some article notes
sit down with the problem
focus on it
don't turn away from it; don't seek distractions like email, social media, or other "interesting" problems to solve instead
experience, without judgment, the feelings that come up while facing it
imagining where you think you should be by now is poisonous and induces anxiety. very hard place to be if you're stuck on a problem that you're solving for e.g. work or on a deadline
feelings of anxiety or dread or worry induce "cognitive shock", where the thinking part of our brain shuts down and the primitive responses of fight, flight, or go numb take over. it might feel like you can't think, are confused, or in a fog
this is kind of cool because you can empirically verify it quite easily: ask yourself to solve a math problem, like 7 * 35, and watch your mind grapple with it. if I'm in a state of cognitive shock, I'll fumble over the numbers like they're slick and wet, unable to work the math in my head or get started. I take a few breaths, acknowledge that I'm stuck in cognitive shock and have powerful emotions going on, and after several seconds (or minutes) I find that the solution is workable and comes easily. trying to force yourself to do problem solving when you're in cognitive shock is a sure-fire way to feel worse about yourself: you're struggling to do even basic thinking and can't!
stay in the present. when your mind wanders and you catch it, reel it back to the feelings in the body of the present moment. label the feelings as you recognize them; this helps to recognize them and grasp that they're just feelings and not reality, helping the thinking brain come back online
determine how to take a step forward
- http://www.jeffwofford.com/?p=838
- http://programmer.97things.oreilly.com/wiki/index.php/Don%27t_Stay_Stuck
I like to sometimes talk to the problem, aloud if possible (see rubber ducking), to help me process and understanding what the problem really is, and to figure out how to make a single meaningful stride forward