The Checklist

I am not now, nor have I ever been, a morning person. Unfortunately for me, I've had a lot of day jobs over the years (and have one now), so I've had to come up with a lot of crutches.
I have to hit the snooze button at least three times before I can persuade myself to get out of bed in the morning, so I can sneak up on the day. And I keep the alarm clock set 18 minutes fast - just enough so that I can't do the math in my head unless I'm awake enough to get up anyway. And I have to get up early enough to allow for the consumption of half a pot of coffee, since I shouldn't be allowed to drive until I'm fully caffeinated...
My most important tool is new - it's The Checklist.
I have a little litany I run through each morning on my way out the door, to make sure I have everything I need to attack the day.
When I first started this job, the list was short.
Glasses*, lunch, carkeys, coffee.
(*They're reading glasses. I need them at work, but it's easier to see to drive without them. When they're not on my nose, I keep them parked on top my head. Glasses parked on top of my head and glasses not parked on top of my head can feel remarkably similar.)
Then I needed to be able to tie my hair back at some point in the workday.
Glasses, lunch, hairtie, carkeys, coffee
Then I had to buy a watch, since I needed to keep track of time, but couldn't see the clock.
So:
Glasses, watch, lunch, hairtie, carkeys, coffee.
Then the list expanded to
Glasses, watch, matching shoes*, lunch, hairtie, carkeys, coffee.
(*I'd been at work for a couple of hours one day before I noticed that, though my shoes were both white sneakers, they were from two different pairs of white sneaker. Obviously different pairs of white sneakers. Being me, I immediately had to go tell everyone. "Psst, look at my shoes...")
Then I got the cellphone.
Glasses, watch, matching shoes, lunch, hairtie, carkeys, coffee, cellphone.
Then I caught Madman's Killer Cold.
Glasses, watch, matching shoes, lunch, hairtie, carkeys, coffee, cellphone, coughdrops, tissues.

I'm now in a holding pattern with that checklist. Hopefully I won't have to add anything else to it, or I'll have to get up even earlier just in order to have time to rattle off the list.

And I think The Checklist may be contagious. The other day when Madman was heading out the door, I heard him muttering "Glasses, watch, carkeys..."