The 4 Reasons Why I Started Writing And Why You Should Start Too
Like many other people, the only writing I used to do was confined to Facebook posts, blog comments, and tweets.
I no longer use those social media sites, but I am writing more than ever. I write daily but not because it is a specific job requirement. I want to share the 4 reasons why I started writing three years ago and why you should start too.
1) Better Communication
Are you a good communicator?
Good communication is a skill that can be learned and improved. There are different ways and levels of communicating with others. When we speak, we share our thoughts, ideas, and feelings, and we do that “on the fly” without previous preparation — we talk, or at least we used to.
Nowadays, things are a little more complex. Through the internet, you don’t just talk to the people next to you but communicate with others across the globe. You text your friends and family, message your co-workers, send them emails, write code or create team documentation/ guides because you work remotely or in a hybrid of home and office.
Writing helps you organize and make sense of your on-the-fly thoughts and ideas. It adds a visual element to your thoughts because you see what you are writing, and you create a picture with words.
By writing down my thoughts, I automatically analyze my ideas and build them into something clearer. If my thoughts are clear to me, there is a better chance that other people will also understand them. This is the definition of good communication — the clear, unambiguous exchange of thoughts and ideas.
2) Storing and Retrieving Information
Fact: The brain is not designed to store information.
Studies claim that the brain’s storage is not more than an 8GB USB*
The brain’s main job is to process information, create a sense of things, and retrieve information. It’s not a very effective storage device. Can you imagine storing everything you’ve done in your life on one hard drive? It would need to be huge!
The brain is very effective at retrieving information and data hidden somewhere in our conscious mind. That’s why we remember a whole story just by looking at a photo or an old t-shirt that reminds us of a specific moment.
Knowing that the brain is not very good at storing information, you need to find an external system, a computer, a calendar, a notebook, or write a blog to store and quickly access any information and avoid losing it. This is how you remember your shopping list, friends’ birthdays, and notes from your favorite books.
3) Taking Notes
We all do that, don’t we?
In today’s world, we process so much information daily. And when we connect to the internet, we have access to an overwhelming amount of data every minute.
Taking good notes is a skill that everyone should master. You are the writer of your own life, and the notes you take will record the knowledge and the learnings you captured through your years at school, university, work, and life.
Imagine that knowledge recorded and stored somewhere for you and ready to be retrieved at any time; That’s why I started managernotes.com to help capture my knowledge and share it with others.
One of my favorite books on this topic is “How To Take Smart Notes*” by Sönke Ahrens**
4) Sharing Knowledge
The best way to learn something is to teach it.
One of the most remarkable features of the internet is that it allows us to connect to people worldwide and exchange information and knowledge. It’s like creating a global bank of knowledge where you can quickly learn something new every day from different people from different locations that you would never normally interact with.
When you write on the internet, you are speaking to the world. This access to the world via the internet allows you to share your ideas and experiences. You can do this more effectively if you write well — the better you write, the more likely people will be interested in what you have to say.
If you need help figuring out where to start, ask yourself what knowledge you wish you had 3 or 4 years ago. That’s the knowledge someone else is searching for today, and that is where you can start.
Those are the four reasons that made me invest in writing. I’ve created a space to give myself time to write every day. I’ve joined groups to learn from others and keep practicing with every new post, tweet, message, newsletter, or email I write every day.
I hope this motivates you to start making time for yourself to write well, and please share your writing in the comments below. I would love to read them :)
