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Deliberate Mistake Logs

sort before you fix

A plain mistake log asks what went wrong. A deliberate one asks what kind of wrong, because the kinds need different fixes. Pressing the wrong button calls for a different setup. Forgetting a step calls for a reminder at the moment. Getting the plan wrong calls for learning something. And what went right goes in too, with the reason it worked.

  • Moderate to start
  • High impact
  • Learn it in 2-4 weeks
  • One question per entry
a month, sorted
A pigeonhole rack with four slots, slip, lapse, mistake and went right, holding a month of sorted entries and the fix that fits each slot Slip (right plan, wrong move): 2, including replied all, not just Sam; salt in my tea. Fix: change the setup. Lapse (a step left out): 5, including quote, no attachment; oven left on; missed the 3pm call. Fix: a cue at the moment. Mistake (did as planned; plan wrong): 1, including paid the old tax rate. Fix: learn the rule, or ask. Went right (worth keeping): 3, including talk landed: rehearsed; caught the typo: read aloud; on time: packed the night before. Fix: write down why. The lapse slot is fullest, 5 of 8 misses, so this month's change is a cue at the moment, such as a checklist, rather than more study. Slip right plan, wrong move 2 replied all, not just Sam salt in my tea fix change the setup Lapse a step left out 5 quote, no attachment oven left on missed the 3pm call + 2 more fix a cue at the moment Mistake did as planned; plan wrong 1 paid the old tax rate fix learn the rule, or ask Went right worth keeping 3 talk landed: rehearsed caught the typo: read aloud on time: packed the night before fix write down why Month's end 5 of 8 misses were steps left out. More effort won't stop those; a checklist at the moment will. And 3 wins, each with its reason kept.

The counts are a made-up month. Yours will fill a different slot, and that's the point: the fullest one tells you which kind of fix to reach for.

This week

Try it now.

Keep the three lines from a simple log: what happened, why, next time. Add one question before the "next time" line, and log the good days too.

  1. Log misses and wins

    The same day, a line or two each. A near miss counts as a miss; a save counts as a win.

  2. Ask: did I do what I meant to?

    No, and I did the wrong thing: a slip. No, and I left something out: a lapse. Yes, and it still went wrong: the plan was the problem, a mistake.

  3. Match the fix to the kind

    Slips: change the setup so the wrong move is harder. Lapses: put a cue where the step happens. Mistakes: learn the rule, ask someone, or test the plan small first.

    "Be more careful" fits none of them.

  4. For a win, write down why

    What did you decide that made it work? A win with no reason attached can't be repeated on purpose.

  5. Count the slots at month's end

    The fullest slot is the kind of help you need. One fix for that slot, tried for a month.

Torn between two slots? Pick the one whose fix you'd actually try. The sorting only matters because it picks the fix.

Sort a few of your own

Which slot does it go in?

Type what happened, answer a question or two, and it lands in a slot with the kind of fix that fits. Sort a handful from the last week or two, wins included, and see which slot fills up.

How did it go?

Slip 0

fix: change the setup

    Lapse 0

    fix: a cue at the moment

      Mistake 0

      fix: learn the rule, or ask

        Went right 0

        fix: write down why

          Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere. Copy the rack into your own notes before you close this one.

          What the study found

          Reviewing the wins helped too.

          In 2005 Shmuel Ellis and Inbar Davidi followed soldiers in basic training through four days of navigation exercises. After each one, every soldier had a one-to-one review of about a quarter of an hour. One company's reviews covered only what had gone wrong. The other company's covered what went wrong and what went right, and the decisions behind both.

          Both groups got better from day to day. The group that also picked apart its successes improved more steeply, even though the exercises got harder each day, and the reviews took the same time. Their picture of why things went right got richer too, which is what you'd want to keep.

          The honest limits: 98 young men, one company per condition rather than each soldier assigned at random, and a modest effect. We take the direction, not a size: log the wins with their reasons, alongside the misses.

          Failures only

          one company's review

          1. What went wrong today?
          2. Why did it go wrong?
          3. Three things to improve.
          Improved over the days.

          Failures and successes

          the other company's review

          1. What went wrong, and what went right?
          2. What decisions led to each?
          3. Three things to improve, or keep as they are.
          Improved more steeply over the same days.

          The idea

          Why sorting matters.

          The three kinds come from the psychologist James Reason, who spent a career on why careful people still get things wrong. Slips and lapses happen while you're doing something you already know how to do; your attention was elsewhere for a moment. A mistake happens earlier, when you choose the plan, and no amount of attention fixes a plan that was wrong to begin with.

          So the fixes differ. Attention errors yield to a better setup and a cue at the right moment. Planning errors yield to knowing more, or to asking. Mix them up and you study harder for a problem that a sticky note would have solved.

          Keep it useful

          Habits that help.

          • Sort, don't grade. A slip isn't smaller than a mistake. It's a different job.
          • Log the saves. The typo you caught tells you which check is working.
          • One slot a month. Work on the fullest one and leave the rest.
          • Watch the slot empty. If next month's count drops, the fix worked. If not, try another.

          Go deeper

          Keep going.

          Practise this in HourLife.

          In Journal: Guided templates. One page per day, written a note at a time, with guided templates, photos, tags, search, a cover and writing insights.

          Download on the App Store Download on the Mac App Store How Journal works in HourLife