The document outlines 9 strategies for developing critical thinking skills: 1) Turn downtime into think time by reflecting on your day. 2) Take problems one at a time with a specific strategy. 3) Focus on intellectual standards like clarity and precision. 4) Keep an intellectual journal to log experiences. 5) Look within to develop traits like perseverance. 6) Challenge your own views and perspectives. 7) Get in touch with your emotions and analyze them. 8) Analyze group influences on your thoughts and actions. 9) Practice these strategies daily to continuously learn and improve critical thinking.

1. EVERYDAY CRITICAL THINKING
9 steps to develop your critical thinking skills
Mario Barrientos

2. THE ROAD TO SUCCESS
OBJECTIVE: LEARN THE STEPS NEEDED TO DEVELOP
YOURSELF AS A CRITICAL THINKER
 The stages of critical thinkers
 9 strategies to develop your critical thinking skills
1. Turning Downtime into ThinkTime.
2. One Problem at a Time.
3. Focus on Intellectual Standards.
4. Keep An Intellectual Journal.
5. Look Within.
6. “You’re so Vain”
7. Redefine the Way You See Things.
8. Get in touch with your emotions.
9. Analyze group influences on your life

3. STAGES OF CRITICAL THINKING
 Before we begin to attempt to develop ourselves as
critical thinkers, we must understand the stages of
development.
 Stage 1: The Unreflective Thinker
 Unaware of significant problems within our thinking
 Stage 2: The Challenged Thinker
 We become aware of the problems in our thinking
 Stage 3: The Beginning thinker
 We try to improve, but without regular practice
 Stage 4: The Practicing thinker
 We recognize the necessity of thinking
 Stage 5: The Advanced thinker
 We advance in accordance with our practice
 Stage 6: The Master Thinker
 Skilled and insightful thinking becomes second nature

4. TURNING DOWNTIME INTO THINKTIME
 How much time did you waste today?
 Time spent watching the Kardashians?
 Time spent in your car in traffic?
 Time spent on Facebook?
 Turn that downtime (when your brain isn’t bwing
used to its full potential into think time.
 Reflect on your day
 What did you accomplish today?
 Is there anything you would have done differently?
 Is what I did today going to impact my life or the world
positively?
 Spend this think time to develop what your thoughts
consist of to hone in your skills

5. ONE PROBLEM AT TIME
 Take your problems one step, one day at a time.
 Each morning, choose a specific problem to tackle.
 Be specific as possible.
 The more specific, the more likely you are to solve the
problem
 What information do you need to solve this problem?
 Draw as many reasonable solutions to your problem as
possible.
 What actions can you take to solve your problem?
 Develop a strategy and follow the strategy to solve your
problem.
 Be flexible
 Your first solution might not be the best. Be ready to change
your strategy if needed.

6. INTELLECTUAL STANDARDS
 Each week choose and develop an
intellectual standard
 Focus on a standard such as
clarity, precision, accuracy, relevance, depth, br
eadth, logicalness, significance
 State what you are saying
 Elaborate
 Give examples
 Use Analogies

7. KEEP AN INTELLECTUAL JOURNAL
 Each week write down your experiences
 Use a specific format
1. Situation
1. Describe a situation that was significant to you
2. Your Response
1. How did you react to the situation
2. Be specific as possible
3. Assessment
1. How do you feel you reacted to the situation and was your
response reasonable?

8. LOOK WITHIN
 Choose an intellectual trait such as intellectual
perseverance, autonomy, empathy, courage,
humility, etc to develop each month.
 Don’t allow your intellectual intelligence keep you
from learning.
YOU’RE SO VAIN
 Thinking Egocentrically can hamper your ability to
learn and develop your critical thinking skills
 Know that you don’t know everything
 Strive to grow from your mistakes

9. REDEFINE THE WAY YOU SEE THINGS
 Your particular view on situations is the only one
and it very often isn’t the only right one.
 A new perspective can teach you a new way to
tackle a problem.
GET IN TOUCH WITH YOUR EMOTIONS
 If you feel negative emotion, find the root of the
emotion and ask yourself if it is reasonable.
 How would others feel about the same situation?

10. ANALYZE GROUP INFLUENCES ON YOUR LIFE
 What does your group of friends feel about your
actions or feelings?
 How do your group’s actions reflect upon yourself?
 How does this pressure affect you every day?

11. CONCLUSION
 Remember, each day is a new day, and new
opportunity to better yourself and the world.
 You can never stop learning
 You wont always be right; but when you accept you
are wrong, you learn the most
 Integrate each strategy everyday and do so with the
intent to learn the most each day
 Use your emotions to your advantage and develop
a passion through them