Your customer/employer not only doesn't care how the product is made, they don't want to know: They are hiring you to abstract away the detailed steps involved in making the product. [1]
They don't want to babysit you, or live your life alongside you. They don't want to understand every little thing you do. That is the very opposite of what they want. They want you to deliver something valuable with as little fanfare as necessary, to the point that they might pay extra to be able to download your work product without even speaking to you.
And they really don't want to hire someone who seems to be expecting to be micromanaged, and who is therefore more obsessed with presenting the process than presenting the results. Your todo list should not look more polished than your products.
If someone asks to know what you're up to… you tell them? Using sentences? Probably as few of them as possible, unless you're having the conversation over beer? If they don't find your claims credible… you offer them references?
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[1] Okay, there is a (considerably smaller) market for artisanal products where part of the deliverable is a lovingly detailed description of how the product was made. But those who buy artisanal products won't settle for a mere checklist. They want personality. They want lovingly described blog-style updates with coffee-table-quality photos. Or they want a minute-by-minute first-person account on Twitter.
I fully understand the thrust of what you're saying, but feel like it's reading a lot into my thoughts that I certainly don't intend. It's a bit smarmy too.
Still, abstract from what I actually said or meant it's an educational perspective and I genuinely thank you for it.
They don't want to babysit you, or live your life alongside you. They don't want to understand every little thing you do. That is the very opposite of what they want. They want you to deliver something valuable with as little fanfare as necessary, to the point that they might pay extra to be able to download your work product without even speaking to you.
And they really don't want to hire someone who seems to be expecting to be micromanaged, and who is therefore more obsessed with presenting the process than presenting the results. Your todo list should not look more polished than your products.
If someone asks to know what you're up to… you tell them? Using sentences? Probably as few of them as possible, unless you're having the conversation over beer? If they don't find your claims credible… you offer them references?
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[1] Okay, there is a (considerably smaller) market for artisanal products where part of the deliverable is a lovingly detailed description of how the product was made. But those who buy artisanal products won't settle for a mere checklist. They want personality. They want lovingly described blog-style updates with coffee-table-quality photos. Or they want a minute-by-minute first-person account on Twitter.