Are we hardwired to list?

Sometimes I wonder whether it's a largely American (or American and European) phenomenon to live and die by a list. So I found it curious and fun to stumble upon this piece written by a Turkish woman in an English-language newspaper the Zaman struggling with being a lister in a non-listing culture, "Does Your To-Do List Get You Down?" She writes:

I think some cultures make more use of this method of organization than others. Part of this could be because certain nationalities are known for being more organized than others. It’s unfair to generalize because within any culture there people who are and those who aren’t. I bet if you ask people from any culture who are “go-getters” if they make a to-do list, they would say, “Definitely!" . . . I don’t think I have seen too many people buying a to-do list pad here in Turkey.

What do you think? Are to-do lists are an American (or Western) phenom, or are they global in reach?