Last year I wrote a post “Why I write: The Feynman technique of learning“. My primary goal of writing was to consolidate the learning I had and improve my communication skills. I’ve continued to write from then. But my reasons to write has changed over time.
So many great things have happened because of consistent writing. My vocabulary has improved, and I can communicate better.
But there is more to it.
Why I write now
I have multiple ADHD symptoms – and one of the most prominent is the racing thoughts I have all the time. It feels like the brain is always on and jumps from one idea to another without an end. And all this happens very fast; sometimes, I don’t even notice.
Writing helps me slow this down – it is meditative. There are a lot of thoughts going on inside my head at any given time. It slows the thoughts and helps me focus on specific thoughts at a time.
Organizing all the thoughts
I try to write every day. There is no fixed time, and whenever I notice I’m overthinking, I write it down. I use an app called Obsidian to write. Only a tiny part of it becomes public.
When I notice that I’m thinking about something interesting, I explore that more. I’ll revisit those ideas once in a while to see how my perspective has changed.
If I still find it interesting, I’ll spend more time thinking about it. I’ll try to talk to people who know more about this or do basic research. Once I develop the idea, I’ll convert that into a blog post, format it, clean it up, and publish it on the respective medium. I used to have a lot of resistance when publishing things. I was never sure it was good enough. That went away with time – well, kind of.
Think better
Writing helps me think better. Many times I’ll have new insights when I’m writing about something. I hypothesize that this happens since I think slowly and better when writing. It’s remarkable to see the brain making little connections between random ideas and experiences you have.
I have been writing about random topics and life experiences last year. I wish to channel my thoughts in specific directions this year. I’ll mostly want to write about the future of work, product management, and personal growth. And a different topic once in a while.
If you want to start writing and are unsure:
- Start today.
- Start by writing at least 10 mins every day.
- Don’t think about publishing it. Just write.
You’ll thank yourself later.
Memos by Sooraj 