Tools impact work

In college, I wrote all my papers on a rudimentary software called TextEdit. It’s not for writing papers. It’s for writing code and stripping formatting from rich text. I did this because whenever I opened Microsoft Word on my laptop, it took about thirty seconds to boot up, it looked super professional, and it intimidated me. “This better be good,” I thought to myself, as I wrote, deleted, rewrote, and deleted the first sentence again and again. 

When I started using TextEdit for my first drafts, writing got easier. Instantly. I wasn’t trying to impress the program, I wasn’t formatting and editing as I went. I was just free flowing, letting the words pour out of me. Editing and formatting came later. 

The tools we use impact the work we create, greatly. Writing in pen instead of pencil, writing on your phone instead of a keyboard. These aren’t just strategic choices. They’re stylistic ones. 

It’s worth noting how the tools you use impact your work, then using them to your advantage.