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Talking out loud to yourself is a technology for thinking
- vojta_letal 6y agoI do it way too often when I'm alone. Seems like I'm not as crazy as I thought :)
- wrnr 6y agoThat is also why people post comments online
- netflixandkill 6y agoIn many ways this seems to have replaced diaries as a way of organizing your thoughts prior to screaming them into the void, with the bonus of spam and random racist diatribes. Perhaps bonus is the wrong word there.
- smichel17 6y agoIt is primarily why I post on HN.
- TeMPOraL 6y agoSame here. I often find myself writing similar things under similar topics, but the very act of writing a comment makes me refine my beliefs just a bit. (And then I can always count on other people to call me on my bullshit, which is another learning opportunity.)
- globular-toast 6y agoI reckon in a large city you could get away with this without even any weird looks. People might think you're on the phone or they might think you're crazy. Either way they won't give it a second thought. I don't employ speaking out loud in my own methods, but I do scrawl extensive notes. I can't think straight if I can't take notes with pencil and paper. Whenever a non-trivial problem arises I always break out the paper. I wonder if it's a similar mechanism.
- heymijo 6y agoIn your head > out loud > on paper > to someone else. "First you communicate with yourself." - Peter Drucker I remember Drucker laying out this hierarchy for communication in his tome on management. Each step is progressively harder. Something that made sense in your head, you might not be able to articulate on paper. Something you just wrote may not communicate to someone else. IME, it is spot on.
- Invictus0 6y agoYou might want to replace > (greater than) with -> (arrow), I was confused at first.
- globular-toast 6y agoI'm not talking about writing, though. Writing is certainly harder than talking. But I'm talking about scrawling notes. Drawing pictures of data structures, abstract flow diagrams etc. It's not for reading. It's not even something I'll read again later, although it can be something I use again and again while I'm working on it.
- keyP 6y agoI think this is partly why Rubber Duck Debugging[1] can sometimes work, especially if you're vocalising the steps. I've often started typing a question on Stackoverflow when suddenly I solved the issue just by the act of verbalising the question as I type. I've found this to also help when I'm doing any sort of creative work or brainstorming, simply talking and explaining as if I'm presenting to an audience helps me generate ideas. Never spoken out loud to myself in public though... [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging
- lttlrck 6y agothe shift from a asynchronous communications (email) to real-time chat (slack/teams) may have led to a significant reduction in "thinking things through" Writing an email or a SO question has a pretty significant upfront investment and requires clearer articulation, whereas real-time chat seems to lead to shallow enquiry. In other words with real-time chat, the recipient has become the rubber duck.
- tharkun__ 6y agoAbsolutely. I don't personally use a rubber duck when alone but we call it that in the team when you just wave someone over to your desk to talk something over (and now virtually in a quick call). I personally have always liked writing down my "conclusions" so far into an evolving comment on a defect/bug ticket, which I only actually submit at the end when I've found the real issue. In the end you have a nice explanation of what exactly and why it went wrong and it helps with the actual debugging/thinking it through. And it also helps with the inevitable comments/questions in the PR when people wonder why the hell you are making the change you're making and you have something refer back to.
- genericacct 6y agoGet a 2FA code in a message, switch to app, code forgotten. Get a 2FA code in a message, read it out loud, switch to app, code remembered.
- keyle 6y agoThat's so true. Being bi-lingual I also remember vastly better the 2FA code if I speak it in my native tongue.
- a012 6y agoI don't read it out loud but iny head, and try to find a pattern out of it like a pair of two number/character
- harperlee 6y agoI do this. It’s fascinating how most numbers seem to have a (subjective) pattern of some kind; I wouldn’t have thought so many 2- and 3-digit numbers have some meaning to me!
- grenoire 6y agoI form a quick 'jingle' in my head, retains the numbers very well.
- netmare 6y agoThat's a neat trick, especially in emergency situations. 0118 999…
- tacocataco 6y agoUnfortunately the jingle for me is always Tommy Tutone's Jenny. Then it's stuck in my head the rest of the day. I won't type the numbers from the chorus to spare you this fate.
- TheRealSteel 6y agoI now always announce out loud when I've taken my medication for the day. For some reason it's just easier to remember when you say stuff out loud versus just thinking it. I was inspired by the success of "point and call" from the Tokyo train system.
