Capture the boundary at the moment work stops
Write the job name, current stage, inspected sources, latest artifact, completed decisions, unresolved questions, and next permitted action. Add the time and the role responsible for resuming.
Do not label a draft final because processing stopped. Do not repeat source selection when the selected notes and their reasons remain current. Resume at the first incomplete decision.
Pause the synthetic job after the first brief
Pause the fixed workshop job after its first brief. The checkpoint points to the source note and the draft containing “Saturday sessions are available.” It states that review is next and that correction and export remain incomplete.
When work resumes, review finds no schedule support. The next state points to the finding and requests removal. The final checkpoint names the corrected brief and keeps schedule and price unknown.
No step relies on remembering what a chat window once contained. Each resume decision begins with the owned artifacts and recorded next action.
Make stale state obvious
A checkpoint should name any source date or assumption that could expire. If the source set changes, reopen the relevant decision instead of continuing from a state that no longer describes the job.
This method works for jobs with clear stages and durable artifacts. It is a poor fit for pretending that an unresolved audience, source conflict, or missing decision can be skipped.