Write every day
mlafeldt.github.io
Write every day
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Re: Write every day
#2Writing doesn't just make you a better thinker. It turns you into a different person. Writing daily turns you into a different person daily.
The most interesting result of writing daily is you start to have different kinds of thoughts. You start to pay attention to things you didn't consciously think of before, come to conclusions, and that habit changes what you think of from thereon.
The most surprising result is this way of thinking subconsciously becomes second nature within a year. It doesn't feel like trying.
edit: rewriting
Re: Write every day
#3This reminds me about an idea I had but never really followed: For all you writers out there, do you think a device with an e-ink display and a normal keyboard, similar to a laptop, but designed for the sole purpose of distraction free writing, is something consumers might want?
I always wondered why this does not exist.
Re: Write every day
#4Heinrich von Kleist wrote some 300 years ago an excellent essay titled The Expansion of Thought whilst Speaking [1]. Recommended read. Having to communicate with an external entity expands ones own understanding in ways that they could not with internal thought alone.
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_von_Kleist#On_the_Gra...
Re: Write every day
#5This reminds me about an idea I had but never really followed: For all you writers out there, do you think a device with an e-ink display and a normal keyboard, similar to a laptop, but designed for the sole purpose of distraction free writing, is something consumers might want? I always wondered why this does not exist.
This is something I really want, not for distraction-free writing, but to go in my backyard. I would love to get an SSH terminal in the sun.
Re: Write every day
#6This reminds me about an idea I had but never really followed: For all you writers out there, do you think a device with an e-ink display and a normal keyboard, similar to a laptop, but designed for the sole purpose of distraction free writing, is something consumers might want? I always wondered why this does not exist.
There was a discussion about e-ink displays the other day that you may find interesting: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8327281
Re: Write every day
#7This reminds me about an idea I had but never really followed: For all you writers out there, do you think a device with an e-ink display and a normal keyboard, similar to a laptop, but designed for the sole purpose of distraction free writing, is something consumers might want? I always wondered why this does not exist.
I would not think so. You would require facilities to review, capture comments, version control etc. A normal laptop would be more appropriate. Also, the market for readers are huge as compared to that of writers.
Re: Write every day
#8I would recommend not to concentrate on quality too much. Just hire corrector to do final polishing. Be being perfectionist one can easily build anxiety and procrastination.
I write daily as well. I have personal wiki I use for planning, diary and keeping notes. Right now it has about 1 MB of text and 50 MB images. I use ZIM, they have some nice workflows: http://zim-wiki.org/manual/Usage/Getting_Things_Done.html
Over time it kind of grows. My main project TODO list has 1500 items. I even have check list for packing luggage :-)
Re: Write every day
#9It makes a lot of sense. I like to write documentation (!) but only once I have the publication flow setup. The knowledge that "someone" will be readin my docs makes me a but more explicit and more "explain-carefully"
Luckily this means the next time I come back to it amazingly that person who benefits is me.
But yes - write docs every day, write summaries of your docs every day, write summaries of the summaries every day. Eventually you have a decent body of work to draw on.
(This is basis of 1000 words a day meme as well)
Re: Write every day
#10> I truly believe that getting into the habit of writing consistently was one of the best decisions I’ve made this year. This post explores the reasons why I care about writing and keep doing it every day. I hope it inspires you to write (more) too.
I agree!
I've written every day on my blog since January 2011, nearly 1,600 posts. Technically, I post every day, so during my trips to North Korea I wrote and scheduled two weeks of posts before going, for example. The benefits are huge -- beyond thinking differently and more discipline, finding clients and developing new ideas, which have led to the classes and seminars I lead, etc.
I've also done burpees every day since December 2011, passing 1,000 days without missing any. I started at ten per day and worked up to two sets of twenty-five per day and find myself as fit at 43 as when I competed in Ultimate Frisbee at Nationals over a decade ago.
Writing and burpees are great, but nearly any daily challenging activity you choose to do will bring great benefits. I call such activities SIDCHAs, for self-imposed daily challenging healthy activities -- http://joshuaspodek.com/js_blogseries/self-imposed-daily-cha.... Most of what the author wrote about writing applies to other SIDCHAs in their way.
Meditation, yoga, lifting weights, practicing social skills, writing ten business ideas per day, cooking a fantastic meal per day, taking cold showers (which I also do, though every fourth day now, after doing thirty days straight of them), and so on all qualify in different ways.
Your habits define major parts of you, all the more the daily challenging ones, as does their lack. SIDCHAs train you in discipline and dedication that you end up applying everywhere else.
Words I live by: "If you miss one day you can miss two. If you miss two, it's all over." -- http://joshuaspodek.com/archives.