- graderjs 6y agoI record what I say on voice memos, when I remember, just in case I need to hear it again, tho going back to it is rare.
- JCharante 6y agoI like to mouth words out to myself to help me think instead of talking out loud. While this is normally perfectly fine during in-person exams, this year I've gotten warned for looking suspicious because through video surveillance it looks like I'm reading something out for somebody else in the room during exams. Because it's so ingrained in me, I now concentrate on remembering to not mouth anything rather than on the test itself.
- topkai22 6y agoI had the exact thing happen to me (pre—pandemic). I complained pretty extensively to the test sponsor and the proctoring organization, as that (and a few other "rules") weren't written down anywhere. I didn't get anywhere but I'd still encourage you to do the same. If no one explains the problems with these tests to the people paying for them (the teachers, department chairs and employers) than they wont know what's going on either.
- amboo7 6y agoReminds me of a (joke about a) professor who used his finger as a pointer while reading...
- have_faith 6y agoI constantly highlight text as I'm reading, clicking constantly. No doubt the heatmaps of my journeys through websites leave an interesting impression.
- napsterbr 6y agoOh, me too! It is annoying though when websites show a custom "pop-up" to the selection, usually to share the "quote" at Twitter. I think Medium used to do it, not sure if it still does since I always switch to reader mode when I'm there for this very reason.
- ilaksh 6y agoSometimes I think my version of this is writing comments on HN. :/
- napsterbr 6y agoSometimes that helps! Countless times I was stuck in something and decided to open an issue or add a question to stack overflow. When I interact "formally" with the community like this, I do my proper diligence and try to add as much detail and context as possible. That's the least I can do for someone that will try to help me. While I'm adding this context, my assumptions, what went wrong, what I've tried and so forth, I often notice I solve the issue on my own! I'd say more than half of the times I act to open an issue or ask a question, I figure out the issue myself midway. I guess talking to oneself out loud and writing question-reports are a variation of the rubber duck method.
- globular-toast 6y agoYeah. Most of my comments are half-baked thoughts. Many of them I delete before submitting as writing it out makes me realise I haven't thought it through enough even for a comment.
- napsterbr 6y agoWalking in circles within the house and talking to myself out loud: I do this all the time, especially when I need to figure out a particularly hard problem (an algorithm to solve a particular issue, an architecture that handles my business needs etc). Last time I started a new project and worked on its architecture, I walked over 10km in a single day, according to my cellphone pedometer. In a tiny apartment! This trend lasted for a month, after which I sat down to actually implement this. I thought it was just me being autistic but it's interesting to know others do it as well :) I never worked in an office setting, but I can only imagine it would be extremely prejudicial to people like me and the author. Restraining us to a table would limit our output for the sole reason we would be unable to pace and think (no space and too much social pressure). Anecdata: sometimes I visit my parents and work from their place. I can't pace there because I don't feel comfortable doing so, and that alone is enough for me to not be able to tackle challenging problems there.
- porkbrain 6y agoYour comment and this article brings me great joy. I do the same, I walk in circles even in tiny spaces. I like to put notebook and a pen on a table and sketch my thought process. At home, this earned me the nickname "satellite". I felt uncomfortably self aware when I just moved in with my partner. Fortunately she finds it soothing.
- africanboy 6y agoI do that too When I work from the office I take long walks outside when I need to think I also "occupied" one (very) small meeting room and made it my private office, so I can close the door when I need it But honestly sometimes talking about the problem with other people works as well as talking with yourself or the laptop
- bikeshaving 6y agoI find walking in small circles is even better if you have a tiled floor which can be felt tactilely underfoot. If I ever own a house, the one thing I’ll focus on is kitchen tiling with an interesting pattern.
- abhayhegde 6y agoI have realised this works really well when I am unable to focus, especially when feeling sleepy. Talking and thereby listening to myself helps me reconsolidate my thoughts and I think we are better at listening to an external voice than to an internal rumbling.
- meowzero 6y agoI recently began to read out loud for my newborn. Currently, she doesn't understand what I'm saying. Therefore, I can read whatever I want. Sometimes, I read her technical or scientific articles, adult-level books, etc. I read in a "parentese" style with pauses, higher pitch, and drawn out vowels. I found that I was understanding the material better when I did that. It's not efficient because my reading speed slows down. But just the act of read out loud helped in retaining information. Doing things out loud could be some sort of "life-hack" to help learn or problem solve.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- 411111111111111 6y agoUh, while it's true that the child doesn't understand at first... Please be aware that it also needs simple words that keep getting used in order to actually learn the language. I'm sure you're doing everything correct and have more then enough dialog with the child, but your phrasing made it sound like it doesn't matter what you read. It definitely does.
