The Importance Of Writing

1 min read

Since I started this blog, I’ve realized the importance of writing. Engineers more senior than me have noted that writing is:

  1. The most effective asynchronous communication. You can read on any device, skim to what you want, highlight things, copy and paste into other mediums, etc.
  2. Excellent for self reflection. Anyone can come back to this and review it later to see how the person or topic has progressed.
  3. Easily modified with new info. Video has to be recorded, edited, and spliced in. This could cause a choppy viewer/listener experience.

People think that you have to spend a tremendous amount of time writing. I only write when I have something to write about.

As I write this, I’m staring at 20 minute pomodoro clock on my desk that says 12:49 seconds remaining. I wrote a paragraph for a different post before writing for this post. I jump around as my thoughts jump around. I have at least 5 red squiggly lines right now.

Once my thoughts or the pomodoro is done (whichever comes first), I’ll re-read and edit this for about 10 minutes then I’ll hit the “publish” button on whatever platform I’m using.

20-60 minutes per week. That’s it. No fuss. This is sustainable for me.

Anyone who reads this in the future is going to spend a fraction of the time reading it so why waste more time for less benefit? Consider this for everything you work on.

Written on November 28, 2022

The opinions expressed here are my own and do not reflect any individual or organization from my past or present.

Subscribe

My newsletter will inspire you and boost your software engineering skills - subscribe now!