Done. Done. Done. Missed.

Thursday night. 7:40 pm. Online class starts at 9 pm.

I was making dinner, half-watching a Zoom recording on my phone, while my son read his campaign speech aloud to me from the kitchen table for the position he was running for in school.

My mental checklist was running full speed:

Dinner - almost done.

Reply to message on Zoom - done.

Sign his permission slip before I forget - done.

He said, “Mom, listen to this part, it’s the best line.”

I said, “Mm-hmm, go on,” eyes still on my phone, thumb still typing.

He read the line. I have no idea what it said.

By the time I looked up, he’d already closed the folder and gone quiet.

I Didn’t Miss It Because I Was Busy

Work, school, family - everyone’s busy.

I missed it because I was checking boxes instead of checking in.

Here’s the behavioral trap:

Checklists are addictive because they give us a tiny hit of completion every time we tick one off.

Our brain rewards “done,” not “here.”

So we default to task-mode even in moments that were never meant to be tasks.

The fix wasn’t a bigger to-do list about “being present.”

It was smaller than that.

Now, when I catch myself mid-checklist in a moment that matters, I do one thing:

I put the item down. Literally.

Phone face-down. Laptop closed. Hands empty.

For just ten seconds.

Long enough for my brain to register:

“This isn’t a task; this is a moment.”

Ten seconds isn’t much.

But it’s usually enough to actually hear the best line.

Leadership and Life Reward the Same Instinct:

execution. Ship it. Close it. Tick it. Move on.

But some of the best moments with your team, your family, yourself, don’t want to be executed.

They want to be noticed.

I am not there yet, but I am aware and intentional about being present.

Where in your day is the checklist quietly stealing the moment?

BISOLA MOGAJI