How you deal with challenges will often determine your success and happiness. If you’re stuck on how to solve a problem, try defining it and breaking it into smaller pieces. Choose whether to approach the problem logically or whether you should think about how the outcome might make you feel. Find ways to creatively approach your problems by working with other people and approaching the problem from a different perspective.
Approaching The Problem
Define the problem
Find the real problem, not just the symptoms that result from the problem. When defining the problem, do not consider things that are extraneous matters, only what the actual problem is. You can consider the other issues later. Become familiar with the problem and understand it fully.
- For example, if your room is constantly messy, the problem might not be that you’re a messy person. It might be that you lack containers or places to put your items in an organized way.
- Try to be as clear and thorough as possible when defining the problem. If it is a personal issue, be honest with yourself as to the causes of the problem. If it is a logistics problem, determine exactly where and when the problem occurs.
- Determine whether the problem is real or self-created. Do you need to solve this problem or is this about something you want? Putting things in perspective can help you navigate the problem-solving process.
Make important decisions first
Recognize the decisions you need to make and how they will contribute to solving your problem. Making decisions can help you move forward in solving your problems,so start by deciding on what to focus on, what needs to get done, and how you will go about doing it.
- For example, you might have several problems to solve and need to decide which ones to tackle first.Solving one problem may ease tension or take stress off of another problem.
- Once you make a decision, don’t doubt yourself. Be willing to look forward from that point on without wondering what would have happened had you chosen something else.
Simplify the problem
An overly-complicated problem can feel overwhelming and be difficult to solve. If there are multiple problems, break them down into smaller parts and deal with them individually. If you can break the problem down into the smallest terms,this will help you in understanding it and finding a solution.
- For example, if you need to turnin many assignments to pass a class, focus on how many you have to do and approach them one by one.