Those of us who make to-do lists typically have boring things on them like “go grocery shopping” and “pick up the dry cleaning.” That’s why it’s interesting to contrast that with the to-do list of a genius like Leonardo da Vinci!

Historian and author Toby Lester explained that da Vinci kept a to-do list during his lifetime, and it shows just how insatiable he was when it came to learning. Lester is the author of the book, “Da Vinci’s Ghost: Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image,” in which he explains that da Vinci would carry a notebook with him wherever he went. Whenever he would get inspired or see something that interested him, da Vinci would open the little book to sketch and scribble down his thoughts.

One of the entries in the book from 1490 is a to-do list that gives us new insight into da Vinci’s brilliant mind. Here are some of the ‘chores’ that da Vinci put on his to-do list:

-[Calculate] the measurement of Milan and Suburbs
-[Discover] the measurement of the castello (the duke’s palace itself)
-Get the master of arithmetic to show you how to square a triangle.
-Get Messer Fazio (a professor of medicine and law in Pavia) to show you about proportion.
-Get the Brera Friar (at the Benedictine Monastery to Milan) to show you De Ponderibus (a medieval text on mechanics)
-Draw Milan
-Ask Maestro Antonio how mortars are positioned on bastions by day or night.
-[Examine] the Crossbow of Mastro Giannetto
-Find a master of hydraulics and get him to tell you how to repair a lock, canal and mill in the Lombard manner
-[Ask about] the measurement of the sun promised me by Maestro Giovanni Francese

Wow, that certainly puts any of my to-do lists to shame!

His list serves as an inspiration to all of us that we should continue to look for knowledge and inspiration wherever we go!