It is reported that critical thinking, creativity, and their practical application(应用)are widely accepted as the top three skills that young people need to have when they take jobs in their future. Critical thinking is about becoming a better thinker in every aspect of your life: in your career, and as a consumer, citizen, friend, parent and lover. Critical thinking helps you make wiser decisions. It helps you avoid wasting time, money and so on. Therefore, do look before you leap.

Whenever a good critical thinker needs to do something, he would usually firstly check why he needs to do it and whether he really needs to do it. Then, he tries to find out what it really is and the best way to do it.

And then he makes sure whether he is able to do it and how to do it well. Finally, he makes the decisions and takes actions. Take the “Double 11” (a popular online shopping day in China) as an example. A few days before it, he checks carefully what he needs and whether he really needs them, and makes a shopping list. He goes to the online shops to compare the quality and the prices of things that he is going to buy. He compares the shops that sell these things. Then he checks whether he can afford them and in which shops he is going to buy them.

Then what would happen if he didn’t think critically before he made the decisions? After the crazy “Double 11”, there were usually a lot of complaints on the Internet. There were regrets about buying more things than they needed. There were complaints about the poor quality and the prices of the things they bought. There were also complaints because they received wrong things or simply received nothing. There were all kinds of regrets and complaints. Why so? They had not thought critically before they made the decisions.

The Power of 10 Minutes

How can we find ourselves with extra two hours? It probably comes in short little bursts of 5 to 10 minutes. Maybe you’re early to your school. 【小题1】. Instead of jumping on social media, you can actually use those little breaks to do something productive.

Strengthen Relationship

In college, you’ll be eager to call your parents every single night. Besides, you know it’s necessary to stay in touch with your friends. A phone call doesn’t have to last an hour to get in some good conversation. A 5-minute’s call is enough. An email is even quicker. 【小题2】.

Strengthen Body

【小题3】, or a few stretches (伸展运动) can give your back a break from desk and chair. A few minutes of exercise goes a long way. Why not make full use of the breaks between classes to get actively involved in exercise? Your body will thank you.

【小题4】

Sometimes we’re so busy that our lives are in a mess, with piles of books on our desks, clothes everywhere on the floor at our dorms. We usually think it a waste of time cleaning up, therefore let them be. Instead, begin with a 5-minute’s tidying up. And keep it up every day, you’ll be amazed to find your life organized and get yourself refreshed.

Be More Productive

Want to be extra productive? 【小题5】. You can write all of the tasks you’d like to complete that day, week, or month on the list. Keep it handy. The next time you find yourself with 10 extra minutes, you’ll know exactly what you can work on.

Anger itself is neither good nor bad. It’s what we do when we’re angry that matters. Anger is a tool that helps us to read and respond to the social situations that bother us. But how can we keep it under control?

It’s normal to think that getting angry is bad and many times we punish ourselves for doing so. But contrary to popular belief, research indicates that anger increases optimism, creativity and efficiency. In addition, studies suggest that anger can lead to more successful negotiations at work, as well as in our personal lives.

In fact, suppressing（抑制）anger can be very bad for your health. In this sense, Dr. Ernest Harburg performed a study by monitoring a group of adults and their capacity（最大容量）for anger. What he found is that the men and women who suppressed their anger as a response to an unfair attack had a higher risk of developing bronchitis or suffering from heart attacks , and were more likely to die before their colleagues who let their anger surface when they felt bothered.

When anger arises, we feel the need to either prevent or put an end to this powerful feeling for the benefit of our welfare or the welfare of those we care about. But this act of kindness, mercy, love or justice isn’t beneficial in this way. However, it’s certainly a good thing to be cautious when anger begins to surface. Expressing your anger can be appropriate with certain people at certain times. The question lies in how to do it without losing control. The key to expressing your anger is finding the appropriate tone for expressing what it is that upsets you. But to avoid unnecessary shouting, hitting, or other violent reactions, it’s worth taking a moment to step back and think, even though we may be in the middle of an argument with someone.