On Sep 22, 8:22*pm, Dave J wrote:
I'm having an embarrassing problem. My brain seems to shut down lately
as soon as the key is out of the ignition. It's little things, like
leaving my kneeboard (with gas card) or charts in the airplane,
forgetting to completely tie down the aircraft, forgetting to properly
fill out club paperwork, etc.

Well, some things are an inconvenience and others are safety related,
and the latter is what needs the most attention. The checklist is
obvious, but, a broader measure would be to remember that you're
having the problem and to develop habits to mitigate it.

I have a similar problem which is that I forget something once in
awhile, and so I'm usually paranoid that I'm forgetting something so I
waste several minutes checking and rechecking the cockpit. I tell
myself it's better that than leaving the master switch on or
forgetting a tie-down. Here's an idea:

Organize your postflight and make it a routine. Your shutdown
checklist will be stuff like the master switch, avionics master,
radios, control lock, keys... Get out and tie down the plane for
safety. (Stretch legs.) Then do your paperwork; Hobbes, tach,
whatever. Check under and behind the seats as you exit and on the
dashboard, then do your postflight walkaround. You know you've tied
down the airplane and put the pitot sock on, but, you're also looking
for obvious stuff like missing fuel caps, low tires, oil leaks.

Finally, after you've done your walkaround, check the cockpit one last
time and make sure everything is secured and that you have all of your
stuff.

Always do it in that order: Panel checklist, tiedown, paperwork,
cockpit check, walkaround, cockpit. Make it a ritual.

If you're like me, you'll get to the gate and turn around again just
to make sure. :

-c
CFI, Troutdale, Oregon