Critical Thinking

March 11, 2021

What is Critical Thinking?

It is not about how many books someone has read or how much knowledge they have stored away at the back of their head; Critical Thinking means thinking clearly. It is about taking a given situation in hand and being able to think critically. Emotions often make people make decisions that they come to regret later, be it in a professional workspace or even in personal life. Critical Thinking is about making a rational decision and being able to think logically about the given situation.

It is not just questioning what, but also how, why, where, when and by whom.

Why is it Important?

We live in a world surrounded by fake news and false tips. The world is constantly changing, and the information given in textbooks are quickly being outdated. Critical Thinking emphasizes active learning, questioning ideas and being open to new ideas that do not sit well with the already constructed safe notions.

In any sector of work, Critical Thinking is important. People are not looking for mindless robots they can hire to complete their work- in fact, even robots can think rationally now. Companies and employees are on a constant lookout for bright minds and new ideas. They are looking for people who can read between the lines, think for themselves and come to a decision using cognitive skills.

How to Develop the skills

Curiosity

Unless one is curious about their surroundings, nothing can be questioned. It is very simple to sit back and take what is given to us. Everybody does that. To critically think anything, the first and the most important question asked is- “Why?” Though often it is thought that a child is born with the quality of being curious, such is not the case. It is about making the conscious choice of sitting up, looking at the situation and pushing oneself to ask why something is happening. It might take time but by this small method, anybody can start looking at the world in a new light. Just ask, “Why?”

Observation

Along with an open mind, a set of open eyes and ears will take everyone a long way. Observing the surroundings often produce answers that would have otherwise remained obscured in plain view. There are various techniques to develop observational skills, like journaling or writing down all that one sees or actively listening to the chatter around. Once someone begins to pick up on all this information, questions will automatically start popping up.

Accepting biases

Everyone no matter how educated has a set of biases. Prejudices people have been brought up, things that have forced someone to be cautious and just make a choice. To critically think, one does not have to let go of these biases though that is the hopeful ultimate goal. At the moment, it is about accepting biases that one might have. One can be extremely prejudiced against another community of workers or such. We need to be aware of this bias, and then move to ask questions like “Is the bias affecting my ability to think?” “Who does this bias actually benefit?”

Identification

One cannot start to think about a situation unless one has actually identified the situation. Whenever faced with a new challenge, a question or perhaps a new variant of the same old problem, keep an open mind. Question the people who are behind what is happening, why is it happening and how it will impact everyone

Research

To be able to think critically, one needs to know what is happening. Think of the context of the information or the source.  This will not be served to anyone on a silver platter and one has to make an active effort in order to understand the context. Without the background information and just face value of things, anybody can easily mislead. Once again, it comes back to questioning everything.

Active learning

Any sort of thinking will fall short if the individual does not have information. There’s a reason successful people urge students to constantly keep reading books. They are a source of information and keep the mind engaged. Today’s world presents everyone with even more learning opportunities like audio books, educational videos and so much more. Being up to date with the current happening in not only your field of work but also the current events can help you make a more informed decision.

We at Career Kites are working on building the gap between college and companies with our 6 weeks of training and learning program. This training module focuses on both technical and soft skills and developing the overall personality of an individual. Some of the topics we cover are Basic Excel, Resume Building, Interview Cracking and Mock Gd’s.

If you want to be a part of this program and transform your career opportunities, then enroll for our 6-weeks skill-building program.

Written By:- Amber Keshari, Shubhr Aakriti

Edited By:- Ashutosh Dhar Dwivedi, Zeya Ullah Saif

Time Management

What is Time Management?

Even if a student was just focusing on their classes, it is important to note that with the class schedule, traveling time and resting time, self-study often gets lost in the void. Often, just looking at the clock tick away is the way of wasting time. As it would happen, even if the student were to open the book and sit down, going in the flow makes people forget about other engagements post the study time. To juggle all of this in a manner that helps students and others alike get their life in line is what Time management is all about. It is not about making and sticking to a schedule where every moment of your day is important. Time management is about planning, setting up a goal, choosing priorities and organizing all of those ideas to suit one’s needs

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Benefits of Time management

Productivity

With a set plan and time managed, anybody will be able to achieve more. Since a time is already dedicated to a certain task, the other slots remain free. How anybody designates those slots is up to personal preference and with wise choices, that could mean getting more work done. Productivity will certainly increase with careful time management.

