Documenting the current progress of a task and how to do it might feel like a chore. But it’s how you free up time and space to do more (rhyme!):
- You never forget anything.
There’s a high chance you won’t remember why a particular decision was taken 6 months back. It might have seemed trivial at that moment. You thought you can hold it all in your head. But you couldn’t.
- Context switching becomes easier.
You can pick up where you left off easily. This is a good litmus test.
- You find gaps in your understanding.
While writing it down, you’ll likely find something you missed.
- Make space for new information.
Human brains are made for processing, not remembering.
Reports are more a medium of self-discipline than a way to communicate information. Writing the report is important; reading it often is not. — High Output Management by Andrew S. Grove
This is all the more important in a remote work setting. Your team members are not one shoulder-tap away. Write more documentation.