3 Ingredients To Solve ANY Problem

Had a couple of things to work through yesterday. Business questions, business problems, future plans.

Over the past couple of years I've basically tried every possible frame for brainstorming and problem solving. Mind maps, frameworks, fancy apps, all of it.

And there's one method that always works for me.

You need only three things.

The three ingredients

1. A notebook and a pen.
2. A quiet place to sit. No phone. That part is not negotiable.
3. A cup of coffee, or whatever works for you. Maybe wine.

(The third one is optional. But it does make the process more enjoyable for me.)

Then you just... think

I sit down, I write the problem at the top of the page and I just... think.

This has honestly never failed me. You just sit there and think, focusing your mind on the problem, forcing yourself to think creatively. No tabs, no scrolling, no "quick check" of anything. Just you and the page.

Humans are the most fearsome predator on this planet. You are the apex predator. We rule the Earth.

There is no problem a human being can not solve.

If you just laser-focus your mind you will be amazed at how easy you can solve things that have been annoying you forever.

Win or win

45 minutes later I managed to come up with a couple of fixes. Will be testing these in the next few weeks.

If they work -> great, I'll sit down and figure out how to make them work even better.

If they don't work -> great, I'll sit down and figure out what other solutions I can come up with.

Either way I win. That's the real trick of the method. It doesn't promise the right answer on the first try. It promises you keep moving.

Try it out. It's been serving me well for years.

Total cost: one notebook and 45 minutes.