Adam Savage on Lists, More Lists, and the Power of Checkboxes

When I was younger, if you’d told me to make a to-do list before I embarked on a project, I’d have rejected the idea out of hand. Every day from that day forward, I would make a new daily list of goals complete with checkboxes, while at the same time keeping an eye on how that day’s goals fit into the bigger picture. I’d make that day’s list of goals by looking at yesterday’s list, and transferring only the unstarted or partially completed items to today’s list. I’d come into the shop in the morning, ready to set myself to the task of creating that day’s to-do list, only to find “uncompleted” items added to the previous day’s list: “Buy Mike Lynch lunch”; “Give Brian G $10.” Har har.