This:
The trouble with the long winded checklists is that instructors use it as a learning aid rather than a list of things to check they've been done.
Is a very good point.
Following a checklist mindlessly is like following a GPS. If you don't realise what you are doing you will not be able to do it without the paper at any time. If you blindly follow a GPS, you will neither know where you've been, what you flew next to, nor recognise it next time you fly there or thereabouts...
It's a checklist, not an actionlist.
BTW - this is a drift from the OP, but it strikes me as a useful drift and worth pointing out
B.