I often figure out how to do something and promptly forget how I did it a few months later, forcing me to go through the same process again to figure out how to do it.
In order to avoid that, I began maintaining a repository of useful tips regarding different areas (mostly related to Linux, but not all). I used it for myself, but recently thought that others might find some of them useful as well, so I’ve created a new section called docs on my site. As I come across new tricks in VIM or a slick command in some other area, I will add it to that section.
I’ve wanted to do that for a long time, but have never gotten around to doing it. I did get an engineering blog set up at work to put in ideas and fixes for things, but it’s not heavily used.
I did something similar at work for myself. Whenever I run into a problem that takes some time to solve, I document the solution. That way, if it ever happens again, I can refer to what I figured out before. So far it has worked pretty well.
I think we’ve all wanted to set something like this up for ourselves at one time or another. I’ll bet the first time you actually use it as a reminder of some solution you documented months before will give you a warm fuzzy feeling.
Jason: I’ve already used it dozens of times. That’s why I created it in the first place, because I kept forgetting how to do something. After forgetting it 5 times, I eventually documented it and even though I kept forgetting, I was able to find the answer easily.