December 28, 2025
Tada or To-Don't?
One year of keeping a tada list
A year of 'tada': Daily wins, burnout vibes, and an AI vs watercolor squabble
TLDR: A creator tracked daily 'tada' wins for a year, turning watercolor study and coding projects into proud milestones. Comments split: some praise the self-care, others warn it's burnout bait and prefer weekly wins, with one AI-era skeptic dismissing painting while fans cheer the art.
The internet fell for a twist on the to‑do list: a “tada list” where you log what you actually finished each day. The creator spent a year celebrating wins — months of watercolor studies became printed Minnesota cards, plus nerdy side projects like a typed Mustache‑style template and a growing Substack. They also noted the stress of chasing a daily “done” just to fill the box.
But the comments turned it into a vibe check. Strongest take: amelius threw AI‑era shade, calling watercolor more “pastime” than “challenge.” Art lovers clapped back with “Lovely paintings!” Big drama: daily entries vs sanity. andai pushed weekly or monthly boxes. rw_panic0_0 uses it to hush an “I’m not doing enough” inner critic. petesergeant found it rewarding… until it dropped off.
Humor popped too: readers joked about slapping “Achievement unlocked” stickers on the headers, turning the list into an IRL XP bar, and a “tada vs to‑do” cage match. The handwriting sliding into chaos became the burnout meme. The vibe? Celebrate small wins, but don’t let the list own you. Fans want the joy without the guilt.
Key Points
- •A “tada list” records daily accomplishments on monthly pages with end‑of‑month drawings summarizing activities.
- •The author used the list to connect outcomes to prior work, notably producing Minnesota-themed watercolor cards after pigment studies, value studies, and ~50 plein air paintings.
- •They created “tarsec” (a TypeScript parser combinator library) and “typestache” (a typed mustache-like templating language) and used them in personal projects.
- •Benefits include reinforcing a sense of progress and recognizing new capabilities gained through learning.
- •Drawbacks include pressure to log daily accomplishments, fatigue over a year, declining handwriting quality, and dropping monthly drawings; the list also helped recall forgotten projects.