Douglas Johnston has been developing a taxonomy of different archetypes of people who are constantly playing with their productivity systems: Tinkers, Tailors, Soldiers and Spies. It was immediately obvious to me which I was–like Douglas, I am a Tinker. To quote him:

• “The Tinker is the consumate tweaker for tweaking’s sake.” Oh, that’s me all right.
• “…modify existing setups (even if they already work fine)”. Check.
• “Tinkers are far less concerned about using the system than the idea of creating it…”. Check.
• “Fascinated by planners, bags and utensils with multiple uses, hidden compartments…”. Oh my, yes.
• “…the Tinker might also carry a Swiss Army Knife, Leatherman…” Check!

Hey, has he been going through the hidden compartments in my multi-purpose bag?