You’ve been trying for years to perfect your recipe for old-fashioned boiled fudge. A little pinch of this, a little drop of that … Eureka! This year you’ve finally managed it! Fudge just like great-grandma used to make. So of course, you’ll trust yourself to remember the recipe, right?

Of course, not. You’ll record the recipe and keep it in your recipe file. But why don’t we have the good sense to use the same approach with the other processes and formulas we perfect?

It’s not that difficult or time-consuming to put up my outdoor decorations each holiday season. What’s difficult and time-consuming is figuring out how to connect all the cords in sequence to the timers so everything lights up together. This year I finally used permanent markers to label the cords as I went and created a diagram that should knock at least an hour off the job.

Next time you’re tackling a difficult chore, have pen and paper or laptop handy to record each step you take. You’ll be surprised how much easier tasks become when you don’t have to try to remember how they’re done.