Three Questions That Will Change How You Think Through Problems

Most leaders and managers I work with know they need more time to think. When I ask the people I work with what the benefit of thinking things through is, the answers are consistent: better decisions, more control over the day, and better work overall.

The problem is that thinking time is usually the first thing to go when the day gets busy, so it cannot be left to chance or opportunity. If you are in a busy role, one of the best things you can do to improve your workday is to set aside time to think intentionally. In this article,  I'll share the three questions I come back to again and again, simple enough to use in the middle of a busy day, but structured enough to actually move your thinking forward.

The Guilt of Doing Nothing

Take a moment and imagine this scenario. You've done the right thing and blocked out 30 minutes to think. What happens next? Do you start to feel a little uncomfortable? Do you find yourself drifting towards email, or filling the time with something more tangible?

This comes up all the time in my workshops. People say they know they should be thinking more, but they feel guilty when they're not visibly doing something. That's not a personal failing; it's a product of a work culture that rewards action, fast responses, and output you can point to. But thinking time is productive. It's just a different kind of productivity. It doesn't always show up as a ticked box, but it pays off in better ideas, better plans, and better outcomes.

One of the patterns I see most often in managers and leaders is the pressure to have an answer straight away. Rather than saying "let me think about that", the instinct is to respond as quickly as possible. Sometimes that's necessary, but we often solve the wrong problem because we didn't pause long enough to ask the right questions.

Not All Thinking Looks the Same

There are many ways to categorise thinking, but for the workday, I like to split it into two types: on-the-job thinking and deep thinking. The type of thinking you need really does depend on your role. Deep work gets a lot of attention, but it's not a requirement for every job, or even every week.

A customer support agent, for example, doesn't need to do much deep strategic thinking in their day-to-day work. Their job is to be present, to support customers, to respond in the moment, and that's where they do their best work. On the other hand, someone designing a solution to a complex problem needs time to think more broadly, not just about the immediate challenge, but about the ripple effect further down the line.

These two examples show how the nature of your role shapes the type of thinking you need most.

So before you decide what thinking time should look like for you, start by asking: what type of thinking does my work actually require? Once you've figured that out, you can start to look at how to create better conditions for it.

Creating Better Conditions for Thinking

Even if you carve out time in your calendar, your brain doesn't always cooperate on demand. You can't force a good idea just because the calendar says "strategic thinking" at 10 a.m. So it's less about scheduling thinking and more about creating conditions where good thinking becomes more likely.

Time:  The amount of time you need depends on the type of thinking you need to do. For on-the-job thinking, it could be two minutes at the end of a meeting or taking a minute before you reply to an email. For bigger decisions, you need more time, and it might need to be scheduled into your day.

This is one reason breaks from your desk are so important. Breaks are not just to rest and recharge but to give your brain space to work. I know I'm not the only one who's had a bright idea while out for a walk at lunch.

Place: The best place to think is a personal choice. Some people think best with background noise, whereas others need quiet, and it often depends on what you're working through. If your role involves a lot of switching between people and topics all day, a quiet spot to collect your thoughts can make a real difference. If you spend most of your time alone, being somewhere with a bit of background activity might actually help you think more clearly.

People:  Thinking is often assumed to be a solo activity, but it doesn't have to be. If you find yourself going in circles on a problem, that's a sign to think out loud with someone else. On the other hand, if you share a lot of information in a meeting, some attendees might want time alone to process it before giving their input.

You'll notice there is no one right way to create the conditions for thinking, and it's good to experiment with different combinations of time, place and people so you can discover the conditions that best support you.

The Three Questions I Come Back to Every Time

You could have time, place, and people all sorted, but if your mind is cluttered, it's hard to focus. I always recommend being patient with yourself and taking a moment to do a brain dump before you settle down to think about an important topic. You could write things down on a scrap of paper, talk through what's on your mind with someone for five minutes, or send yourself a voice note. Get it out of your head and then give your attention to the one thing you want to think about.

Sometimes it can be helpful to use a simple set of questions or prompts to help you move from spinning in circles to actually making progress.

My favourite three questions are: What's going well? What's not going well? What can I do differently?

These work whether you're thinking through a big decision or something as straightforward as how to reply to a difficult email. They're simple enough to use quickly, but structured enough to move your thinking forward.

How to Create a Thinking Culture in Your Team

If you're a manager or leader, this isn't just about your own thinking time; how you work shapes how your team works and shapes the culture of your organisation.

• Build buffer time into the calendar and encourage people not to stack meetings back-to-back. Even 10 minutes between meetings gives people a moment to reset, switch context, and gather their thoughts before the next thing starts.

• Make it okay to share rough thinking. Not everything has to be polished. Sharing an idea early, before it's fully formed, is often more useful than waiting until it's perfect. You can model this yourself by sharing your thinking in progress, inviting feedback, and creating an environment where early-stage ideas are welcome rather than risky.

• Protect your own thinking time. If you're not doing it, your team won't either. Block out time for deeper thinking (even just once a week) and let your team see what you're doing and why.

None of this needs to be complicated. You don't need a two-hour block or the perfect quiet room to make it count. You could take two minutes before replying to an email, take a walk at lunch, or use the three questions scribbled on a scrap of paper as you work through a problem. The thinking that changes how you work rarely comes from one big, dramatic slab of deep focus. It comes from allowing yourself a moment of pause, giving yourself space to think over and over until that becomes the habit.