Externalizing thought builds a cognitive scaffold for solving complex problems

People call these “digital gardens.” I think of this as my Public Workbench. It’s a practice. Putting it out there and seeing it helps you think and get better at solving the problems you’re trying to solve in life. The feedback loop of externalizing and structuring thought.

The magic isn’t in the storage. It’s in the act of articulation. When I force myself to write down what I’m thinking, I discover gaps in my logic, connections I hadn’t seen, clarity I didn’t know I was missing.

Manual file management is a high-friction waste of cognitive resources. The cognitive load should be on the thinking, not the organizing. The workbench handles the structure so your brain can focus on the connections.

Unscheduled quick calls destroy deep work. External interruptions break the delicate process of building and maintaining your cognitive scaffold.

The compound effect is real. Each note becomes a building block for future insights. The more you externalize, the more sophisticated your internal thinking becomes.