Greetings, friends!
Thinking is a multifaceted process for which there are many different definitions in psychology. In the general case, this term is called the process of mental processing of information based on the accumulated knowledge and axiomatic ideas about the world around a person. In the process of mental activity, a person analyzes the incoming information, draws conclusions, expands and complements his picture of the world.
Each of us is interested in developing and improving our thinking skills. They allow us to more accurately and quickly analyze the situation, draw the right conclusions and make the right decisions. To understand how to develop thinking, you must first find out what it is, how it works, how it works and what it depends on. Today we’ll go over these questions in detail, and then look at some effective exercises.
What is thinking?
Thinking is what makes us human. It is the ability to think analytically, compare facts and expand our picture of the world through logical inferences that distinguishes us from animals. There are several types of thinking, which differ in how a person analyzes information and how to draw conclusions. The most common are the following types of thinking:
- analytical – the ability to analyze a large number of facts, find complex relationships between various phenomena;
- logical – the ability to correctly compare facts, determine their significance and reliability, make correct inferences;
- deductive – the ability to draw correct conclusions in a particular situation, based on general knowledge (the principle of “general to specific”);
- inductive – the ability to draw correct general conclusions, based on a particular case (the principle “from the particular to the general”);
- systemic – a special approach to understanding the world around, aimed at streamlining and optimizing available knowledge;
- creative – a special type of thinking that allows you to generate new ideas, find non-standard solutions, make discoveries.
All kinds of thinking can work with different steps efficacy. The good news is that they can be developed, the main thing is to know how to do it. But before moving on to specific exercises, let’s take a closer look at how thought processes are arranged.
How does thinking work?
Every thought that exists in our minds, represents an associative relationship between several images and concepts. Separate images that appear in our thoughts seem to pull invisible strings, forcing us to remember the rest of the concepts associated with them. As a result, a kind of causal relationship arises, provoking an endless process of replacing some concepts and images with others.
Exploring how the thought process works, scientists found out that it consists of several key components: )
- Analysis . Dividing a complex entity into simplest images.
- Synthesis. Combining the simplest components, interconnected, into complex objects and phenomena.
- Comparison. Matching individual entities, finding similarities and differences.
- Classification. Distribution of objects into categories based on the presence of certain characteristics.
- Abstraction . Highlighting the most important features while ignoring other characteristics.
- Generalization . Grouping disparate objects by the presence of similar signs.
- Specification . Isolation of one object and clarification of its distinctive characteristics.
All these processes serve the same purpose – to help us accept correct decisions based on the available data. As a result of cognitive and mental activity, complex connections are formed in our minds between various images, from which the general picture of the world is formed. And the decision made in each specific situation is the result of processing all the information we have ever received.
How to develop thinking?
In order to develop your thinking, it is necessary to systematically work through each of the above components, improving in such areas as:
- critical thinking (the ability to analyze a situation, breaking it down into individual facts, comparing and contrasting them, determining their plausibility and reliability);
- the ability to synthesize (the ability to combine a large number of facts into one complex entity, object or process);
- the ability to compare events and facts, finding significant differences and similarities;
- the ability to classify (an important skill necessary to memorize new information);
- abstraction (highlighting key characteristics and discarding irrelevant ones);
- the ability to generalize (sb play disparate objects into groups, combining them according to common characteristics);
- the ability to concretize (focus on a specific image).
Developing in all of the above areas, you can significantly improve the quality of tactical and strategic thinking, which will allow you to better plan your actions on the way to the goal in the future. There are a wide variety of exercises for this. We will consider 10 of them, which do not require special skills and special tools – your desire and determination are enough.
Exercises for developing thinking
1. Reading
This is a simple yet effective way to develop thinking. While reading, we concentrate on analyzing the flow of incoming information. It is useful to read both educational literature and fiction. In the first case, you can broaden your horizons, and in the second, you can gain valuable experience by pondering and analyzing the actions of the main characters of a literary work. Reading gives new knowledge, increases the level of intelligence, develops memory and helps in self-development.
2. New routes and variety in habits
How to develop thinking. Indeed, orientation in space and finding a path is a very difficult task that requires significant efforts from our brain. And where there is effort, there is development. Find reasons to diversify your routes more often. Try another route to get to work. When walking your dog, walk where you have never walked. When going to the movies, choose a movie theater on the other side of town.