- meowzero 6y agoMy pediatrician said I can read anything to her at her current age (under 3 months). From my research, yes, it does matter what you read to the child, but it depends on the age. For someone like my daughter's age, the interaction and pitch is more important than what's being read.
- javert 6y agoNobody really knows the answer to this. If we know reading simple stuff works, but reading scientific papers a child can't possibly understand only might be OK, then why would you do the latter?
- kaitai 6y agoFor me I read the complex stuff because 1) math papers do put her to sleep, and 2) then I get time to read math papers. The kid will be fine. It's not as if you won't have conversations with simple words as well. Is my kid gonna understand that Neruda poem about an onion, either? No, but she's developing an ear for poetry, consonance, assonance, rhyme. And she won't be afraid of the word "eigenvector". I grew up with parents who did not know the word "eigenvector" and had friends whose grad student parents could correct their multivariable calculus homework before it got turned in (so she always got perfect scores). We both turned out fine. Talking to oneself as a technology though does get harder when you get a lot of, "What, mommy?" in response....
- mapster 6y agoFor me it helps with organizing an approach or schedule, but for bigger issues I use THC and a long walk outdoors. This lets me get outside myself and visualize the problem from new angles and big and small scale.
- phobosanomaly 6y agoThis is my absolute favorite way to spend an evening. Wandering around the neighborhood with a THC vape pen thinking about a problem. Helps me get in about 5 miles of walking every evening too.
- xyzelement 6y agoTo solve a problem, we need to be smarter than the problem - or the problem needs to be dumber than us. When vocalizing something, you're forced to constrict the blob of complexity you're carrying in your head into a linear narrative, which is by definition simpler. Now that you have simplified the problem you are more likely to get hold of it and solve it. This happens all the time - when I am solving a technical/logical problem, sometimes I feel like my wife thinks I am just staring blankly at the screen day-dreaming. So I get insecure and start to explain to her how hard the problem is, but because she's a physician I have to translate it into common language first, and 99% of the time I say "never mind, got it" before I have a chance to really bore her. Come to think of it, this may be how therapy works. You are forced to take all the "mess" that's in your head and narrate it to someone else, in the process getting much simpler perspective on it. Writing is the same way for me. For example, all the ideas in this post were in my head in some amorphous way, but now that I wrote them out they became neat little analogies I can use in the future.
- TeMPOraL 6y ago> Come to think of it, this may be how therapy works. You are forced to take all the "mess" that's in your head and narrate it to someone else, in the process getting much simpler perspective on it. On a related note: some people close to me like to unload the contents of their head at me. I couldn't understand why - I initially assumed this was a kind of "I need someone to emphasize with me and validate my feelings" thing. Hearing roughly similar thoughts about the same issue for the fifth time in a month got particularly tiresome, and I struggled to understand why these people are doing it. Until one day I looked at the evening "mind dumps" I take in my .org mode file, and it hit me: it's the same thing. It has the same cadence, and same tendency to jump back and forth between related topics. Much like I sort through my thoughts by writing them down in solitude, these people are sorting through their thoughts by talking at me. All that time, I've just been a rubber duck. That is to say: I think not only this may be how therapy works, I think many (most?) people do this in social context - perhaps being afraid or unacustommed to talking to themselves, or to writing thoughts down (one needs to be a fast typist to write at the speed of thought, which is perhaps why this kind of sorting your thoughts through writing isn't as popular as through talking).
- neves 6y agoIt is impressive how people reinvent the well in all human fields. This is the basis of a lot of the research of soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934), as in his classic book "Thought and Language". "The tongue is the tool of thought,"
- khalilravanna 6y agoI imagine one hack for overcoming social anxiety for doing this in public is to put in some airpods or something else that indicates you’re on a phone call. Most people will assume you’re on a phone call and won’t really care. For myself I do this constantly. Have done it my whole life. I think some people are impressed by my public speaking abilities, how I can often come up with pretty persuasive blurbs on the spot. But I think it’s not impressive at all because I’ve spent so much of my life talking to myself. I have a hunch a lot of really good comedians and voice actors spend a fair amount of time talking to themselves. I can do a handful of pretty spot on accents. The key? Being a weirdo and messing around with talking to myself in accents frequently.
