When I am out shooting, there aren't set rules that I follow as every scenario will be different; indoors or outdoors, subjects will vary and so will the kit you choose to use. I do however make sure I correctly set the following:
- White balance/colour temperature.
- The image is level with the horizon line (more so for landscape, unless artistically intended).
- Sound being recorded with a mic, and that it is ON, with the sound level set appropriate to the environment.
- Shutter speed set to 1/50th (on DSLR).
- The shot must show me something new, with framing and composition telling the next part of the story.
- Am I using an appropriate aperture?
The last one about 'appropriate aperture' is more due to the variety of shots you want to capture. For example: intimate portrait with a wide aperture (F/2.8) vs large landscape with narrow aperture (F/16). Yes, shooting as wide as possible (T/1.5 is the widest I can shoot) produces incredible bokeh, extremely shallow depth of field for intimacy and can keep you shooting in darker scenarios.. But it can also produce softening at the edges (lens dependent), and may not fit the subject; a row of trees, a crowd of ravers. On the other hand, shooting with a deep depth of field (F/11 +) of a babies fingers or the dew on a spiders web does not isolate the subject, makes the image darker and sometimes produces vignetting (lens dependent).
My point being: It is subjective. There is no right answer. Find the right aperture to expose the shot as you wish, using the depth of field to move the viewers attention through the frame.
To summarize, by checking those above points, you'll save a lot of time and work later!