Top Tips for Productive Thinking - Ann Skidmore

We ALL have the potential to think better, more productively, and more creatively in everyday life. Thinking more productively is a skill that we can learn, all it takes is the right focus. It’s not what you know but what you think, and there is a lot of room for improvement. Thinking is hard work. The more you practice the better you become at thinking. Use these Top Tips to think about your thinking!

‘It’s not enough to be busy. The question is: what are you busy about ?’ Henry Thoreau

1. Identify the most productive part of the day.

2. Concentrate on managing well the hours when you are most productive. Use this time for your most important work.

3. Put into order of priority the opportunities or problems you need to think about creatively.

4. Learn to recognise how your subconscious mind works, so that you will be ready for ideas when they surface.

5. Ensure that you have put enough time into analysing a project and gathering information, so that your subconscious mind can work on it.

6. When you run into a dead end on a project, stop and check that you are not impeded by the lack of facts, lack of conviction, lack of a starting point, lack of perspective, or lack of motivation.

7. Write down ideas when they occur, even if it is in the middle of the night.

8. Set aside a period each day for mental reflection — by dismissing the trivia of the day, your mind is cleared to be creative.

9. Analyse past success and identify the reasons of failures so that you can use the lessons productively.

10. At the end of each day, make a list of priorities for the next day so that your subconscious can work on these overnight.