The importance of learning can not be understated. It is, essentially, in everything we do; learning at school, in our workplace, through social interactions, parenting, relationships, writing, and endless other situations. As Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles reflected upon in their book on the Japanese secret to happiness* and longevity, Ikigai, intellectual activity is, as a matter of fact, a decisive factor for living a long, healthy, and happy life (Garcia and Miralles, 2017).

* As it turns out, Japan is ranked 50th place on the happiness index by the time of this writing, amongst the lowest in the developed world (Kutty, 2022). They do, however, rank 3rd in life expectancy, and boast several supercentenarians (Worldbank.org).

As I have, through the years, come to acknowledge the importance of learning, accordingly, I have developed a strong desire to learn. This has led to the creation of the everyday habit of reading, which has truly had profound effects. In pursuit of other ways to continue growing, I have realized the potential outcome of writing. consequently, I am working on developing a habit of writing on a weekly basis, every Sunday. Not necessarily an article, but something to keep the habit going, while the purpose of this is to grow and learn. Now, what exactly is the topic of this article? In harmony with the habit of writing weekly, I figured it is appropriate to start with writing an article on exactly this. What are the benefits of writing consistently? And what are the difficulties and liabilities of writing weekly? These are the questions to be covered in this article, which will inevitably be wrapped up by a conclusion.

The 10 Benefits of Writing

To keep resource gathering simple, yet efficient, I asked AI to summarize the benefits of writing every week. The output received was the following ten benefits; (1) improved writing skills, (2) increased creativity, (3) better memory retention, (4) improved mental clarity and focus, (5) increased sense of accomplishment, (6) a better understanding of oneself and others, (7) improved decision-making skills, (8) improved stress management, (9) opportunity of reflection and self-discovery, (10) opportunity to capture thoughts and ideas. Although I encourage you to consider all of these, and especially those most important to you if you ever start a similar habit, I will be focusing on the three topics I believe are the most significant ones for my growth; mental clarity and self-expression, creativity, and improved decision- making skills (ChatGPT, 2023).

Mental Clarity and Self-expression

My head can feel like a huge mess from time to time. Similarly, an aspect that I do particularly struggle with is expressing myself. Either during an argument or when I am trying to explain something, I often get tangled up between ideas, words, and thoughts, and the person across the table may often find him- or herself confused about what exactly it is that I am saying. In relation to this, a benefit of writing is working on organizing my mind. As we talk about having an organized environment, I believe it is even more important to have an organized mind. Although it is evident that we are affected by our surroundings, clarity comes first and foremost from within. In a way, writing forces us to organize our thoughts, ideas, and emotions, and get them down onto a piece of paper or on the computer. This process simultaneously makes one have to organize the mind and focus on a specific topic and task at hand, leading to mental clarity.

Building Creativity

Creative ability is incredibly important to have your skillset. Being creative essentially means thinking differently and outside the box, and being innovative, which therefore also goes hand-in-hand with problem-solving. These are all factors I consider central to my career and my ambitions, which is why I aim to improve my creative abilities in the first place. Building creativity through writing happens, much in the same way as with mental clarity, through expression. Through writing, one can evaluate and build ideas in a more structured way than just thinking. It also contributes in the sense that it functions as a storage room for ideas and thoughts, which makes it easier to return to them at a later point. I can not count the number of times I have gotten important input and ideas, either through reading, talking, or thinking, that have become lost or forgotten in my mind.

Decision-making

Much like creativity, decision-making is an aspect where I have already grown my abilities, but, due to its importance in leadership and entrepreneurship, must be developed so much further. Personality-wise, I currently possess traits that indicate more social and creative, yet messy behavior, as opposed to being more organized and analytical. These are aspects I am constantly improving, and I would not go as far as to say I am an unorganized person. Nevertheless, in this sense, writing helps to improve analytical skills and make evaluations. When writing, especially articles, one often considers a problem that one wishes to solve. Then one would proceed to evaluate the different factors playing part in the problem, as well as establish the factors relating to a solution, before evaluating these and bringing it all down to a conclusion. Doing such processes in writing, whether it is regarding a business opportunity, a problem the world faces, or a conflict with a loved one, provides for a much more organized evaluation and may produce a better final decision, than if such an evaluation were to happen solely mentally. Writing regularly will also improve mental decisions and analytical abilities as well, as you would get used to this sort of thinking, more structured and organized.

The Downsides of Writing Weekly

There are obviously tons of benefits to writing and creating a habit of writing. However, it is worth evaluating and becoming aware of the costs of writing regularly as well. The greatest downside to writing weekly is the sacrifice of our most valuable resource, time. Writing takes time. Just writing this article has taken me roughly 2 hours, excluding a break in between. That being said, creating a habit of writing will be tough in the beginning, likely very tough at certain times, but once it has become a habit, it will feel far less draining and time-consuming. One may ask whether writing takes up too much of their time, and I have also asked myself this. I have purpose, ambitions, and goals to work for, at the same time, I am studying for my degree and just recently got offered an internship. Do I really have time to devote to writing this often? And while the former are my priorities, writing weekly is still well aligned with my goal to never stop learning^. After asking myself if I do have time for this, the conclusion was that I do have time lost to unproductive habits every day, such as screen time.

Although this is what I consider the primary cost of writing weekly, there are other difficulties that this may inflict. This may be what is known as writer’s block, where regular writing may lead to creative burnout and exhaustion. Other liabilities may be related to developing high standards for writing, leading to self-criticism, and isolation, as the general act of writing is a solitary activity.

^ A goal, by definition, has an endpoint. Therefore, “to never stop learning” can not be stated as a goal. The better word for it may be a system.

Conclusion

To conclude, it is worth mentioning that I had already decided to start writing weekly, so the question was never really if I should or not, but rather to analyze the effects and consequences of it. Writing this itself was insightful, as I learned about both advantages and disadvantages of writing that I was unaware of before, which I think is a statement as to why I am doing this; to learn and grow. The benefits ought to be reaped, while most of the downsides, in my case, are out of reach. I have doubts that the amount and frequency at which I plan on writing will inflict difficulties such as writer’s block and isolation. This was one of many articles to come, what might I do with them? I am not sure. If I keep them to myself, share them with the world, or with a limited number of people close to me, it is up for consideration.