This week I had a Year 10 work experience student with me observing urology consultations and operations. He observed me doing various endoscopic, open and robotic surgeries. One of the procedures involves removing the prostate with a robotic device called the da Vinci. Before the operation I wrote down all the steps of the surgery so that he could follow the operation. On completion of each step I would ask him, “ok, what’s the next step” and he would read it out!

I highlighted to him the importance of “systems, checklists and gameplan” that is applicable across many disciplines and not just in complex surgery. The entire surgical mentoring and training is based on developing a gameplan that you know is reliable and reproducible with predicable good results, accepting the fact that the body is not mechanical and that there are factors outside our control required for healing. For me, when I do surgery, I stick to the same gameplan almost to the letter every single time. Of course we have to be flexible because every human being has subtle anatomical variations that have to be taken into account.

The same applies to health. It is worth writing down a checklist or gameplan that is unique for you to help you stay in good health. These should be the “not-negotiable” items that have to be ticked off every day and every week. General categories include: diet, exercise, meditation, hobbies, family and friends time, community or social service. You can fill in the specifics as required so that you have a unique health checklist that runs from morning till night. e.g. wake up by 5am, brush teeth, 250 ml glass of warm water with lemon juice, stretching/ yoga, shower, meditation, breakfast porridge with oat bran, multivitamin, etc, etc etc till the end of the day. You develop yours.

You can type this up, make several copies, get them laminated and keep them in a prominent place that you see during the day. But don’t stress about the checklist though. There’s no need to be so obsessive that you can’t grant yourself a cookie or some cake at staff morning tea or at a birthday party! Give yourself flexibility to enjoy life whilst looking after your health.

Especially during these cold winter months, a checklist helps keep you on track.

Go for it!

In Health and Wellness

Ranjit