Friday, February 17, 2006
A thought on what doesn't matter
Jason Fried of 37 Signals wrote the following in a blog post discussing why his company did and didn’t do certain things with its latest product:
Too many writers – regardless of what they’re writing – leave far too much superfluous information or detail in their work. Often, this happens because they become too attached to a piece of writing and just can’t cut anything. Or they don’t realize that some of the content just doesn’t matter to the overall product.
The best designers and the best programmers aren’t the ones with the best skills, or the nimblest fingers, or the ones who can rock and roll with Photoshop or vim, they are the ones that can determine what just doesn’t matter. That’s where the real gains are made.The same can be said for writers. The best ones are often the writers who can identify what's needed and what isn't, and focus on what's important.
Most of the time you spend is wasted time on things that just don’t matter. If you can cut out the work and thinking that just doesn’t matter you’ll achieve productivity you’ve never imagined. It’s there if you just don’t pay attention to the things that don’t matter.
Too many writers – regardless of what they’re writing – leave far too much superfluous information or detail in their work. Often, this happens because they become too attached to a piece of writing and just can’t cut anything. Or they don’t realize that some of the content just doesn’t matter to the overall product.
