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Use a Thinking Stack Instead of a Journal
A Stack of Notes Beats a Stream of Pages.
An Approach to Reflection and Ideation.
People use journals to reflect, plan, and process their thoughts. It’s a familiar habit. You open a notebook or app, write what’s on your mind, and hope it helps you sort things out.
Over time, journals become cluttered. Ideas get buried. Patterns are hard to spot. You write something useful, then forget where it is.
That’s where a thinking stack comes in.
A thinking stack is a system to capture thoughts, questions, and ideas. Instead of writing everything in one long stream, break things into categories. Write focused entries. Tag them. Link them.
A thinking stack is made of different note types. Each type serves a purpose. Keep them separate to find what you need when you need it.
Common types>
Reflections. Notes about what you feel, notice, or learn.
Questions. Prompts you want to explore later.
Ideas. Concepts, insights, or solutions to develop.
Decisions. Notes about choices you make and why.
Plans. Action steps or outlines for future work.
