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Idea Incubator

Idea Incubator
Photo by Elena Mozhvilo / Unsplash

I like having a single Add (+) inbox for new notes entering my Obsidian vault. This also provides an initial period of incubation for new ideas before they are processed further into the main ACE folders.

What is an incubator?

An incubator is a controlled environment designed with conditions that support growth and development. Examples include incubators for:

  • poultry: hatch fertilized chicken eggs
  • infant: premature or ill newborns
  • bacteriological: growing bacteria in cultured samples
  • business: support startups and entrepreneurs with resources, mentors, and funding.

Business incubators are different from accelerators; the former focus on early-stage business, whereas the latter apply to companies that are more built-out.

The concept of a business incubator can be adapted to create a digital idea incubator within a PKM system. You create a nurturing environment for your ideas to grow and evolve, which eventually leads to more creative and well-developed outputs.

Add Notes

The Add (+) folder is a dedicated space in my PKM system where I can collect and nurture ideas. I capture sparks of inspiration, organize related ideas, connect information, and store relevant research and resources for these topics.

This is the Add phase of the LYT ARC ideation framework. After making these notes, they are ready to be developed over time in the main ACE folders.

Then they can be developed and connected further with related notes and ideas, enhanced with associated metadata like properties, fields, and tags to enable easy retrieval with view queries, and reviewed and expanded for eventual sharing as outputs.

Also, maps help to organize related notes and provide navigation. Having atomic notes and resource notes is desirable to support reuse and remix in your efforts and multiple outputs.

Summary

Using the Add folder as an incubator helps avoid cluttering the main ACE folders with premature or incomplete draft notes before they're ready.

Creativity takes time, and it's important to let them simmer and mature naturally. Having an initial idea incubation period helps give new notes a healthy start in their evolution.