Getting to Good Enough

There’s something very satisfying about a good checklist—right up until you forget to use it and arrive on an overnight trip without your chargers.Shannon is deep in pre-travel mode, which means checklists are everywhere, and Janine is an enthusiastic fellow traveler. Soon they’re remembering the podcast checklists they once relied on, comparing Apple Notes and Bullet Journals, talking about pilots who run through the same steps every single flight, and finding entirely new uses for plastic sleeves and dry-erase markers.Of course, even a great checklist only works if you remember it exists. And in a nicely timed demonstration of why external memory can be useful, Shannon ends the episode by confidently saying the podcast phone number wrong.What We Talk About02:33 — Travel checklists, the importance of chargers, and what happened when Shannon skipped her list on an overnight trip04:42 — Keeping checklists current and Mike’s method of refining his travel list after each trip06:19 — Remembering the things that can’t be packed until morning, plus the growing pre-trip mega checklist08:49 — Checklists beyond travel: Janine’s new bookkeeping system and the podcast’s shared mini operating manual11:31 — Apple Notes, Bullet Journals, and the deep satisfaction of watching checked-off items move to the bottom12:15 — The Checklist Manifesto, pilots who never skip the routine, “clear prop,” and Barry’s occasionally irritating checklist advice14:13 — Fighter pilots, astronauts, The Apollo Murders, and what can happen when every complicated process has its steps written down18:32 — Todoist routines, laundry that isn’t done until it’s put away, resurrecting forgotten checklists, and reusable list hacks that keep things freshKey TakeawaysA checklist can take over when memory gets unreliable under pressure—or when a task happens too infrequently to become automatic.Useful checklists aren’t necessarily finished products. Mike keeps revising his travel list based on what he used, didn’t use, and wished he’d brought.Repeated checklists can become a kind of operating manual: eventually the process may feel automatic, but the written steps are still there if someone else has to take over.There’s a catch to having a great checklist: you still have to remember it exists. Writing it down at least means it can be resurrected when you need it again.Sometimes a little novelty or visibility—a different app, a reusable card, a plastic sleeve—is enough to make an old checklist interesting again.The Bottom LineChecklists seem to earn their keep most when memory is least dependable: before a trip, during an infrequent bookkeeping task, or when somebody else has to take over a process. They still need updating, they still have to be remembered, and sometimes adding a little novelty is what keeps them alive. And after all that talk about brain muscle memory, Shannon closes by getting the phone number wrong—apparently the right thing does not always come out at the right time.Want More Like This?Episode 22: Creating Helpful HabitsAutomating mundane tasks, finding ways to remember new habits, and linking actions together into routines—the habit-building side of what checklists are doing here.Episode 121: Productive PreparationTravel preparation gets the good-enough treatment, with Janine using Trello to plan packing, Shannon using Post-it notes, and both trying to prepare without letting perfectionism take over.Episode 196: Building an Anti-Perfectionist ToolkitA particularly fitting companion to this discussion: useful tools are easy to forget. Shannon and Janine talk about collecting them in one place, revisiting them, tweaking what stops working, and writing things down so they’re there when you need them.Connect With UsLeave us a voicemail: 413-424-GTGE (4843)Comment on social media: @gettingtogoodenough on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTubeEmail: [email protected] the conversation on YouTube!

