I’m now a couple of weeks into writing a blog post every day. I started doing it sort of on a whim because I’ve wanted to write more often, and a forcing function of “something” every day at least drives me to do the behavior.

Writing out ideas helps me clarify and expand my thinking. For a number of years I’ve tried to keep a personal journal using an app, to varying degrees of success. I’ll go through periods of doing well, then fall off the wagon. My entries there have always had a more personal edge, like documenting things the kids are doing and family activities we do. I also keep a health journal there separately for medical- and exercise-related things. This venue I intend to be a place to “think out loud” and share things I’m working on in an open format.

I set myself a personal goal to see if I could post once per day for a month to start out. No other restrictions on what it could be, anything is fair game. I’m experimenting with some repeating varieties of content that might stick longer-term. Once a week or so I’d like to write something longer, more detailed, and related to thoughts or ideas. Occasionally I’ll mix in technical things, notes on books, and some links to things I’m finding interesting.

The process is proving fairly easy so far. I can spend 30 minutes writing something each evening before bed, and work on longer-form things little by little over time. If I can get through the first month successfully, then I’ll move the goalpost out to 3 months and see what happens. My overall aim is to convert writing from a project to a habit — something I just do as a general pattern. Success will be if I make it to each goal marker while still feeling motivated. As comfort level builds, I suspect it’ll not only get easier, but I’ll look forward to it every day.