If you didn’t already know, this blog is a creative technical resource writers, marketers and enthusiasts alike can turn to for their technical communication needs. From providing editorial help, to explaining how you should incorporate UX in technical communication, to procuring tips on how to go about launching a successful email campaign, this is a reliable resource in helping to solve various technical communications-related problems.
Additionally, this blog also acts as a form of documentation for myself. And just like with any other form of documentation, it’s been a reliable resource I can turn to whenever I get stuck on something. In fact, just recently, I was stuck on a seemingly simple task, and was momentarily paralyzed by the stress of it all. But just when I wanted to throw in the towel and give up, I remembered I had experienced a similar problem in the past, and had actually documented my struggles, and explained how I’d do things differently for greater success. So in actuality, documentation saved me from repeating the same mistake that left me feeling stuck- and that’s the joy of great documentation!
Here’s what happened:
I was in the initial stages of a project, when I stumbled into the problem. In my eagerness to get started and create an awesome doc for a client, I jumped into the project head-first without properly planning beforehand, and I soon found myself in a state of utter stress. I thought I had no idea what I was doing, and I had a serious case of Impostor Syndrome. But as I’ve stated previously in my post, Writing and Designing Documentation, there’s no “right” way of going about tackling your documentation projects, there’s only sufficient planning and research. And so in the end, the situation turned out to be a huge learning opportunity for myself- I now have a system in place that allows me to properly plan documentation projects. That way, I can avoid any halts in the production process. I had discovered that it’s not enough to simply proper planning will result in a successful project. And so I created a workbook template that I can easily fill out to take a look at the bigger picture- a physical document I can use as a resource to prevent any misunderstandings in what needs to be done.
However, I didn’t create the physical workbook until I ran across the same problem for the second time on a different project. Again, I just wanted to jump head-first into the project and completely forgot about the planning process until the stress of it all crept up on me like fog over a bridge! Thankfully I remembered the blog post I wrote about how to avoid this kind of frustration, and that’s when I finally created the workbook. It was when I was pondering solutions that I realized the answers were already there.
The Lesson to be Learned
Similarly, documentation can save people, teams, and companies from a lot of stress. If production and productivity begins to ebb due to complications in a project, it would definitely be a good idea to figure out the source of the problem, figure out the best way to fix it, and then document the solution to avoid going through the same, or similar situations in the future. It may seem like a lot of work, but in the long run, you’d have saved yourself a lot of time and stress! Additionally, you’d have more time to dedicate to what actually matters instead of devoting too much time on the maintenance of it all. So, the take-away of this story is this: documentation is awesome and it can save the world!
Work With Me
I know first hand how frustrating writing and creating documentation can be. Luckily, I have the chops to help! Let me save you time, energy and money by hiring me for your next project. Shoot me an email and let’s get started!
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