Tis the season to start working on that naughty and nice list! One of the best things you can do to take some cognitive load off your brain is to use lists. I had an interesting experience with lists this weekend while preparing for a competition. Let me share it with you!
I have a detailed list of all items I need to prepare in advance of leaving for a competition. Having a list is the first part of the equation. Actually using it is the second part! This weekend, I arrived at the competition site ready to go! I began to unpack all the requisite items from my truck. To my dismay, I realized I had forgotten my shooting glasses! Shooting glasses perform two functions – 1) they provide eye protection, and 2) they help to see the targets – a vital component of any eye / hand coordination sport! In my case, my shooting glasses are single vision only to enhance seeing the target at distance while minimizing the ability to see the gun clearly. In contrast, my daily wear glasses are progressives which allow seeing both up close and at distance by rotating the head up and down. This is not a desirable characteristic for shotgunning where you want hard focus on the target with minimal awareness of the gun barrel.
How could that happen? They are always packed in my shell pouch. As it turns out, I needed to refill a bottle of lube I also keep in my shell pouch, which required removing the glasses so I could locate the lube. I failed to return them to their normal position. When I went thru my checklist, I assumed that the glasses were in my shell pouch without actually checking physically / visually to verify.
As it tuned out, I was able to use the “reset button” I mentioned in a previous post to prevent my oversite from stressing me out, and actually shot fairly well in the day’s events using substitute glasses without the usual distance-vision-only correction. However, the lesson was learned! Do not make assumptions about the items on your list. Verify them and keep your brain cool and organized!