Methods of Thinking

Most of us don’t often think about how we think, it’s just too meta for some. When we put some effort into understanding it there are several different ways in which we use our minds to think through a problem or to learn something new. We all use a combination of different methods for thinking. Each of us is better at certain methods than others. Methods for thinking are actions you do that require practice and focus to master. As you consistently continue to develop these methods your thinking abilities will improve. The best part is that you can use each one of these methods no matter which one you excel at. All of us already use each of these methods and may not even realize they are methods that can be improved upon. Some of them may be new or something we haven’t done in a while but should start back up to improve our processing power. This is not an all inclusive list of the various ways that we use our brains. There are many more, but this just highlights some of the most common. Don’t just use this information to find out where you are strongest or the methods that work best for you, also look at the ones where you are the weakest. Figure out why you are weaker in that area and what you can do to improve it. If you are weaker in debating then find someone you can trust and take on an opposing opinion. If meditation is your weak area set aside some time to practice it every day. Don’t let these things define you, use the information to take action and define yourself. Episode Breakdown Studying is a focused examination of a subject or topic. When you study you set a side a time to read, listen, or practice in a particular area. The objective is to learn something or deepen your understanding through a focused time. This allows you to dive deeper into an area and learn more about it. People have different ways they prefer to learn and therefore different study methods. Auditory learners may prefer to learn through podcasts whereas visual learners want to see a video. Most of us learn from several different ways, to improve your study ability look into the ways that you learn best. A common mistake people make is they do not time-box their studying. When studying is too open ended it can lead to unfocused time and easy distraction. When you time-box your study time it helps to stay focused on what you are doing. Meditating is focused time on your own thoughts. This could be a time of focusing on a particular area or idea. It could also be a time of focus on nothing or on emptying your mind to refresh and rejuvenate. The idea is to set aside a time and usually a space where you can get away from distractions to focus. Find a time when you won’t be disrupted. Go to a place where there aren’t many distractions. Starting out is a lot easier than most people expect. Get into a comfortable position and maybe turn on some instrumental music. Relax your body and just let your thoughts slip away. As they slide focus on the area you are meditating or on the emptiness. Unfocused thoughts will come to your mind as you do this, especially when you are first starting. The trick is to not fight them but instead acknowledge their existence while not lingering on them. Then let them fade just the way they came. Mind mapping is a technique to help focus your brain storming to stay on topic. A mind map starts with a central concept or idea then has branches leading to nodes of related ideas from that. Each of those branches can then have their own branches leading to nodes of related topics. Depending on how detailed you want to get will depend on how deep your branches go. For those who lean more toward divergent thinking this adds some beneficial focus and removes a few of the more out there paths of thought without having to explore them.