How To Become Better At Problem Solving
Tags: productivity, tutorial, todayilearned
Published: 2020-04-04 01:31:22

If you expect to hear something else rather than, GO FREAKING SOLVE SOME PROBLEMS!!!

Sorry, I yelled at you :) Ahem! Trust you didn't see that coming haha :).

TL;DR But seriously you guys, the only way to get better at Problem Solving is to solve more problems. I mean, give it an attempt and get stuck intentionally sometimes, break things, learn new ideas, discover new passions and all of that.


“We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.”
-- Albert Einstein

Errhmm, you know what, I think, Einstien is literally correct.
You have to learn the Act Of Asking from those who know better and learn new ideas by so doing.

Ex: https://www.stackoverflow.com - half of the Programming World population knows Stack Overflow lol (It is like our own Modern Day, Hogwarts in the Movie Harry Potter), and just in case you don't know yet, well now you do and you can thank me later.

“ A problem is a chance for you to do your best.”
--Duke Ellington

Here is another one from Duke, if you think you will get better at solving problems without embracing errors and happy at "Uncaught Errors" error screens, sorry to disappoint you, but you might never get it right.


WHAT CAN YOU DO?
I thought you would never ask, silly!
The first step is to find a problem, there are tons of sites offering those services nowadays, a little google search and "Open Sesame" will do the trick right hehe :).

I personally find https://exercism.io really helpful (aside from the challenges and tasks, there are mentors that will help you get unstuck when you need to be, JUST ASK!).

Your second step should be to attempt the problem yourself, try and research, it will improve your discovery and research skills to be sincere.

How much time should you spend researching? I will leave that bit for you to decide on, nevertheless, there is a very interesting thread right here on DEV.to about this topic, so help yourself lol (https://dev.to/ben/how-much-time-should-you-spend-looking-something-up-before-asking-a-question-3i5m)

You can already guess the third step, ASK FOR HELP! (you gotta find somewhere to inscribe your SOS signal).

You should be able to describe clearly your problems, and what you have tried to do so far and what you want to be done to whoever you are asking or whatever platform you are asking from.

Conclusion:

I am sure you didn't expect this one, but I personally find this method an Ultimate Finishing step.

Documentation:

When I eventually solve a problem, I create a video explaining to an invisible user how to solve the same problem, and then I find somewhere to host it in the cloud. This will help me to remember how I solve a problem the next time I need it. I use Youtube sometimes because it will solve a lot of problems for those who will need it, and also has in it the potential to Generate income once people are looking for a similar solution like a hell lot right!
That is not a goal though but on a lighter note, (Passive Income is what they call it).

Well, I guess that is everything you need to hear from me for now.

Now, of course, this is a deep topic, and there are more ends to this, but you will discover that as you progress in your journey I am sure of that.
Good Luck!

OHH, one more thing though, please DON'T BREAK THE INTERNET, FIX IT!! :)

Note: I might just make a very elaborate video on this topic very soon and invite some people over to share some thoughts, just barely a thought in my mind though, I will let you know of any development.