Something I wish I had started doing much earlier in my career was writing about the things I was learning and building. I wasn't always big into blogging or anything like that...that motivation didn't come until much later. But I've always been happy to teach others. And while it's very rewarding to help someone 1:1 or in small groups...it's not exactly scalable. I can only have so much impact if I have to be directly involved. For a long time now, I wish I would have written more down as I learned it, built it, or taught it. By writing it down, I would have been able to post it somewhere to share with others, or reuse when teaching, which is much, much more scalable.
Not only does writing down your thoughts and lessons allow you teach others and share those lessons, but it also helps you to solidify that knowledge in your brain. When you teach something, you end up learning that thing much more thoroughly. So even if you never share any of it with another soul, it's still wildly beneficial to take the time to think through what you learned, and write it down for yourself...heck, you may find it good for your own reference later!
When I'm talking to young developers, I always try to recommend they take the time to write about what they're learning and building. What problems did they run into? How did they solve it? What things stood out them? When I suggest this, one of the most common questions I get is, "How to do I know what's worth writing about?" It's a good question, and it took me some time to figure out exactly what is worth taking the time to write about? But finally, the answer came to me... "If it's worth knowing, it's worth writing about."
I personally encourage people to share the things they learn and build through writing, or some other medium, because if there's some piece of information they need, it's most assuredly a piece of information someone else needs. And it's only by sharing our knowledge as a large group are we able to build on one another's thoughts and ideas to advance the technologies around us. Think about where the world would be if people like Leonardo Divinci or Albert Einstein had not written down the things they learned and shared that knowledge with the world.
And if reinforcing the knowledge in your brain, or helping others isn't enough of a reason, let me give you one more. As you progress in your career, you'll be expected at some point to share some amount of knowledge with others. Whether that's because you're training some junior developer, doing a talk at a conference, or providing insights to your company's leaders, being able to share the things you know effectively is a skill all of us will need to possess at some point. So by taking time to write down that knowledge, you're actually practicing that very important skill.
So whether you're just trying to reinforce information in your brain, storing your knowledge in some external place for later reference, trying to help or teach others, or practicing for the day you have to share knowledge as part of your career responsibilities, writing down the things you learn is a very valuable thing to do. And I promise, you will thank yourself later. So what are you waiting for?!
Top comments (18)
Do you have any examples of things you've written down? One of the biggest barriers to doing this sort of thing is "perfect is the enemy of done", so are you just taking rough notes, or do you rework your notes for publication?
@shawinnes I personally use a digital version of the Zettelkasten method for my note taking.
At first, I take short, fleeting notes about something (a piece of information, an idea, etc.). These fleeting notes are short, very rough, and wouldn't be useful for most anyone else if they were to read them. They contain just enough information for me not to forget that thing for a few hours.
Then later (every night before I go to bed) I review my slips, and rewrite them into permanent notes. I write these permanent notes as though I'm sharing the information with someone else, adding additional context and explanation to support that 1 thought, idea or piece of information. Sometimes that means the permanent note is only a couple sentences. Other times, I end up writing a page or two. These permanent notes get stored in my "slip-box".
Everyday (at least for a few minutes over breakfast) I pull random notes from my slip-box and review them. This helps to jog my memory of stuff I've learned in the past, and also to help me make connections to other thoughts, ideas, or pieces of information. I then link those notes together (hyperlinks). Over time, I find chains of connecting notes that all relate to each other. From there, it's just a matter of stitching them together and posting it somewhere to share with others (usually in a blog post).
This method has been working for me for a few years now, and if you're interested in learning more about it, How to Take Smart Notes is a fantastic book I highly encourage people to check out!
I hope this answers your question, but please let me know if it doesn't and I'd be happy to share more.
Wow, thanks for the detailed explanation - I've read about the Zettelkasten method but haven't applied it. Sounds like it's worth a try as I already do the first step of taking short notes each day in obsidian, so I just need to add a bit of house keeping to that to make them more useful.
Thanks so much!
Basically, the second brain approach?
yep, exactly 😁
I would go a step further and physically write it down - either on real paper, or a tablet/whatever. I've always considered this a better way to get stuff to stick in your head... and it appears to be backed up by science:
Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning | Scientific American
Engaging the fine motor system to produce letters by hand has positive effects on learning and memory
Very good point! Writing is my favorite way of learning. I've been blogging for almost as long as blogs exists, and now I'm writing a book on clean code for frontenders. I've learned a lot because of that. Also, it gave me a lot of language and writing practice, which is very helpful at work since English isn't my native language.
yup, I agree
I am writing for past 2/3 years online and now I've created this simple online writing platform like google doc for me the simple writing app as I've expecting for myself to write everyday whatever I want to write.
Give it shot - karyam.vercel.app/
Great reflection, Jake! I'm a CS beginner student and since I started to write about what I'm learning and even doing tutorials about Frontend Mentor projects I have done I feel a difference in my learning curve. Also, I love to stay at Welcome Thread encouraging all members from different levels to write about their experiences and learning journeys.
Most of the things I understand best are the things I took the time to try and publicly explain.
Start writing now—capture what you learn, solve, and teach. Sharing knowledge not only benefits others but also solidifies your own understanding and prepares you for future career demands. It's a valuable investment in yourself and the community around you.
I totally agree. I just started blogging last year. I could have started much earlier as I started learning development. But I guess it's never too late to start writing..
100% agree 😄
Fully agree! Writing down and teaching others help you gain more and more understanding.
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