The Problem Solving Method You Don't Try Enough

I was going to get on my soapbox this week and talk about the increase in societal entropy over the last 5 years. And then a funny thing happened…

I got about 3 paragraphs in and my mood improved. Enough that I really don’t feel the need to write about it anymore, for now.

This isn’t a revelation. I often use this method of working through issues, ideas or thoughts. I’m calling it a method, it’s not a method, just write.

As much as I hate to admit it, my grade school teachers were right. I would have learned better if I took notes. Learning or topical comprehension usually breaks down into 3-5 levels depending on where you look.

1. Passive reading

2. Active reading (highlighting/note taking)

3. Summarization

4. Writing

5. Teaching

You can intuit this if you do much writing yourself. I don’t usually know my full opinion about a topic — or completely understand anything — until I write down my thoughts about it. And I often change my mind about things halfway through.

Writing this newsletter every week forces me to engage in level 4 and 5 of understanding and helps me integrate the things that I learn on much deeper levels.

Don’t worry I’m not suggesting you start a newsletter, here are a couple other ways you can apply writing in your life — that I use — to help you solve problems or increase your understanding of any topic.

More Active Consumption

One thing I started experimenting with is mandatory active consumption. I require myself to make 1-2 highlights, bookmarks or notes for anything I consume. Podcasts, articles, social media and books.

I wrote a newsletter about my solution to never forget anything! Software like Ebooks, Instapaper, Readwise and Notion help with this endeavour.

The Solomon Project

This is a Hormozism that I stole and has been helpful for large decisions or when I’m feeling anxious.

Think of this a little bit like being your own therapist.

Hormozi likes it because as he rightly explains, it is very hard to outsource your decision making to a therapist when they will never have the full context of your life and what you hope to achieve.

No matter how much time you spend with them. No one knows more about you, than you. Therefore it’s possible to receive bad advice from people who don’t know the full context.

The method here is simple. Open a note and have a conversation with your 80 year old self. Assume that the 80 year old version of yourself knows everything and got exactly what they wanted at the end of your life. Use line breaks to switch personas between current you and future you. Ask questions, explore topics, solidify advice.

Morning Pages

Popularized by Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way, Morning Pages is a journaling technique in which you start your day by doing stream of consciousness writing. Writing the first words that come to your mind.

This looks really messy and often results in changing thoughts or topics mid-sentence, that’s totally normal.

Tim Ferriss, who openly discusses his lifelong mental health challenges, credits Morning Pages as being one of the most impactful things for improving his mental wellbeing.

It’s not a niche thing. Apparently Alicia Keyes, Russell Brand, Reese Witherspoon and Olivia Rodrigo have all expressed their appreciation for Morning Pages.

I did this religiously for about a year from 2017-2018 and now do it intermittently when I’m feeling off.

Microjournaling

This one is more niche and is useful for anyone looking to replace their social media habits. Ask any smoker if it’s easier to quit a habit cold turkey or replace it with a less destructive one.

One of the worst times for social media scrolling offences is the time between activities. When’s the last time you just stood in a line without looking at Instagram?

Instead of taking that time to scroll, open your notes app and write yourself a little journal entry about anything and everything.

Here’s a random example excerpt from May 27, 2022: