What your memory can't hold
- Experience the limit of working memory.
- Name the three ways steps get missed: forgetting, interruption, and assumption.
Study this loadout for the time shown. Then list as many items as you can — no peeking.
Why that was hard
Working memory — what you can actively hold in mind — is small. Most people keep only a handful of unrelated items at once, and stress, fatigue and time pressure shrink it further.
Steps also get missed in two other ways. Interruptions: when someone asks you a question halfway through a task, it's easy to resume at the wrong place. NASA researchers studying airline crews found that interruptions and deferred tasks are a common thread in procedural errors. Assumption: 'I always do that' is true right up until the day you didn't.
Each story is a missed step. Sort it by why it was missed.
Select a card, then the column it belongs in.
Good checklists answer all three: they replace memory, they make it obvious where you stopped, and they make assumptions visible by asking for confirmation.