Saying less
Speaking concisely is hard.
I tend to have a difficult time talking about things that excite me in a straightforward and concise manner. My thoughts outspeed my words and by the time I finish a sentence, I have two more tangental points queued up. This can turn a simple response to a question into a speech or lecture.
Despite the number of times I catch myself doing this, not once have I been called out for it. Likely due to the polite nature of people and willingness to bear with it at the moment. Even if it were a nonissue, I do think overexplaining things can stifle good conversation if there’s less empty space for questions.
Funny enough, in trying to spellcheck overexplaining via googling, I found this article on causes of overexplaining and it can be boiled down to people pleasing, which I can very much relate to. That reflection can be explored another day, as this one is already starting to digress.
Unsurprisingly, how I verbally speak also impacts my writing and desire to do it regularly. As I mentally map out what I’d like to write, the initial thought balloons into something that takes too great an effort to finish, leading to procrastination and ultimately forgetting it altogether.
This post is an acknowledgement of something I’d like to work towards fixing, starting by ending this thought and leaving you with this quote below.
The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.