My coworker Eric wrote a great article entitled Checklists for Creative Work.

Checklists have been used in aviation for over 70 years. The first one was created in response to a pilot error that brought down a Boeing Model 299. … the use of checklists proved it was simply too complex for one person’s memory.

I’d strongly encourage you to read the article. Programming, I have argued, is a creative process and Eric’s advice for use of checklists apply very well to developers.