Originally Posted by Andrew R Stewart

When I had my own shop I used the Barnett Institute system of service manuals. It broke down service/assembly jobs by sequence of steps in the order that won't have you repeating yourself. I would keep a copy of the common service jobs at the service write up counter for showing customers. One aspect of these guide sheets was the printed statements like: "this flat rate worksheet is based on component condition which don't hinder the work. Added time to deal with corroded and damaged beyond conventional removal parts, and unseen issues can result is a greater total labor cost."

Who is doing the service write ups? Is it that boss of someone else. The best way to not lose money on repairs is to have the estimate match the results. If the service writer isn't skilled or motivated enough to do the needed assessment in front of the customer and explain it then, that store will lose money on repairs. A good service writer knows their mechanics, their parts inventory, their cost per time unit and be able to estimate accordingly.

I admit to having some of the same problem, busy mind and slow production. I can say that after a while the mechanical process/steps got easier to remember although the cerebral side still takes effort to stay on focus.

Learn to do the right work the first time, nothing adds to the time spent and an unhappy boss than returns due to shoddy work.