Last time I shared how walking away from a problem and scheduling a time to come back to it helps me unlock some difficult problems. It works most of the time for me, but not always. Did you ever come across a complex problem or a complex web of problems that you couldn't seem to untangle? Did you feel stuck in the web of risk or anxiety with the problems? Yeah, me too. 

That leads me to my third approach to dealing with difficult problems: write through it.

For me, "writing through" is NOT journaling.  I’ve tried various forms of journaling over the years and it’s unsatisfying for me.  I’m terrible at keeping up with a daily journal.  I find gratitude journalling too sweet for my bitter-sweet perspective.  And eventually, I ran out of bullets in my bullet journal.

Writing for myself in a journal seems hollow.

The approach that works for me is writing to you, my audience.  Something about carefully explaining the problem to someone else and trying to write clearly and concisely about the problem helps me break my mental log jam of difficult problems.  (If you are wondering, I am clearing the current mental log jam by writing this…and it worked again.)

You may not be ready to write blogs or articles like this.  So here’s another option: write to a friend who doesn’t know your current situation, will keep it confidential, and also not immediately provide acknowledgment or advice. Just tell them parts of the problem and ask if they understand. As soon as you finish the conversation, write down the explanation of the problem right away.

You might be surprised by what you write after that. As you write through that clearer explanation of the problem, you may come up with one or two options. I would recommend trying to come up with at least three options (remember the rule of three options).

In fact, this sequence of articles with three options was inspired by one such conversation with a friend. When she asked a few clarifying questions about the problem where I was stuck, I suddenly remembered these approaches. Less than an hour after the call, I had a draft of all three articles written. This is what's possible when you practice writing through.

Hope this helps.

P.S., I'm deeply grateful to that friend who allowed me to clarify the description of that problem.