Three months ago, I started a new project that has nothing to do with developers. But of course, I learned something about working with developers anyway.

I’m a baseball fan, and I recently started digging into my old baseball cards. Most are from the 80s and 90s—known as the “junk card era.” Millions of each card were made, making each one virtually worthless.

Looking at these cards now gives me a rush of nostalgia.

I’ll take pictures and send them to friends who felt that same connection to the past.

So, I entered the year with a new project: I started a social media account called “​Junk Card Boggs​” (also on ​Insta​).

Every day, I post one picture of the front and back of an old card.

I research each player—many aren’t household names—and share interesting facts about them.

Blue Sky has a 300-character limit for posts.

At first, this felt restrictive.

But about a week in, I challenged myself to make each post exactly 300 characters.

This wasn’t part of my original plan.

It became a little daily puzzle alongside my player research.

It turns out I’ve learned a lot about writing and editing through this constraint.

I’m flexing creative muscles in ways very different from my professional writing.

When you limit your options, you must use them in new and inventive ways.

In working with developers, you have similar opportunities for constraints.

One approach I recommend: ​limit the number of times you mention your product​ in marketing content.

This feels strange to marketers. After all, isn’t the point of marketing to promote your product?

But by constraining yourself, you become more creative in explaining the problems developers face.

You create content that’s more useful because it focuses on their challenges, not your solution.

Your content stands out from the product-centered noise.

It pays attention to what developers are already thinking about (which is not your product).

In this era where we’re asked to do more with less, try constraining yourself.

Force yourself to do less.

You might be surprised how much more you get out of it.