Janine’s new car seems not to have been a mistake—even if maintenance may someday require a trip to Chicago. That gets us talking about the very different feeling when you do realize you’ve messed something up: the sinking stomach, the panic, the self-recrimination, and sometimes a strong desire to pretend it never happened.Shannon’s missed physical therapy appointment turns into a bigger question about why mistakes—and even simply not doing something when you intended to—can make it so much harder to take the next step. Soon there are tasks that keep moving from one week’s list to the next, Janine’s months-long avoidance of creating a procedure that ultimately took virtually no time, and a “seven-layer dip of dread” built around a job Shannon estimates might take fifteen minutes.Somewhere in there, we start teasing apart what makes moving forward feel so hard and what might make it easier. And then Janine comes up with a much more appealing name for those lingering tasks: Opportunities for Achievement. Somehow, that makes all the difference.What We Talk About02:48 — That sinking, panicky feeling that can come with realizing you’ve made a mistake03:05 — Shannon misses a physical therapy appointment—and briefly considers pretending it never happened05:36 — Why mistakes can make it so much harder to go back, face the person involved, or keep moving06:35 — The utility bills Shannon keeps carrying forward on her task list as the task gets bigger and more unpleasant in her mind08:27 — Janine’s months-long avoidance of creating a procedure that ultimately took virtually no time10:18 — Looking at what a dreaded task actually requires—and Shannon’s “seven-layer dip of dread” around a fifteen-minute job12:23 — Shifting the focus from personal discomfort to making life easier for someone else14:27 — Rewards, self-recrimination, background stress, and the birth of an “Opportunities for Achievement” listKey TakeawaysMistakes can bring embarrassment, panic, and self-recrimination that make the next step harder than the original problem.Repeatedly moving the same task from week to week can make it grow much larger and more unpleasant in your mind than it is in reality.Even a task that has already been simplified with templates, instructions, and systems can still accumulate plenty of dread.Thinking about how getting something done helps another person can shift the focus away from your own discomfort.Changing the language—like going from a list of things you haven’t done to “Opportunities for Achievement”—can change how the whole thing feels.The Bottom LineFor most of us, a mistake can bring embarrassment, self-recrimination, and that sinking feeling that makes us want to avoid the whole situation. And when the “mistake” is simply not doing something when we meant to, every day of avoidance can add another layer of dread. Looking at what the task actually requires, remembering who benefits when it gets done, and changing the language around it all seem to make moving forward feel easier. By the end, “Opportunities for Achievement” sounds a lot better than a list of things we’ve failed to do.Want More Like This?Episode 228: Managing MistakesJanine shares a big mistake she made and how she dealt with it, including apologizing, moving on, and trying not to spend more time and energy on the mistake than necessary. It’s a particularly close companion to this episode’s questions about what happens after you realize you’ve messed up.Episode 165: The Power of LanguageWords matter—and sometimes a small change in language changes the way something feels. Shannon and Janine talk about replacing “need to” with “choose to” and other subtle reframes, making this a natural match for the newly christened “Opportunities for Achievement” list.Episode 104: Try CompassionShannon and Janine explore how hard we can be on ourselves and the idea that we somehow need that harshness to keep from repeating mistakes. It connects especially well with Shannon’s realization that part of her seven-layer dip of dread is feeling she doesn’t even deserve a reward for finally getting the task done.Connect With UsWe’d love to hear from you. What’s it like for you when you make a mistake? Are you able to keep going? Do you need an Opportunities for Achievement list?Leave us a voicemail: 413-424-GTGE (4843)Comment on social media: @gettingtogoodenough on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTubeEmail: [email protected] the conversation on YouTube!

Is stopping because something is good enough the same thing as being lazy? Janine’s first answer to herself was basically yes—until she caught the name-calling. What if the additional time she was considering just wasn’t worth the extra effort?That opens up all kinds of questions: Why does “busy” sound like a badge of honor? Why can doing nothing all weekend feel like something you have to defend? And if time is finite in the same way money is, what are we choosing not to spend it on when we keep polishing something that doesn’t matter that much?Energy complicates the math even more. Some days you have more of it than others, and the same stopping point can feel completely different depending on what you say to yourself: “Ugh, I’m lazy” or “This is great. I can stop here.” Good enough starts to look less like taking the easy way out and more like something worth aspiring to.What We Talk About01:01 — When “I’m too lazy” might really mean “this isn’t worth more effort”03:11 — Celebrating stopping instead of criticizing yourself for it04:11 — Busy as a badge of honor and productivity as a measure of worth05:11 — The glorious appeal—and social weirdness—of doing nothing all weekend07:06 — Good enough as something aspirational, not lazy08:45 — Deciding consciously whether something really needs more10:33 — Spending time like money—and adding finite energy to the equation14:00 — Catching the name-calling and letting energy help determine what’s reasonableKey TakeawaysSometimes stopping at good enough simply means recognizing that more effort wouldn’t add enough value to be worth it.Consciously noticing that you chose to stop can turn good enough from a shrug into something that actually feels good.Time and energy are finite. Spending more of either on one thing means having less available for something else.Energy isn’t constant, so what feels reasonable to expect of yourself can change from one day to another.The stopping point can be exactly the same while the emotional experience is completely different: “I’m lazy” feels nothing like “This is great. I can stop here.”The Bottom LineThere may be nothing lazy about deciding something has had enough of your time. The useful question is whether more effort would actually matter, given what else deserves your time and the energy you have available. And maybe the particularly good part is noticing the choice when you make it: same stopping point, but “good job, Janine” feels very different from “lazy ass.”Want More Like This?Episode 7: What Is Good Enough? — An early look at how personal our standards of good enough are, and how the importance of what you’re doing can help determine where to stop.Episode 38: Personal Capacity — Shannon and Janine talk about the problem with expecting yourself to operate at 100 percent capacity and the value of making realistic choices about what you can actually do.Episode 252: Taking the Win — A discussion of noticing and giving yourself credit for what you’ve done instead of immediately focusing on what could still be better.Connect With UsWe’d love to hear from you. Do you find it easy to know when to stop? Have you experienced the freedom of good enough?Leave us a voicemail: 413-424-GTGE (4843)Comment on social media: @gettingtogoodenough on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTubeEmail: [email protected] the conversation on YourTube!

