Here are a couple approaches you might find unusual, ( or not ). While you probably won’t find these approaches labeled as a formalized school of thought in problem solving academia, they have been around a while and many people swear by them. If you give them a try, you might find that elusive answer just pops into your head almost like magic!

Problem Solved!

Reboot your Brain

First up, did you see this post over the weekend: Solve Tough Problems with a Brain Reboot?If not go check out this short meditation primer. Several commenters at LifeHacker point out that taking a walk, and sometimes a nap, are also great ways to clear the cobwebs. Some people get mixed results with this ‘take-a-break‘ kind of thinking, others swear by it. This isn’t just taking a break though.

I want to call attention to the visualizaion technique about mid-post. It is an oddly pro-active approach to what is otherwise a passive activity. It looks like a great way to dig out those answers you already have buried in your own mind.

[ ZenHabits ] via [ LifeHacker ]

The instant solution

The above post reminded me of a video I saw a few months back on YouTube. If you feel lazy or just want quicker results, you might give this Instant Problem Solver a try. It claims to solve any problem in two minutes or less! It is a short, hypnotic induction. You likely already know hypnosis is a common treatment for such problems as weight loss, and quitting smoking. This is an easy way to give the process a try for your problem.

Enjoy!

Not all of these solution strategies will apply to every problem you may have, but almost every problem can benefit from applying one or more of them. They are very general and I chose them for their ease and simplicity. In fact, the first solution might even be considered cheating, but it is somethng to seriously consider. On with the show . . .

Is it really a problem?

Is it really a problem or are you just seeing that way? Are you making a proverbial mountain out of a molehill? It could be you only need to step back and take a more objective look, gather some information, and gain perspective. You might find it isn’t really a problem at all.

Once when I was a new network administrator, one of my bosses called to tell me ‘the server’ was down. I freaked. He was my boss. I wasn’t supposed to let that happen. This was a big problem for me. I started checking things from top to bottom, trying to find and solve the problem. Eventually, I got around to actually asking him specific questions. As it turns out, the site he chose for his home page was down. I helped him with his problem through a little gentle education, but I didn’t have a problem at all. If it doesn’t exist then by default, problem solved.

Is it your problem?

Is it your problem? I’m not saying turn a blind eye to a friend in need or shirk any responsibility. I fully encourage you to help out when ever, and where ever, you can with all of the compassion you can muster. It’s good karma. I also encourage you to make sure you are taking care of those things you need to.
But no matter how empathetic you are to other people’s personal issues, you can’t solve all of their problems for them. Some things just have to be worked out by the individual. Help all you can, but don’t make their problem your problem. Preserve your energy for the things you’ll have to deal with.

Do you have a co-worker or friend who likes to ‘delegate’ their problems to you, or use you as a crutch to let them shirk their duties? Does it happen more often than is reasonable. Then isn’t time you delegated the problem back to them?

In either scenario, if you can let your problem with their problem go, then, problem solved.

Copy another solution.

Why re-invent the wheel? In school we were taught not to cheat and we had to figure things out on our own. You already know in the real world it doesn’t always work that way, and in fact, it isn’t even called cheating in most cases. Whole industries are built around this principle. In IT for example, you can find code libraries, published knowledge-bases, even whole software packages designed around problems, just like yours. Some are for sale, and some are free. Either way they are there to use. So, use them. Problem solved.

Chunk-up and then chunk back down.

This is a close cousin of the last solution. If there isn’t a direct solution to use, then chunk-up and ask what kind of problem is this? What other problems also fit this category? How were they solved? When you find one of those solutions, borrow it, and adjust as necessary.

You are probably already more proficient at this than you think. Do you cook? I do. The other day I had most but not quite all of the desired ingredients for tacos. Namely I was out of taco shells. I had lots of flour tortillas though. I thought about making taco salads, but then I saw I was also low on salad. The family voted down burritos, so I was left with my imagination. I remembered the Jim Gaffigan routine about working in a Mexican food restaurant when he was growing up. He gets a customer who wants to have every dish described. Finally he gets frustrated and says, “It’s all just meat, cheese and vegetables on a tortilla. Pick something!” So we had some meat, cheese and vegetables on baked flour tortillas. It tasted like Mexican food to me. Problem solved.

RTFM

You know the saying, “If all else fails, read the directions.” Actually this should be the first place you start. Most people, including me, don’t always do that though. If we did we might find it was actually just another instance of the first solution. Problem solved.

Do you have a favorite strategy? Please share ( assuming I have the whole comments problem solved when you read this: It’s still a new blog as of this post )