Add mental models for the new year - Broadening your thinking process will improve your productivity

Most New Year's resolutions focus on the physical,  "I will exercise more, eat less." A better resolution should focus on mental muscles like, "I will add some mental models to my thinking."  This may help better manage time and effort and allows you to undertaken tasks more efficiently.

So what is a mental model? It is a process or way of thinking for solving a problem through using a representation of the environment. Because there are different ways to represent the environment and use intuition, there are alternative mental models. Some are focused on specific tasks while others may be more general. 

The great chart below provides a number of examples of effective mental models. Some are easily employed for investment decisions while others may help with productivity and work flow. For example, the 80/20 prioritization mental model may not solve a complex problem but may help direct time and effort. 

For the new year, I will be trying to incorporate some new mental models in order to broaden my thinking of investment problems.