- enoughBadMath 6y agoBut then people would think I give Apple money.
- bavell 6y agoI can totally relate to the wierdo accents haha! Sometimes when I get frustrated with some particularly troublesome code while working alone I'll drop into a thick english cockney accent (or at least my best impression) and start trash-talking the code to vent my frustrations. It's pretty cathartic and puts me in a better and slightly humourous mood... better than bottling it up!
- sandspar 6y agoAn old magazine article about the actor Matthew McConaughey (maybe in the NYT?) mentioned that he carries a tape recorder in his car and talks to it on long drives. Interestingly enough he's recently written an autobiography, which he says sprang from his habit of keeping diaries. He says he's kept diaries for 36 years. A "learn by talking" and "learn by writing" person, surely.
- Coromanti 6y agoWuuut... I always did this instinctively and people gave me weird looks. I guess my body knew what it was doing.
- ykevinator 6y agoI do this too but in private. Author is unaware of her narcissism
- csommers 6y agoStarted doing this a few years back - not only does it help with public speaking, but it also is a form of debugging whatever you’re talking through. Nothing wrong with having a little external monologue.
- wpietri 6y agoI am a big fan of something similar, if less visible: writing as I work. For each project, I keep an Evernote [1] note. If I ever need to think something through, I'll add a new, dated entry at the top and just describe what I'm doing and considering. This is sometimes useful to refer back to. E.g., to find a specific command, or to remember the factors behind a choice. But honestly, most of the value is that it requires me to linearize and structure my thinking. The advantage to me over self-speech is that I can put something down and pick it up again later. If I take a break and reread an entry, I come at it with a little distance that helps me see things I was missing before.
- TeMPOraL 6y agoI do that too - particularly when dealing with tough problems. I used to keep an org-mode file for every project I was working on, in which I'd brainstorm ongoing issues, but over time, these notes started to leak into my general "daily notes", so my current pattern is: both at work and at home, I keep a YYYY-MM.org (e.g. 2020-12.org) file where I make daily headings and write to myself. The resulting notes are mostly write-only - they're verbose, and usually take too much effort to read through (unless I anticipate the need for future reference and write a summary on purpose). But all of the benefit comes from the very act of writing - it does wonders for structuring my thoughts, and I find it much better than talking to myself (which I used to do a lot when I was younger). My screen has more space than my working memory, so when doing written notes, my thinking process does much less backtracking.
- wpietri 6y agoYes, I'm the same way. If I have to keep everything verbal, I have to rehearse things or I'll lose them. Writing them down lets me externalize that.
- NL807 6y agoI find myself imagining I'm giving a lecture to an audience about the subject or problem I'm studying. It gives me a new perspective and allows me to condense what I learnt so far. These exercises also helps improving communication with others, typically when I need to explain something.
- emteycz 6y agoI found myself talking like the typical man voice in a National Geographic documentary, describing what I need to think about like they describe some geological processes. Very useful thought process!
- porpoise 6y agoI do this all the time, but mostly outside. A nice bonus of doing this outside (besides the fresh air, etc) is you can often recall precisely where you were and what was on your visual field (since it's constantly changing unlike at home) when you had a particular thought, so you can refer to to it later as "that thought I had when I was approaching that icecream truck in Red Hook". If you are self-conscious like I was when I first started doing this, it helps to put on some kind of headphone, if only to put yourself at peace by the thought "they'll just think I'm talking on the phone". When I have a good thought, I record it on my phone (or dictate it into Gboard, which works offline) and later upload the mp3 to an app called Otter, which gives extremely good transcription and allow me to search through years' worth of voice notes by text but also be able to instantly hear myself talking from 2 years' ago, which I find to be much more effective for resuming a train of thought than looking at typed notes.
- 5tefan 6y agoSeems I'm an outlier. Never do this and it irritates me if others in the same room do this. On the other hand my silent thinking is sometimes disturbing to whose around me - so I was told.
