Three things. One I knew going in. One I only understood after it bit me. One I wish someone had said at the start.
The advice
Ship over polish. And commit to it. I wrote this rule before Day 1. Then I spent 61 workdays feeling like I was failing every time a post went out late. Posting too late in the day meant it would land technically on the next calendar day for readers overseas. That felt like a failure on my part. In hindsight it wasn't. Knowing the principle and feeling okay about it are different things. The posts I spent the most time on didn't land better than the ones I shipped fast. The gap between two hours and five hours is rarely visible to a reader.
Plan the visual first, not last. If a post needs a diagram, that shapes the writing, what you explain, how long it needs to be, what the image handles so the text doesn't have to. I kept treating visuals as something to find or create after the writing was done. That's the wrong order. The diagram is part of the thinking, not decoration added at the end. Instead of adding more content, I could have spent time on generating the visual examples. But that is sometimes a bit hard to balance with a full-time job.
Be easy on yourself. Don't let the pressure get to you. I skipped one day across 61 workdays, for a holiday. One day. I still beat myself up over it. The series didn't collapse. As a result i was more forgiving to myself when taking off a week when I was traveling. And to my knowledge nobody noticed. The standard you hold yourself to in a challenge like this can become its own obstacle.
That extends further than missing a post. I still feel awkward around calling myself a technical artist. Maybe as insecure, and as much like an imposter, as I was years ago. I thought putting 60 posts out publicly would settle something. It didn't. I'm not sure that's the kind of thing output fixes. But it hasn't stopped the work.
What I got right
The consistency held. In total, 61 workdays straight, one missed for a holiday, otherwise unbroken. That was the commitment and it delivered.
The format rotation also worked. Cycling between deep dives, quick posts, experiments, and reflections gave each topic the right amount of space and stopped the series from feeling repetitive.
What I'd tell anyone else starting
The hardest stretch is days 10 to 20. The novelty is gone and the habit isn't formed yet. Push through that struggle and it becomes mechanical in the best sense.
Write the post you wish had existed three years ago. That's the clearest filter for whether something is worth writing.
Most importantly, be easy on yourself.
© 2026 Stefan Groenewoud. All views are my own, not those of my employer.