Critical Thinking

I’ve talked to you lately about time being more important than money because you can make more money and you know you can’t make more time. And we have talked about planning. Today we have to talk about the ‘do it’ factor.

Once we know what is important enough to us that we are willing to trade time we cannot get back to see ‘it’ done, no matter what ‘it’ may be, we have to do ‘it’.  Believe me, everything looks easy until that point. But when it comes down to getting something scheduled, done, or playing the video game, or just sitting and resting, actions may become hard to accomplish. At this point, an interesting item called critical thinking can come to your rescue.

Actually, you can do either, the task or something else. The question asked  is, “Do you really want to do something else?” At the moment the mind will probably tell you, “Yeah just relax.” Yet, you know the task needs to get done.

Critical thinking allows you mentally to walk around to the other side of your decision and see what comes out. You were supposed to clean up the kitchen and run the dishwasher. That’s what was scheduled. It has been a long day, and you’re sitting in the easy chair playing your favorite video game. You can quickly decide what to do by using a little critical thinking.

Start by thinking of the task you need to do, and how long it will take. It’s not a big kitchen, you can probably be done in half an hour. When you start to play your game, it takes about an hour. Now, imagine what the kitchen looks like after you clean it up. It’s nice it’s clean, and it makes you feel good.

Now imagine what the kitchen will look like after an hour of playing the video game. A pile of dishes is sitting in the sink waiting to go into the dishwasher. Below all the dishes puddles of gum get the bottom of the sink. Who knows what that could be? Crumbs and spills over the counters. And a floor that needs to be swept.

If you’re like me, there is no one else that will do it for you, so that vision is only going to stay with you and get worse until it’s cleaned up anyway. If you do the task now, you will feel better. There will probably be time for some video games a little later on. You may even do better because you feel better.

Just a thought.

Have a great day!

Author: Mike Balof

A retired Air Force Master Sergeant, Mike used to lay in bed at night and worry about what would happen if his plant closed or found himself without a job. One day his plant closed. Rather than panic and hysteria (OK, maybe a little) Mike found himself carried away on the adventure of his life. Mike started with the best job he ever had working at Home Depot. He spent 8 years working with job seekers at a local workforce center, helping them to find employment. He then started his own company developing courses, writing books and urging others to follow their own paths into the future. Mike holds a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Training and a Bachelor of Business Management, earned through the University of Phoenix and an AAS degree in Electronics Systems Technology from the Community College of the Air Force. Mike is a member of the Delta Mu Delta Business Honor Society. View all posts by Mike Balof