Keeping our practices simple and lightweight make it more likely that we actually apply them. This requires embracing imperfection. A simple strategy that’s easy to keep up with is preferable to a heavy-duty strategy that doesn’t stick — even if the latter promises better outcomes.
Bytebase is designed for busy professionals who don’t have time for sophisticated notes methodologies. While we admire the beautiful notes some folks are capable of producing, we want to enable a dependable approach to notes that fits into our lives with minimal overhead. To that end, we’ve found that one of the simplest and most effective strategies is to separate the “Dump” phase of notes from the “Refine” phase.
Separating the Dump and Refine phases
For long-form writing, it’s common wisdom to start with a rough first draft. Then you can go back to refine, re-organize and edit in subsequent passes. Separating these phases is important: if we stop to self-critique as we write, we are likely to slow, if not entirely block, our forward progress.
The Dump: embracing messiness
Ernest Hemingway is thought to have said, “The first draft of anything is shit.”
When we have something to write down, we should just write it down — in the simplest, most efficient way possible. We call this the Dump.
During the Dump phase, we should withhold judgment and embrace messiness. All that matters is getting it down. We shouldn’t worry about where to organize what we’re writing. We shouldn’t obsess over word choice or strive for eloquence. The requirements are modest: that we can find it later, and that the core of it is roughly intelligible to our future selves.
We recommend having a designated Dump location for your notes. This ensures you can find what you’ve written later. It also removes all doubt and friction when choosing where to jot something down. In Bytebase the designated Dump location is called No Man’s Land. The Dump location should be a welcoming, safe space for messiness. This ensures that nothing holds you back from getting things down.