Systematically writing things down helps me to move on (mainly as applied to research).
If I have a moderately vague idea that isn’t written down, it won’t leave, as it’s possible to go in circles on its terms indefinitely. New thoughts gradually supplant the old thoughts, and old thoughts, not written down, get forgotten and reinvented later.
On the other hand, if everything is sketched in writing, even if it’s still raw material to the point that it doesn’t make much sense at the time of writing, not to speak of a few months later, then it becomes possible to see the big picture. Systematic problems and limitations become tangible when you put names on them, lack of meaningful progress is much more visible when it’s possible to look over the old notes and see that the new idea is but a rebranding on an old one. It’s also easier to let go, to stop thinking about the current idea and thus to start forgetting it, as there remains a path of retreat in rereading the old notes.
Systematically writing things down helps me to move on (mainly as applied to research).
If I have a moderately vague idea that isn’t written down, it won’t leave, as it’s possible to go in circles on its terms indefinitely. New thoughts gradually supplant the old thoughts, and old thoughts, not written down, get forgotten and reinvented later.
On the other hand, if everything is sketched in writing, even if it’s still raw material to the point that it doesn’t make much sense at the time of writing, not to speak of a few months later, then it becomes possible to see the big picture. Systematic problems and limitations become tangible when you put names on them, lack of meaningful progress is much more visible when it’s possible to look over the old notes and see that the new idea is but a rebranding on an old one. It’s also easier to let go, to stop thinking about the current idea and thus to start forgetting it, as there remains a path of retreat in rereading the old notes.