Halfway reflections

This post marks the 26th week of publishing Dave’s Take. As I originally wrote, the initial motivations for publishing a weekly bog were: a) because I miss writing, b) to codify my professional learnings, c) so I could produce my own work artifacts, d) to state opinions publicly, and e) to take on a project that was definitively outside my comfort zone.

Overall, I am really pleased to have undertaken the project. It’s been fun and a challenge and I do thoroughly enjoy the process of writing. I have more mixed feelings about the fixed weekly cadence and my early hypothesis is that after a year, I will continue to write but more sporadically.

Some general thoughts and reactions on the experience relative to the initial motivations…

  • I find it incredibly satisfying when you find just the right set of words to articulate and express your thoughts. It hasn’t happened for me every week but when it does, it’s delightful.
  • I find I better adhere to some of the principles or learnings I write about. While not perfect, I feel a greater obligation to live up to any piece of advice I share, which is valuable.
  • The positive association I receive from being able to produce my own work artifact is lower than expected. I’m actually rather indifferent about it.
  • I receive on average ~2/3 email responses per week by email, with a reasonable degree of variability (sometimes it’s 0 and sometimes it’s 6+). I enjoy engaging on the content with others much more than I expected! It’s fun to have those interactions and hear how something might have resonated (or not!) with people. I don’t have the appetite to manage any type of comment section but finding a lightweight method to engage on the content in the future has some appeal.

The biggest issue I have with writing the blog is the set weekly cadence. I have not found a consistent rhythm of when to write and as a result, some weeks it feels much more like a chore and obligation than an enjoyable passion project. With that said, I am torn on this point. I know I am prone to seeking perfection or what feels like it and I’m certain if not for the weekly commitment it would be easy to find reasons (excuses) to delay posting or not post at all. There’s a bit of a rub for me between seeking to produce something which feels really high quality and also produce something with consistent volume. I haven’t quite found the right balance yet. We’ll see how I feel after a year is complete!  


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