Changed my mind about whiteboard coding after a mock interview

I used to think whiteboard coding was a waste of time. I figured real work is about looking stuff up and using your editor, so why practice writing code on a blank board? Then last week I did a mock interview with a friend who works at a bigger company. She asked me to reverse a linked list on a whiteboard, and I froze for a solid five minutes. It wasn't the algorithm that got me, it was talking through my thought process out loud while writing. After that, I spent 4 evenings doing simple problems on a real whiteboard I borrowed from my neighbor. I still don't love it, but I get why they test it. It forces you to break a problem into steps before touching a keyboard. Has anyone else had a moment where a practice interview changed how you study for coding interviews?

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