Mark1234 (and others)
In posts 10 and 11 the point was made that check lists are not action lists or a set of procedures to be followed. A checklist is simply list that checks that specific actions or procedures have been accomplished.
The items that need to be accomplished should be done from memory (like gear up after take off being an obvious example). In actual fact these are procedures. The sole purpose of a checklist is to check that the procedures have been accomplished.
If, as many here do, one flies a non complex type, the necessary procedures are limited in number, and are easily memorised. It follows therefore that any checklist will include only a few items to "tick off." So what is the big deal in using something that checks you have not missed anything?
Pilot DAR makes a very good point. If you do not have time to accomplish a checklist because "things are getting busy," then you have obviously let the airplane get way ahead of you. Certainly one should choose an appropriate time to make use of the checklist, but being too busy is an indication that one's mental capacity has preculded advance planning.
The type I currently fly has an extensive checklist which I have committed to memory, but I still make use of a checklist and would never contemplate not using it. In a previous job flying single crew jet ops I always managed to accomplish ALL checklists, even if the weather was down to minimums, in a howling gale and while often trying to rid the airframe of ice. It is at times such as this that it is essential to find time to make use of a checklist, so ignore it at your peril.