Last week I talked about the importance of finding and scheduling time to produce work, which is important.  However, equally, if not more important, is giving your brain a workout and scheduling thinking time.  Social media, streaming TV, endless notifications and frankly, the pure busyness of life in general can all feel like they are conspiring to soak up all of our time and attention.

All of this can make deep thinking difficult.  To truly focus our mind on an issue or topic (for me at least) requires focused attention, which is hard to get when there is so much noise.

Making mistakes and overcoming challenges only add value if you reflect on them and learn from it, which requires reflection.  Those that do not learn from mistakes are doomed to repeat them.  Putting in the work and reflecting is a critical step in this process.

As with most things in life, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to effective thinking time.  You need to experiment and figure out what works best for you.  Once you find out what that is, protect it with an intense focus.  Giving your brain an issue, challenge or topic to just chew on is critical to creativity and problem solving.

There are two ways to approach your thinking time.  Both can be effective, it really just depends on what you are trying to achieve.  The first is to have a topic or an issue that you want your brain to think on, you just need to “plant the seed” and let your mind get to work.  The second is to not have anything specific and to just let your mind wander and wonder.  I am always amazed at the things that I come up with or questions that I raise during these sessions.

For me, getting out into nature is the best way for my mind to truly go quiet and tackle an issue.  Being near some sort of body of water really helps as well.  However, I can’t always get to a lake, ocean or river so the nature areas in my neighbourhood have to suffice.  In a world of opposites, a noisy coffee shop is another area where I can do some great thinking.  The background noise (conversations, orders being called, background music, etc.) provides a kind of white noise that blends into the background and let’s my mind wander.

Although not officially a muscle, I feel that it is vitally important to work out our brain with concentrated and focused thinking mixed with general open thinking and curiosity.  If you haven’t figured out the best place to give your brain a work out, get out there and do some experimentation.  

Think of all the things you will think!