CutDone ✂

Methodology

How we write these checklists

The honest version, not a vague "our editorial team" statement.

CutDone is a one-person project — me, Tim Jia (see About). There's no editorial team. I think it's more useful to tell you exactly how the checklist library gets made than to pretend otherwise, so here's the actual process.

1. Every checklist starts from a real pattern, not a random topic

I don't pick a keyword and reverse-engineer a checklist to match it. Each one starts from an actual behavior pattern — something that works because of how habits, attention, or motivation actually function (building a task from the smallest first step, giving a vague goal a concrete finish line, sequencing effort from easy to hard). If I can't explain why the order of steps matters, I don't publish it.

2. I draft with AI assistance, then rewrite what doesn't hold up

Writing 5-8 specific, non-generic steps for hundreds of checklists by hand, from scratch, isn't realistic for one person — so I use AI models to produce first drafts quickly. What I don't do is publish those drafts unedited. Every checklist gets reviewed and rewritten where it reads generic, repeats the same sentence structure, or gives advice that sounds fine but nobody would actually follow. If a step wouldn't survive me trying it myself, I cut it.

3. What "good" means here

  • Every step is a specific, visible action — not "exercise more" or "eat healthy."
  • No invented statistics, no invented studies, no invented named experts.
  • Steps are ordered for a reason (easy-to-hard, or a sequence that has to happen in that order), not just numbered for the sake of it.
  • If a topic needs a real citation (health, money, safety), I link to an actual source or I don't make the claim.

4. This is a living library, not a one-time export

Checklists get updated when I find a better way to phrase a step, when a reader points out something that doesn't work, or when I notice one reads worse than the rest. There's no fixed "final" version — you're welcome to edit any checklist yourself in the Designer before you print it anyway.

Found something off?

If a checklist gives bad advice, repeats itself, or just reads like filler, I'd genuinely rather know. Tell me which one and I'll fix or remove it.

Last updated: September 2026.