Efficiency

Since things will be planned out by date and work to be done, efficiency will begin to reflect in the work done. A time already dedicated to meet the goals will help in finishing them.

Less procrastination

If someone already knows what they are going to do, how they are going to do it and when they are going to do it, eventually they will find themselves dragging to their desk and getting the work done. With a scheduling such that there is time to rest, it will result in getting more work done and less time wondering where time has gone.

Want to learn how to overcome procrastination? Check out the blog on the procrastination.

Less Stress

With everything planned, the stress levels will automatically come down. Careful planning can relieve much of the tension about finishing the work.

Time

This might seem like a joke, but rest assured it is not. If a person manages time well and is able to delegate work to a certain time period, they will have time to plan and reflect as well. With everything compartmentalized, an individual will be able to see how the time is spent and move around their work accordingly. This, in the end, will help greatly in saving time. Often humans overestimate their work, and with time management this can be much easily finished.

How to Manage Time

Goal Setting

The primary stone of everything. Unless someone knows what goals they are working towards, planning, organizing or anything else would be of no use. Goal setting does not need to be a life goal like becoming a multimillionaire- it can be something as simple as learning how to code by the next month or perhaps preparing a personal project by the end of the year.

The idea associated with goal setting is that one should know which subheading it falls under. That is not necessarily important. Listing down all the goals on the paper is the best place to start.

Prioritizing

Personal, private, professional, official, urgent, long term- there are some of the many categories that anybody’s goals can fall under. What is important is prioritizing goals. Which ones need to be finished first- this can be due to a deadline or a personal reason, but making this distinction is very important. Between two tasks due this week and next month, the one for this week definitely takes precedence.

Time is not the only factor which helps in prioritizing. The overall development of a person is more important, and thus tasks with that should be given priority.

Planning

It is not about making a straight line and presentable work- it is about figuring out which time slots are at someone’s disposal. Class hours and work timings are non-changeable. Similarly, taking time out for all meals and daily activities is a necessity. If it takes someone fifteen minutes to get ready, that needs to be taken into account.

Questions to ponder upon while planning is whether the time slot between two heavy classes will be better spent studying or resting so that more time can be given to work later? How long does it take me to finish a certain amount of work, and if I do not have the stretch to do so how can I divide it?

Decision making

It is important to come to a decision regarding your schedule. There are different ways of Time management- micromanagement, fixed schedule or rotation on a bi-weekly basis rather than a weekly basis. Every person will have to choose what kind of schedule suits them best. If one cannot micromanage every second of their life, perhaps it would be a good idea to leave some time slots empty. The more flexible a calendar can be, the better.

Stress management

Often one engagement goes over the time or the time allotted goes missed due to some other work. Incidents like that can cause much stress, and it is important to note that Time Management is not about delegating a starting point for a task. Even if someone missed the starting point, starting later or rescheduling is always an option. In case there are unchangeable events, one can be prepared in advance. It is important to keep flexibility in the schedule to avoid much stress.

Organization

The final step of Time Management is organizing. Through paper or online applications like Google calendar, one can organize their day, week, month and even the year. It would behave like a helper- in case of anything happening, the person can refer back to the organized piece. In case calendars do not work for someone, merely making lists and sticking it where it remains in the mind would be extremely helpful.

All of these ways are mere helpful tools. These subjects are often looked over in school. We at Career Kites are working on building this gap between college and companies with our 6 weeks of training and learning program. This training module focuses on both technical and soft skills and developing the overall personality of an individual. Some of the topics we cover are Basic Excel, Resume Building, Interview Cracking, and Mock GD’s.

If you want to be a part of this program and transform your career opportunities, then enroll in our 6-weeks skill-building program.

Written By:- Amber Keshari, Shubhr Aakriti

Edited By:-Ashutosh Dhar Dwivedi, Zeya Ullah Saif

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