Henry Ford said “Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it.” I don’t dispute that, but in addition to being hard work, I believe there are at least two additional reasons.
First, most people don’t schedule a time for it. Don’t believe me? When was the last time you blocked out time on your calendar for “think time?” And yet what on your calendar is more important to your future than thinking? Earl Nightingale and W. Clement Stone both suggested that time for thinking be made a regular part of each day.
The second reason is that as a culture, we put great emphasis on action. Granted, nothing happens without action. But acting before thinking is usually a recipe for trouble.
Part of the problem is that when we are thinking, it can look like we’re doing nothing. That usually doesn’t go over well with the boss. But what can possibly be more important to the long term success of the business than thinking about how to solve the problems confronting it?
If we need insight to solve a problem confronting us, we will need to take the time to think about it. That can be done in many different ways. Some like to do their thinking while running, some while walking on the beach, others with a cup of coffee and a pen and paper and still others while meditating. There is no “correct” way, just whatever works for you.
Oftentimes the answer doesn’t come to us while we’re actively thinking about the problem. But by devoting time to actively pursue solutions, we allow our subconscious mind to work on the problem when we are not, and that often produces the insight, or solution, that we are seeking.
Freud was a medical doctor, but when he couldn’t find anything organically wrong with his patients despite their complaints, he had the insight that there must be a connection between the mind and body, and thus the field of psychology was born.
Maslow was a trained psychologist and he observed that everything we knew (to that point) was a result of studying sick people. His insight was, what could we learn by studying well people, and his hierarchy of needs is the result of that insight.
If this is a topic that interests you, there are many books available to help you get started. Lateral Thinking and A Whack on the Side of the Head are two classics, but there are scores more.