Healthy problem solving

We all face problems. Every day. In work. In our personal life.

At the moment, that's all I seem to be doing. Tcha. Such is life. It's hard to remember what you already know, to repeat your successes and avoid the mistakes you made in the past. Hence, this post - just to remind me of what works.

1. Keep Moving: inertia is a killer. If you are stuck with a problem, do something else for a while. Gain momentum. Then come back and try shifting that heavy problem now. Lighter, isn’t it?

2. Understand the problem: if you don’t know what you are dealing with, then how can you solve it? Brute force is not enough. Gather the facts, speak to trusted (and not trusted!) friends, colleagues. Google it! Perspective yields solutions.

3. Blog it!: or at least, write it down. Paper has a way of reducing problems to a bite size, especially in times of stress. Keep the problem and the perspectives handy. Look at them. Now you understand the problem, don’t force it, let your subconscious work on it too.

4. Smile: a sense of humour always helps cut that monster down to size.

5. Understand the solution: once you have solved the problem take a while to remember how you did it. The process you went through. How did you feel at the start? Midway? How do you feel when you solved it? remember that feeling. Make solving problems part of your natural way of being.

6. Be splendid!: at the end of the day, problem solving in life never stops. Don't waste your time trying to solve every problem like it is your last - there will always be another one. Exercise your problem solving in a healthy way. Enjoy the growth. Keep growing.