Tony:

That was my point exactly! My normal routine of setting up and wondering what to look at had grown stale. I found I was always looking at the same objects each season, and not pushing myself to see more of what's out there. With a list, I can plan my sessions and increase my understanding of structure, quality, intensity, etc. It has also forced me to take more careful notes so that I can go back and compare objects from night to night and year to year. Plus, I would probably never have bothered to look at some of the less well-known Messier's. So having a target list for the evening (and an overall list to track things I've seen / not seen) has literally opened up the heavens for me. I've even got some obscure things on my list for my next session and the motivation to find them has me chomping at the bit to get out and observe some more.

Brandon