[justasitsounds]

Coding is the tip of the 'working in software' iceberg. If you don't see value in being able to communicate the reasons behind the technical choices and trade-offs you've made, both within your own team and to other stakeholders then you'll quickly find that your coding time is quickly eaten up by people asking you to explain it.

If you value periods of deep focus or 'flow' then believe me, having concise, accurate documentation that explains why, how and what you are building pays off - if only to help you separate the planning from execution process in your own workflow. I don't think any moderately complex software can be written without some degree of planning - but maybe your experience differs

[29athrowaway]

Yet, if you lose touch with implementation work, you will be less effective at analyzing requirements, designing and planning.