There are so many situations where we have the ideas in our head but don’t create the time to write them down. Tomorrow’s blog has not been started. My class for Tuesday is ready, but good luck to you if I’m unable to prep for the following week because there is no concrete plan that will make sense to anyone else. People plan to write down their passwords and dying wishes but too often leave this Earth with information only they know. Organizational history, precedents, protocols and nuances often walk out the door with exiting employees.
In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott encourages people to put something down on paper every day. It’s great advice. What you write may turn into bits of a story, a legacy for your executor, a how-to manual for the next person to have your job or a brain dump to use on your next assignment. “In your head” leaves little margin for the unexpected and makes it difficult for your idea to live on without your direct involvement. Commit to committing something “out of your head” each day.
