Work on my notes with the garage door up

I mention working with the garage door up often in my notes. Let's take closer look at what it means, why it's an approach worth pursuing and what are the common challenges with it.

%% It won't hurt to start with an Operational Definition, so here's mine: %%

I'll start with some obvious things, and move one to more interesting stuff. Now, this will sound counterintuitive, but the reasons why working in this fashion can be beneficial to you might not be the same as the reasons why you might decide to give it a go.

You're likely to receive more feedback. Sharing your work often gives people an opportunity to play with it. This doesn't mean that the feedback you'll receive will always be valuable (How to identify useful feedback?, Pitfalls When Receiving Feedback). Share your unfinished, scrappy work.

It's more honest. Both as individuals and as a society we need to acknowledge that failure and struggle are necessary and welcome. Working with the garage door up means exposing more than just the happy path.

We're surrounded by so much grift, so many people trying to sell us shit we don't need, that even words like vulnerable trigger our bullshit filters. The thing is -- that type of messaging is worthless precisely because there's nothing behind it. Sharing your own scrappy work and showing the process behind it are the opposite of that. People appreciate it.

You're likely to meet more interesting people this way. And the connections you'll form will be deeper, partially because the people who will reach out to you share something with you.

You'll feel more confident. I struggle with perfectionism and I feel very uncomfortable sharing my work as I work on it. At the same time I envy the people who can do that. I don't think this is a matter of ego, but rather how calm and confident they seem.

There's something beautiful about sharing your work regularly. It feels rewarding.

#fleeting

Reference: Andy Matuschak

I could restart the mini-notes this way (update 2023-12-06 ha, we're already doing this!)

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