Just Write.

I can’t remember when I truly realized the power of writing. But as far as I remember, I’ve been trying to use writing as a tool for putting order to the chaos in my mind since high school.

Currently, I have a diary with about 325 pages—assuming each page consists of 500 words. (And there’s probably at least an equal amount other writings I wrote for different purposes but deleted in the end.) The first entry dates back to 2017, meaning I’ve been writing regularly for around 8 years. That’s a lot of time, but I don’t regret a single moment. Because I know for sure that the positive impact writing has had on my mind far outweighs the effort.

Whenever I face a problem that requires tough decision-making, I typically open a new entry in my diary and start typing whatever comes to mind. After flushing out whatever is in my mind at that moment, I then start organizing it. Sometimes, this process results in definitive answers to my questions, and sometimes, not. Either way, I still have a clear outline of the choices available and a better understanding of their potential benefits and costs.

I also write to my diary whenever I feel strong emotions, or emotions that I am not sure what they are about. Sometimes, I just try to write the things that happened, how I feel and so on, and even while doing so I can understand myself better just realizing certain patterns that appear in my thoughts & feelings over time. This may not have been possible if I had not documented them in the first place.

Writing things down is like moving thoughts from your temporary memory to a persistent one. :)

I started to experience frustrating back pain in 2024, mostly due to being sedentary for around a year or so with very bad spine hygiene. At some point, the pain was so bad that even sitting for around 30 minutes or so without pain was kind of a challenge. The moments after I would wake up, the experience of pain would start to build up as long as I didn’t stay lying down.

One of the recommendations in the book Back Mechanic was to keep a journal specifically for back pain. It suggested tracking things like how long it took for the pain to start, what activities made the pain worse or better, and so on. I started this practice during that time. I wrote almost daily, analyzing the patterns of my pain. Over time, I started noticing patterns I wouldn’t have recognized or would have likely forgotten without documenting them. This habit became one of the key practices that helped me improve my back.

So, writing in the form of journaling is already great for:

• Flushing the things on your mind to a more persistent place
• Documenting small but cumulative changes that might otherwise go unnoticed
• Solidifying your ideas and emotions as you structure them into a clear and coherent form

But the thing is, you don’t have to stop here. As writing becomes a habit and a natural part of your life, you’ll also likely end up writing things that might be of interest or helpful to other people as well. This could include notes you take for yourself, reflections on how to get a certain task done, your experiences, and so on…

With some rephrasing, structuring, and refinement, the things you write for yourself can also become valuable to others. This way, you can also further benefit from other people’s perspectives, feedback, and recognition. You can test your ideas in the real world. You can experience the satisfaction of helping other people through your writing and more.

You’ll also likely get better at writing and delivering content more quickly. This will prove itself to be helpful especially when communicating and discussing ideas with others.

So, I urge you to just start to write, and see how it affects your life in general.