Very true. I get wordy when I'm pressed for time. If you write a new, simpler, easier version (Gideon's?), I'll put one in every hotel room.
The essential advice of all writing: the simplest word choice, the fewest words, is doubly true for technical documentation. Unfortunately only 1% of tech writers seem to follow it.
And as you say, there never seems to be enough time left to document. This is why: a) the doc should be the spec b) write the doc first.
There, that's the concise version of your manifesto :-)