Thinking in public accelerates learning

Sharing unfinished work creates accountability to your ideas.

When thoughts stay private, they can remain vague. Publishing—even to an audience of zero—forces articulation.

digital-gardens make this sustainable by:

  • Labeling maturity (seedling, budding, evergreen)
  • Expecting evolution (nothing is final)
  • Celebrating rough edges (that's the authentic thinking)

maggie-appleton calls it "learning in public." You show process, not just polish.

Risks exist. Embarrassment. Misunderstanding. But writing-for-yourself-reduces-friction mitigates this: you're not writing for the audience, you're writing for yourself with the garage door up.

The compound benefits: feedback, connections, forcing function for clarity, external memory, serendipitous discovery by others.

See: knowledge-work-should-accrete