- lubosm 6y agoSeems you're not alone. Currently in my 40's, if that matters, I find it extremely hard to force the language processing part of my brain being turned off, while my ears are listening to spoken words and alerting me constantly about their meaning. It kicks me instantly out of my own context. Had to quit my most recent job because vast majority of colleagues were talking to themselves loudly while solving their own assignments, and interrupting me from coding sessions too frequently to even enter into the flow. Even noise cancelling headphones I had at the time didn't help. Therefore to me, not taking colleagues into account while having loud monologues I consider being either ignorant, low EQ, or simply rude.
- 2snakes 6y agoI was writing about this recently. Language is a system and all systems reduce complexity, functioning as a kind of insulation from a domain.
- randcraw 6y ago> Speech is not merely a conduit for the transmission of ideas, [...] but a generative activity that enhances thinking. Maybe. Speech does make an idea more concrete. But is the spoken formulation of an idea persistent enough that you can examine it closely from multiple angles and depths to fully assess its validity? Even the written word often lacks the precision needed to ensure that the necessity, sufficiency, and incontrovertibility of an idea has been addressed in full. An idea spoken aloud is but writ on the wind. When talking to myself, I often find I'm focusing on the best single view on my pet notion, embellishing its strengths rather than demerits. I need the means to formulate a more tangible formula, like a written bulleted list of plusses and minuses. Only then am I likely to reveal and redress the chinks in my idea's armor. And speaking to myself aloud won't do that.
- rammy1234 6y agoI always speak to my confident, which is my wife. I bounce ideas and problems to her. she is in the same field as mine. so she will just listen and no response. But somehow my mind gets cleared up and I see through the problem. I dont do self-talk. In longer run it seems to be counter productive. Having a good friend or confident will be more powerful is my thought
- cryptoslug 6y agoAirpods made the anxiety around self-talk-in-public so much easier. Finally, I feel seen.
- ncfausti 6y agoI'm learning how to write mathematical proofs now, and just today I wrote in my notes: "talk things through out loud". It really is amazing the clarifying effect it can have. We think we have a good idea of what some concept entails, but once we speak it (or write it down), it finally starts to take a more defined "shape".
- tdy721 6y agoThis is a nice new source for explaining my tendencies. In the past I have always leaned on the this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_and_calling https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_and_calling Bullet train driver method for continuing precision. Verbalize, gesticulate, act.
- tartoran 6y agoIm more vague when I mumble talk outloud and to me the advantage to writing things down is that I don’t have to slow down the thinking process but aid it and let it keep the momentum going. Sometimes I can utter a random name to point down a metaphor that is still too raw to describe by writing it down, other times I’d use talking outloud to gain a few more registers to store a few mental items. I sometimes reason better on paper and other times the more vague approach helps better.
- daneel_w 6y agoTiny nitpick: a method, or technique, would be the correct word. It's certainly not a technology.
- manmal 6y agoPossibly related: There’s a method widely used in Japanese industry, called „pointing and calling“: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_and_calling https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_and_calling Obviously humans make less mistakes when they audibly point out circumstances under which they make a decision or perform an action.
- Lammy 6y agoI love the two-finger point.
- offtop5 6y agoWhenever I have a personal epiphany, I tend to record a quick vocal note of it. Recently I've been kind of thinking you should only get involved with people who are going to add to your equation. For example last year I had the pleasure of knowing someone who made around 200k. Within a year of meeting her I was also making 200k. compared to getting involved with someone who doesn't have a job, and therefore your life turns into chaos.
- civilized 6y agoSpeaking from experience, I highly recommend writing to yourself as well. Use a plain text editor and Markdown. Ask yourself questions. Leave half formed ideas in the air and come back to them later. Make a whole folder full of markdown notes for your different projects.
- phissenschaft 6y agoVery helpful to have a conversation with oneself. I'd sometimes try different accents to create an illusion of someone else talking.
- lmilcin 6y agoDoes getting into verbal arguments with myself count or do I need to seek help? I don't vocalize but other than that I talk to myself a lot and sometimes also simulate my interlocutor. For example I might be testing ways to defend my argument, asking/answering questions, etc.
- tomgp 6y agoMy hunch is that part of the efficacy of pair programming is down to the fact that it legitimises speaking your thoughts out loud as you code, bringing your assumptions and process to your own attention. (As well as the other more oft-related benefits of having someone else available to vet & supplement those things)
- divbzero 6y agoI suspect talking out loud could have even greater benefits for people with little or no internal monologue [1]. Would be curious to hear if anyone has first-hand experience. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_monologue#Absence_of_an_internal_monologue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_monologue#Absence_of_...
