Good habits are just as important as a checklist as you tend to carry them out without thinking about it. For example, I wobble the cyclic in a small "X" pattern before I pull pitch in any machine to check for free & easy movement, & the result is I have never taken off with the hydraulics off or the frictions on. I don't even realise I'm doing it most of the time, it just happens. Unfortunately habits take time to develop into subconscious actions, so the use of a checklist is critical to the development of habits. I agree that pulling out the hard copy checklist & working through it can be unsettling for some passengers which is why learning a pattern for your checks & practicing it until it becomes habit is so important. I don't use a hard copy in day to day operations, but I do pull it out occassionally when I'm on my own & work through it just to make sure that I haven't forgotten anything while developing my habitual checks.
The other option is to crash a machine because the hydraulics were switched off, I guarantee you'll remember to check them next time!!
There are no new ways to crash a helicopter, we just keep repeating the same mistakes others have made before us.