173: Improving Software Design

From zero to 5k words writing per day and improving software design skills

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Off Topic: From Writing Sprints to Marathons

Many writers like to measure their productivity in words per hour, and one way to do this is through writing sprints. These sprints are when you set a specific amount of time to write as much as possible. Micro sprints are a helpful tool to measure progress in smaller increments. To calculate your words per hour during a micro sprint, multiply the number of minutes in the sprint by 12. This method helps you understand your writing process in different situations, even when you may not be at your best. Create an outline to incorporate new notes related to the content. With the review plugin in Obsidian, I can mark a note as reviewed on the date it's done. This can help automate the process of creating a newsletter. But I need to identify what to share first.

The Daily Note is a great way to link insights into the Zettelkasten. I switch between different writing strategies but need a way to measure my progress. I plan on asking questions about the process, focusing on the output's time, quality, and quantity. 

Have you heard of a Writing Sprint? Well, there is also a similar concept called a Writing Marathon. Depending on the duration, there are different types of sprints for writing. But, the marathon should focus on the output. I won't prescribe a specific word count to complete, but at least double the word count from the previous day. Are you tracking your words per writing project? If so, there are two different ways to approach a marathon: doubling the last day's word count or focusing on writing 10k words. 

While the latter approach is more straightforward, it involves measuring word counts. If you measure your output daily, this method will work for you. Yet, most writers have excellent time management skills to understand their output relative to time. If that's not the case, the alternative is to focus on a specific word count. Some suggest 5k words a day, while others offer more. The 10k count is arbitrary, and there's nothing special about it. 

Although daunting, writing 10k words in a day is a goal worth pursuing. Daily note-making and expanding writing projects are the best approach to achieve this. With intense focus, you can gain more insight by making sense of the notes you already have. Expanding writing projects also helps develop content, understanding, and practice. Writing 2k words around a specific topic can be exhausting, so growing writing projects may be more complex. A Writing Marathon is a great way to challenge yourself and achieve your writing goals. If you can reach the 10k mark, you can publish a book monthly!

Sharing your thoughts and ideas with others online can expand your horizons and help you gain knowledge. Creating content gives others access to your expertise without wasting their time.

[^]: 5,000 Words Per Hour: Write Faster, Write Smarter

[^]: 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love

Current Work: Improving Software Design

When designing software, it's essential to listen to feedback. Friction is an excellent indicator that improvements need to be made. If a design is causing difficulties for the development team, it's trying to tell you something important is missing. There are many signs that a design may need to be more flexible, but the most practical and obvious is the difficulty of testing an object. This is often a sign of coupling. It's essential to remain open to design insights during the coding process. The interaction between developers and the Code can help simplify the system.

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