Critical Thinking: Eliminate the Noise

It is so easy to lose focus this time of year.  While trying to feverishly wrap up 2010′s performance reviews, meet sales goals, and finalize 2011′s budget, there are also Secret Santa and ornament exchanges, ugly holiday sweater parties, and new year’s eve invites to distract you.  When you go home, you navigate holiday shopping traffic only to realize you forgot an essential ingredient for the 3 dozen cookies you promised to bring to tomorrow’s holiday cookie exchange.  Perhaps you try to relax by turning on the television, but the news is full of weather drama, sad stories, and politicians arguing. It’s overwhelming.

When the stress gets to you, it’s time to Eliminate the Noise.  Focus on what is important. You cannot be good at 1 important thing if you’re distracted by 100 inconsequential things.

The same is true of critical thinking.  After you identify the problem or define the goal, you must remind yourself to stick to the issue at hand.  Do not let emotions take you off topic or allow issues of a lesser priority distract you from the main topic.

During brainstorming sessions, be sure to use a flip chart to table issues that are not directly related to the problem you’re solving at the moment.  The same technique can be used when you’re making decisions alone.  One technique I use is writing a problem definition statement at the top of my notebook.  Each time I head down a new mental path I ask myself whether or not I’m following the right path for the problem I’ve defined.

How do you eliminate the noise while thinking critically?

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Editor’s Note: Breanne Harris is the Solutions Architect for Pearson TalentLens.  She works with customers to design selection and development plans that incorporate critical thinking assessments and training.  She has a Master’s degree in Organizational Psychology and has experience in recruiting, training, and HR consulting.  She is the chief blogger for Critical Thinkers and occasionally posts at ThinkWatson.  Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter for more of her thoughts.