- chenxiaolong 6y agoI'd be curious to know as well. I'm someone who doesn't have an internal monologue or the ability to visualize images (I can hardly comprehend what that would even feel like), but I've never felt the need to talk to myself to think through something. I'm not sure I'd even know what to say. For me, "thinking" is more like submitting a request to the subconscious and waiting for a response. Not much happens in the brain's "foreground"--or at least it feels that way.
- ugh123 6y agoI do this somtimes. To remove the awkwardness I use a wired earpiece (apple headphones) in just one ear to make it look like talking on the phone.
- john-tells-all 6y agoThe poet Robinson Jeffers also did this. He'd walk around in circles composing his poetry. If he stopped... "He measured out his long poetic lines by walking back and forth, and if [his wife] Una didn’t hear him pacing, she rapped on the ceiling with a broom.” :) Source: https://harpers.org/archive/2020/09/bright-power-dark-peace-robinson-jeffers-tor-house/ https://harpers.org/archive/2020/09/bright-power-dark-peace-...
- tmnvix 6y ago'Talking to yourself' makes it sound mad. I prefer 'vocalizing'. I find it's helpful when trying to objectively consider your own thoughts.
- corytheboyd 6y agoI’ll sit there staring at the wall for minutes at a time just running through narrative in my head. It’s a bit difficult to keep it on track sometimes, but with some concentration I can pull the reins back to keep focus. It probably looks like I am “doing nothing” but hey it works for me! I’ve never really tried verbalizing to myself, but I’ve effectively gotten over problems by rubber ducking with a peer, makes sense that it would work talking to myself as well :)
- ohiovr 6y agoI wish I could post this anonymously but I talk to myself during periods of intense problem solving and meditation. I maybe the only one that can answer technical problems I'm having sometimes with my own faults being the cause. Without a thorough review, tracing back probing to their source I'd be unable to continue with complex and obscure problems. In short only I have the answers to my problems as many problems are self caused. I use self speech as a way of forcing my brain to put vague notions into words so they can become more like reason and easier to pursue or reject. I grew up alone, I had no one to talk to about things which are interesting to me. I also sometimes have pressured speech, a psychological problem of an unknown origin. But treatment keeps it in check. I have just learned to censor myself when around others.
- every 6y agoI am my own interlocutor. I ask myself questions and answer in-kind. Sometimes the exchange borders on adversarial. This is how I know what I know and what I don't know. This is how I discover answers and formulate better questions. It's all done in a mere whisper and with muted gestures so as to not scare infants or livestock. I have been this way all my life...
- ribrars 6y agoLife pro tip, if you don't want to be seen as a "crazy" person, slap on a pair of headphones and activate your phones voice recorder. You can pretend to be on a phone call, record your thoughts, and no-one will be any of the wiser.
- danschumann 6y agoMy cat agrees
- cryptica 6y agoWhen I see that someone wants to talk to me and is about to distract me while coding, I start narrating my technical thoughts out loud and then they leave me alone.
- sergioisidoro 6y ago> it encourages the formation and processing of thoughts. I found that writing has the same effect for me, that is why I use journaling for dealing with complex situations in life. It forces you to materialise what is in your head the same why that speech does, and I find it almost meditative as well.
- nicktorba 6y agoI recently started sending long form voice recordings to friends as a new way to stay connected (I explain that idea here https://nicktorba.com/brain/voice-memo-experiment https://nicktorba.com/brain/voice-memo-experiment). I'm excited to send those friends a link to this article as a way to further convince them they should send recordings back. I did not expect the personal thought benefits that come from speaking to yourself in long form. After starting to send recordings to friends, I quickly became more comfortable speaking for long periods and found it led to more interesting ideas and better understanding of my thoughts and ideas. Plus, it helped me better structure thoughts verbally. I've also started making a recording right after I listen to any podcast. It has made listening to them much more engaging. I was also surprised by how energizing recording audio is. I find myself refreshed after going for a walk and recording my thoughts, or creating a recording for a friend (much more so than if I listened to a podcast on the same walk, or just walked in silence). It's also a fantastic way to make time in the car creative and productive. Voice recording or self talking is definitely an underutilized tool for thought and creation.