I find it personally valuable because it’s how I think and reason about things. I like to write, think, delete, edit, write, think, repeat. I do it with work, and in private I do it with a journal. Almost everything I’ve written about has lead to major revelations and accomplishments, or accompanied them. It’s basically how I make sure I’m firing on all cylinders. It’s how I go from interested and tinkering to highly engaged and working deeply.

The result is that a lot of what I’ve written has come up in interviews, caused me to meet new people I’ve eventually worked with, and it has generally enriched my career.

The key is that (in my opinion) you have to write mostly for yourself. I don’t write as though I have an audience (I don’t, really) and I think it shows. I’m just building or talking about stuff that I care about, and I get into it however I want to. Sometimes it isn’t even technical.

When there’s a target audience, unless you’re trying to sell something you care a lot about, you’re going to burn out on the content and there’ll be no passion leaking through. Write if you want to, and write about what gets you excited.

Even if no one reads it, you’ll benefit a lot from time spent thinking, writing, and learning about yourself and your work.