Reflection Workflow

Forked from Ward Cunningham

A reflection captures thoughts at the end of an activity. This workflow suggests how writing and rereading reflections enhances systematic understanding.

Writing

Intense and focused work succeeds by keeping many facts and opportunities close at hand in short-term memory. During these episodes write quickly and copy freely addressing mostly your present self.

Use quiet periods to reflect on recent activities allowing yourself to summarize and interconnect experiences. Write slowly choosing words carefully. Start new pages and label them to be found later.

Label reflections with the word 'reflect' or one of its suffixed variants, 'reflection', 'reflecting', in the title or synopsis. You may need to add the word later if you don't realize immediately that you are writing in this mode.

Reading

Use quiet periods to review past reflections. This orients future work so as to benefit most from past experience.

You may find it useful to lightly edit so that the insight and tone of the original makes sense within the context of your present self. Dramatic shifts or refutations are best written elsewhere and linked.