Can you improve critical thinking

Learn more. Show findcourses. Personal Development Professional Development We make decisions everyday that affect our lives. If you are still in doubt about your critical thinking ability or wondering what you should do in order to improve critical thinking, here is a list of steps that you should follow: 1.

Know exactly what you want Knowing exactly what you want is the first step of critical thinking. We have to think critically to solve problems so that they meets their objectives. E very decision we make has an objective or purpose attached to it and identifying exactly what that is, what we actually want out of it, gives us a starting point to work with.

Deal with your biases We often think from only our own perspective to deal with problems. Consider the consequences of your options Every option we choose has consequences for ourselves, or maybe others involved in the problem.

Do your research I'm sure you've heard that knowledge is power. It's okay to make mistakes and no matter who we are, we all make them.

Break it down Being able to see the big picture is great but it's even better if you can break things down into smaller sections. The reason being that smaller sections are easier to mentally digest and work with. Don't overcomplicate things Overcomplicating things is something a lot of us have in common. There are a number of occasions where simplicity gets the job done. Last updated: 09 Feb You might also be interested in:. Browse Articles by Category.

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Quiz Am I in the Right Job? Are you happy in your job? Of course, if you have higher learning ambitions and want to take your broader knowledge or ability to a whole new level, do that also. Learn that instrument and study ancient Greek philosophy. Ultimately, you will have not only learned a new skill or hobby but also formed valuable new neural connections that contribute to overall brain health and heightened cognitive function.

Improving critical thinking skills isn't an age-specific pursuit. Besides, you don't have to change the world, conquer nature, or write the next great masterpiece—just believe in the possibility of your own potential. Since time began, the human mind has formulated profound questions about practically everything under the sun not to mention things beyond the sun. In modern learning, we continue to teach our children to question and to explore possibilities.

Questions are good; essential questions are even better. Being able to ask meaningful questions that lead to constructive and useful answers are at the core of critical thinking and lifelong learning. Providing learning with driving questions as the focus ensures that both we and our learners don't just passively accept information.

As a result, we train ourselves and our students to search for different views and opinions and take nothing for granted. The following activity for improving critical thinking skills is an excerpt from an article featured on Skills You Need. Think of something that someone has recently told you. Then ask yourself the following questions:. Have you ever heard the expression "most people are just waiting for their turn to talk? If that's really the case, then who is truly listening?

What does it mean to actively listen when someone is talking? Above all, how do we adopt it as personal practice for improving critical thinking skills? To begin with, let's take a look at the scope of the task at hand. Research cited by the University of Missouri suggests that, by and large, people are mostly inefficient listeners:.

Within 48 hours, that drops off another 50 percent to a final level of 25 percent efficiency. Unfortunately, most people think that listening is easy, but it's actually very hard work.

This is especially true of active listening—that is, making a conscious and concerted effort to hear the words being said, and more importantly understanding their message.

It's also about completely comprehending what the person speaking needs or is trying to accomplish. This translates to having empathy, not offering sympathy or placating the speaker. Active listening can be taught, learned, and practiced like any other communication skill. So many problems and so little time; this is the curse of the workaday citizen. Related article: How to use your thinking skills every day.

A few people I know have a habit of setting aside an entire day or half a day a week for thinking alone. Such an approach suits people who like to think in a flow for hours instead of spending small chunks every day.

Writers and artists follow the interrupted model of continuous thinking. That said, you can use the method irrespective of your profession if you believe it works for you. A harder but powerful way to clear your mind and focus is to take a few days off to explicitly think. Bill Gates was among the most notable people who followed such a methodology. He would take a week off, twice every year, and isolate himself from family, friends, and coworkers. He spent the time in a cabin in the woods, reading, analyzing, and thinking.

While he was away from the rest of the world, a cook brought him 2 meals a day. Not every one of us has the privilege to lock ourselves amidst nature with a private chef. But, you can find a budget hotel to spend time by yourself if you want to.

The practice helps you pause, slow down, and focus on the right things. Many authors, actors, and musicians also isolate themselves for weeks or months until they finish what they intended to.

A writer wraps his head around the first draft of a book, an actor gets into the character for a movie and a musician comes up with the songs for a new album. One such example is Heath Ledger who locked himself in a room for a month before he played the iconic Joker in the Dark Knight.

You can choose any of the above three methods based on your personality, circumstances, and thought process. Though a blueprint for successful thinking does not exist, here are a few ways to make the best use of the time. You might want to skyrocket your career growth at work, improve the relationship with your partner, grow your business, or start a healthy lifestyle.

Take the time to think of an improvement that will take you one step closer to your goal. Do not focus only on massive game-changing ideas.

Minor improvements tally up to exponential returns in the long run. Think how can you draft better emails and build better rapport. They might seem like tiny improvements, but when you implement many such changes day in and day out the results out shadow a single major idea. Recall any mistake or failure and analyze what went wrong.

Use your judgment to decide how to avoid a similar error the next time. Your mistakes do not have to be as massive as the one which leaves you bankrupt or end your relationship with your partner. Ask yourself the reason behind simpler missteps like uttering the wrong words, gobbling unnecessary calories, or missing a deadline.

The petty mistakes have petty reasons which are easier to correct. In the long run, the compound effect of avoiding such errors pays handsome rewards. The technique applies to students, working professionals, entrepreneurs and in personal life alike.

Related article: How to analyze your mistakes and achievements. Not every decision is straightforward. In such cases, list out all the pros and cons of each option that you can think of. For the method to work, you have to jot down all the positives and negatives with utmost honesty without favoring one choice discreetly. Once you have the list of pros and cons, reconsider your choice. One single advantage or disadvantage can sway the judgment in any direction. One of my favorite activities during my thinking time is creating mindmaps.

By using mindmaps, you can expand from a central theme and let your thoughts run wild. Do not worry about following the traditional rules used to create them.

Mindmaps work best when you apply commonsense and capture ideas in a format that makes sense to you. If you have never created a mindmap before, here is the process to create one. For example:. You can further break down those areas into different ways of working out, a dieting schedule, and the different outdoor games you can engage in. When you have more than one method to implement a task, consider which path will you choose.

Each choice has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, consider the goal of starting a business. You can choose any of the two routes:. In such businesses, you follow a conventional method which has worked before instead of building a new idea.

For example, starting a restaurant business involves a standard procedure of chefs, inventory, storage, billing, and service. The advantage of a known approach is you know what pitfalls to avoid.