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TabStaxThe TabStax Mental Model

Most people think in terms of websites and tabs: “Where was that page again?”, “Which doc was I using?”, “Where did I leave that insurance quote?” The TabStax mental model is different. Instead of asking “which websites am I using?”, you ask “which problem or project am I in right now?” Each Stax is an entry point for that problem space. In a few seconds you gather the key resources, land on a Start Page, and write the very next actions so your brain has a ledge to grab onto next time. Instead of hanging from a cliff with no grip, you’ve built a solid ledge.

The old mental model: tab soup & vague deadlines

Without TabStax, most people operate like this:

  • You hold deadlines in your head: “I have that November 24th thing” or “Car insurance renews on the 13th.”
  • Tabs are scattered across windows or lost in browser history.
  • When you sit down to work, you spend 10 minutes re-finding links, trying to remember what you’d already done, and fighting low-grade stress.
  • You close your laptop, and the mental setup vanishes. Next time: rinse, repeat, procrastinate.

The result is vague dread instead of progress.

flowchart TD
    A[Remember deadline] --> B[Open random tabs]
    B --> C[Get distracted]
    C --> D[Close laptop]
    D --> E[Later: try to remember what you had open]
    E --> F[Stress / procrastination]
    F --> B

The rabbit hole of scattered tabs and distraction

The new mental model: Stax as entry points

With TabStax, you shift from “tab thinking” to “problem thinking”:

  1. Name the situation – the project, deadline, or problem you’re working on.
  2. Gather the key resources – tabs, docs, Notion pages, dashboards, whatever you need.
  3. Write the next action(s) on the Start Page – so your brain knows exactly where to grab when you come back.

Example 1: Nov 24th deadline project

Old pattern:

You keep thinking “I have that November 24th deadline” and feel low-grade stress while tabs, docs, and notes are scattered everywhere.

New pattern:

  • Create a Stax: Nov 24 Presentation.
  • Pull in key resources: the brief, Notion page, slide deck, reference docs.
  • On the Start Page write 2–3 next actions:
    • “Skim brief & highlight goals”
    • “Draft slide outline”
    • “Check data sources”
  • Result: Relief, because you’ve started and you know exactly how to re-enter the work later.

Example 2: Car insurance renewal

Old pattern:

Your car insurance renews on the 13th every year. You always mean to compare prices but never do, so you default to the highest rate your provider offers.

New pattern:

  • Create a Stax: Car Insurance Renewal.
  • Save the renewal email & provider login page + one comparison site as tabs.
  • On the Start Page, set a single next action: “Run comparison on 2 providers before accepting renewal.”
  • Result: Next time you open that Stax, everything is ready and you just do the comparison instead of hunting for links or procrastinating.
flowchart TD
    A[Notice problem / deadline] --> B[Create Stax for it]
    B --> C[Add key tabs/docs]
    C --> D[Write 1-3 next actions on Start Page]
    D --> E[Later: open Stax]
    E --> F[Follow next action]
    F --> G[Progress & relief]

Car insurance example (detailed flow) 

flowchart LR
    A[Insurance renews on 13th] --> B[Create 'Car Insurance Renewal' Stax]
    B --> C[Add: renewal email + provider login + comparison site]
    C --> D[Next action: 'Compare 2 providers']
    D --> E[Open Stax on the 10th]
    E --> F[Click comparison site tab]
    F --> G[Complete comparison in 10 mins]
    G --> H[Save money, feel competent]

The psychology: why your brain has been waiting for this

TabStax isn’t just convenient—it aligns with how your brain actually wants to work, but your prefrontal cortex keeps overriding.

Your working memory can only hold 4–7 things at once (Miller, 1956; Cowan, 2001). Every time you try to remember “which tabs I had open” or “what I was doing next,” you’re burning through that tiny budget. Your prefrontal cortex—the executive function part of your brain—tries to compensate by holding everything: deadlines, URLs, half-formed intentions, mental notes. This is exhausting and it fails constantly.

The Zeigarnik Effect (Zeigarnik, 1927) shows that unfinished tasks create mental tension. Your brain loops on them, trying not to forget. But here’s the key: the moment you have a clear, external plan for what to do next, the loop stops. You don’t need to finish the task—you just need to trust that you’ve captured it and know the next physical action.

This is why Getting Things Done (GTD) works (Allen, 2001). The “next action” is the smallest, most concrete step you can take. Not “plan the presentation”—that’s vague and your brain doesn’t know where to grab. Instead: “Draft 3 bullet points for intro slide.” That’s a ledge. Your brain can let go because it knows exactly where to start next time.

TabStax does this automatically:

  • Captures context (all the tabs/resources for this problem space) → your brain stops trying to remember what you had open
  • Stores next actions (the specific, physical steps) → Zeigarnik loop stops; mental tension releases
  • Externalizes the entire setup → frees your working memory for actual thinking instead of remembering

Your prefrontal cortex has been trying to be a heroic bookmark manager and task tracker. It’s the wrong tool for the job. Your brain’s intuitive system always wanted named entry points with clear next actions—it just couldn’t articulate that through the noise of your frontal lobe saying “I can hold it all, I’ll remember.”

TabStax is the model of work your brain always wanted but didn’t ask for. It stops fighting your cognitive architecture and starts working with it.

Why this feels different in your brain

Your brain stops looping on “don’t forget.”

Instead of holding everything in working memory, your brain knows there’s a ready-made entry point. The Stax is waiting with everything you need.

You no longer reconstruct context.

Opening a Stax means: tabs reappear, next actions are right there, you just follow the ledge you built last time.

For collaboration, everyone gets the same front door.

When you share a Stax, teammates don’t ask “Where’s the doc?” or “What should I do first?” They open the Stax and see the same setup, same next actions, same structure.

The emotional shift is from vague dread to clear starting point.

Now you can…

Now you can think in problems and outcomes, not tabs and chaos—and your brain gets to spend its energy doing the work instead of rebuilding where you were.

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