Gary Basin's Thinking Toys

What Are Thinking Toys?

Thinking Toys are mental moves that help us solve problems. They can help us get unstuck. We’d like our minds to have effortless subconscious access to these tools. However, this requires regular practice until they’re installed.

With practice, the process of “thinking” can automatically run through explicit moves that get us better solutions.

Gary's Original List

You should visit Gary's original list for the full detail (Link)

My Favorite Thinking Toys

Decision Making

Effectuation

A useful thinking toy when you don't know what you want.

Taking Action

Implementation Intentions

When planning feels like a bottleneck

Granularizing

When goals feel so big you don't start

Problem Solving

Pro/Pre Hindsight

Visualizing risks or requirements to a goal

Inversion

When you need a fresh approach to a problem

Managing Self Control

Construal Levels

When we feel stuck or lacking progress or direction

Presencing

When we are in an angry or heated state