There’s a small problem with taking a carefully planned podcast break: apparently you have to do a whole lot of work first!You were on break from GTGE in August. We were not. We recorded and edited and scheduled episodes so Shannon can actually disappear for more than three weeks in September—without a computer—while Janine gets to enjoy a break from podcasting in the comfort of her apartment.From there, we wander through northern lights, unexpectedly expensive rustic accommodations, strategically scheduling the relaxing part of a vacation at the end, and the very sensible idea of leaving a bit of time to catch up before returning to real life.Which leads to the less relaxing question: What happens when you step away from something long enough that you worry you’ll forget how to do it?What We Talk About01:57 Why planned breaks were part of bringing the podcast back02:43 Staying off the hamster wheel—and keeping the podcast fun03:30 What an actual vacation looks like when you’re self-employed04:46 Doing a lot of work now so you can really stop working later05:20 Norway, Sweden, Denmark, northern lights, and some pricey “roughing it”07:49 Ending a trip somewhere relaxing so you don't need a vacation after your vacation13:26 The slightly unnerving side of stepping away for a while14:42 Writing things down so Future You doesn’t have to remember everythingKey TakeawaysApparently, a real break sometimes requires a very busy stretch beforehand.“We only do it if it’s fun” is still a useful measure for the podcast—and one reason taking breaks matters.There’s something appealing about putting a buffer around a break: time to settle into being away, and time to settle back in when you return.Worrying about what might happen while you’re gone doesn’t necessarily mean the break is a bad idea. Shannon can worry that she’ll forget how to podcast and still go to Scandinavia without a computer.Writing down a process is useful even before you need the instructions. And checking the instructions while you’re actually doing the thing may be the best way to discover whether they bear any resemblance to reality.The Bottom LineTaking a break sounds restful. Preparing to take one? Not necessarily.But Shannon and Janine keep coming back to the same thing that has guided the podcast since 2018: if it stops being fun, something needs to change. This time, the change is a planned break, some real time away, and a little room around the edges for reentry. There are still nerves about stepping away, but there are also notes, backup plans, and some real-time documentation.And if Shannon almost forgot the tagline before the break even started, perhaps updating those podcast instructions really is a good idea!Want More Like This?Episode 100: Our 100th Episode!Shannon and Janine celebrate making it to 100 episodes and revisit the agreement they made at the beginning: they’d keep doing the podcast as long as it was fun. Six years later, that principle is still doing some useful work.Episode 150: Creating Helpful Work BoundariesWork has a way of sneaking into the rest of life, especially when you work for yourself. Shannon and Janine talk about ways to make work and non-work time more distinct—including what Shannon learned from a beach trip that wasn’t quite as vacation-like as it could have been.Episode 183: Taking a BreakThe earlier version of this very experiment: Shannon and Janine announce a five-week podcast hiatus and talk about what they might gain by actually stopping instead of filling the gap with more work.Connect With UsWe would love to hear from you, our listeners. Do you remember to take a break? What is it like for you when you do?Leave us a voicemail: 413-424-GTGE (4843)Comment on social media: @gettingtogoodenough on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTubeEmail: [email protected] the conversation on YouTube!Meta DescriptionShannon and Janine talk about taking a real break, planning time off, easing back in afterward, and the nerves that can come with stepping away.

We’re taking a summer break!When we brought Getting to Good Enough back last year, we decided that building in some time off would help keep the podcast fun and fresh. So we’re taking August off and enjoying that back-to-school feeling of excitement about summer vacation.We’ll be back with a brand-new episode—and a brand-new season—on September 10. See you then!