In addition to the routes, it is worth adding variety to everyday life. Everything that you do daily can be do a little differently. Try brushing your teeth and eating with your other hand, or getting ready for work in a different order, prepare an unusual dish, and rearrange. There are many options to “stir up” your thoughts by dramatically changing something familiar. Note that these activities may make you feel uncomfortable and have a strong urge to return to your previous rhythm. But this is the main indicator that the exercise is effective and creates a good load on the brain.
3. Development of memory
Memory is the most important component of our intellectual abilities. Most people do not hesitate to complain about the memory in the style of “I’m so smart, but the memory often fails.” However, it is the quality of memory that determines how quickly a person makes decisions, whether he can count well in his head, how easily he memorizes new material and whether he can make plans for the near future.
Therefore, memory training is a necessary element in the development of thinking … There are many affordable and effective ways to improve memory. For example, try taking 15 minutes a day to study poetry. If you are making a shopping list, try to buy everything you need without looking at the list (of course, then you can play it safe and revise it).
4. Daily Learning
Anyone interested in self-development should learn something new every day – this is the best way spend time with benefit. Take courses and trainings, buy interesting books, read articles about new research in your area of interest. Every day, you should feel like you’ve learned something new. This stimulates the brain to create new neural connections (not only the learning process itself, but also the satisfaction that you experience knowing that you are better today).
5. Refusal from TV
Of course, they do this not with malicious intent, but with the expectation of a large profit. But for consumers, this content is extremely harmful – it relaxes the brain, forcing a person to abandon development in favor of idly sitting his pants in front of an unobtrusive flickering screen. Addiction to TV shows and TV shows (like any other addiction) is extremely detrimental to thinking ability.
6. Drawing
Any difficult and unusual task is useful for developing thinking. And if you don’t know how to draw, then it’s time to learn, having received a useful skill, and at the same time increasing the level of your intelligence. Drawing is a great exercise for developing creative thinking, especially if you are not drawing material objects, but abstractions that come to mind. And once you’ve learned how to draw, you can use this ability to create visual notes, mind maps, flowcharts, and other useful graphing tools that people passionate about self-development love so much.
7. Expanding your social circle
Introverts might not like this advice too much. But communication and maintaining social connections is one of the key functions of our thinking. And by forcing your brain to engage in this activity, you make it work much more actively. Therefore, meet new people more often. Perhaps some of them will become good friends for you in the future.
8. Chess
Recently, people are playing more computer games, forgetting about such classics as chess. But it is a great exercise for developing thinking that should not be neglected.
9. Playing musical instruments
This is another common (and quite useful) advice on how to develop thinking. They say that a person who has learned to play a musical instrument will be able to succeed in anything. There is logic in this statement, because the performance of music requires a complex complex work from the brain: to follow the rhythm, control the accuracy of the melody, coordinate the movements of both hands. Also, the ability to play a musical instrument is a useful skill in order to increase your popularity in any company.
10. Leaving your comfort zone
Each person has their own life circumstances. However, being in a comfort zone is incompatible with development. To become better, a person must daily perform actions that are given to him with difficulty. All people like to rest, relax, doing only what is pleasant. But if you look closely at the behavior of successful people, you will notice that they constantly go out of their comfort zone, although they often want to rest too.
Training
The most effective way to develop thinking in a short time is to complete the training. I present to your attention the course “Development of thinking”.
You will learn:
- make the right decisions with lightning speed;
- clearly argue in disputes and convince;
- build your speech competently and logically;
- easily count complex examples in your mind.
The course includes:
- thinking development program;
- theoretical video lectures;
- practical exercises and assignments
- simulators for the development of logic
This course will help:
- improve and speed up thinking;
- develop analytical skills;
- think critically in any situation;
- take neshab general solutions.
Conclusion
Exercises to develop thinking take not much time and require very little effort, at the same time the result from them is very significant. Do not neglect this opportunity, and in a few weeks you will feel a noticeable improvement in strategic and tactical abilities, you will be able to solve more complex problems and make important decisions faster.
