Writing less, and that's ok

I'm writing less these days.

For the past few years, I've felt guilty about writing fewer blog posts. Earlier in my career, I published ~monthly; now it's more sporadic.

Frankly, I have less gas in the tank to spend on writing. Back in 2020, I had a major burnout that left me unable to even write code for a while. Fast forward to today — I have 2 young children and less time overall to write blog posts.

Plus, the things I want to write about are trickier: deep technical dives, philosophical musings about software development, and real-world stories. All of these require more effort than a simple tutorial. Pair that with my post-burnout energy and finishing posts feels more daunting.

Finally, this website’s former design didn’t inspire me to write. I know "rewrite your portfolio" is a bit of an engineer trope, but this latest iteration makes me want to finish (or restart) some of those drafts.

It’s tempting to compare yourself to other writers, especially prolific ones. But it's not healthy. We each have an amount we can give, and mine is smaller than it used to be.

I'm writing less these days, and I'm ok with that. I'm learning to be easier on myself, slowly prune thoughts into posts, and write in smaller bursts.