was always making lists for you? She would rattle off a list of chores, what to do when and where and plans for your life like her entire psyche was built off a clipboard and check list. But lists serve an important role in our lives. And they also have a psychological benefit: it is the essence of planning - which calms our minds (as I wrote here).


National Public Radio (NPR) wrote a top 10 reasons people love lists in this article here. The story highlighted to me that lists are so part of our daily lives that businesses and people wouldn't thrive without them! And this came up during my trip to the National Restaurant Show (NRA) in Chicago. One operator told me that "listing" has been the key to his consulting practice. A lot of franchisors don't have the necessary next steps in mind when launching a new brand to a new franchisee. A list of best practices is gold to running a restaurant, so having a good list tool is critical to making sure nothing is missed.

WhenToManage presented some new thinking on lists while at the NRA show: https://apps.whentomanage.com/signup We call is LOG, but effectively it is a checklist creation tool for Restaurants and Retailers. The solution is built of our new Peach platform, so it is highly customizable and fun to use! More importantly, it makes your list electronic and shareable - so now everyone gets to check off what is important. The solution is free, so take a test drive if you want. But the value of this solution can't be overstated. There needs to be accountability with a list, and an idea that things are getting done, and measured. That's what LOG attempts to do - make people accountable through a list.

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