Why Checklists Are Great For Brain Health, From Neurologists

Technically, it's not the actual listing that is so outstanding for brain health – it isolates your tasks from start to finish and physically (or mentally) reviews them. You see, the Sherzai aren't big fans of multitasking: “We say there is no multitasking; It does several things badly, "says Dean. Attention and cognitive decline are closely related (your alertness decreases as you age, of course), and when you multitask your attention is further compromised, creating a perfect storm for cognitive decline .

Research has also found that unfinished goals can lead to intrusive thoughts on unrelated tasks. If participants couldn't complete a warm-up activity, they did worse on an unrelated brainstorming task. That said, if you leave a task unfinished, it can continue to spin around in your head and affect the quality of your other work.

Therefore, says Dean, it is important "to break every activity into its own silos and (carry out) every action from start to finish". A way to hold your individual tasks accountable? A practical checklist.

Dean notes that ticking off a task once it's done is an incredible boost of dopamine for your brain. Whenever you achieve a goal, no matter how small, your brain rewards you with a pleasant dash of dopamine. In other words, there's a reason a little tick on your to-do lists makes you so happy. "Your joy, your happiness over time, even your depression scale – all of these are influenced by these check-offs," says Dean.

And to come full circle, some research has also found a link between healthy dopamine levels and sustained alertness. So not only can sticking to the checklist itself help you increase focus, but ticking off each task can have cognitive benefits as well.