Problems, Solutions & Worrying

Over the last few months I’ve had a number of problems in my life, and at some points they seemed almost insurmountable. Here’s a brief description of the process I use whenever I’m faced with that “Oh My God - Everything’s Getting Too much” feeling. It’s reasonably quick and leads to a nice feeling of control.

The Too-Much-Stuff Reduction Method

Step 1: Problem dump

The first step is to get all of those problems out of your head. Scribble them on a piece of paper or record them, or paint them on your wall, it doesn’t matter how - just write them down. I record them on my phone as I’m driving and then translate that into a text file.

Step 2: Problem Identification

Once you have your big senseless and unorganized brain dump you need to organize the nonsense into problem areas. From these you can identify sub-problems and master-problems and sister-problems and connect everything together. I use a big sheet of paper and a pencil to make a giant mind map. You’ll find that while you may start with your dump from step 1, you’ll quickly discover other things you’re worrying about.

You should try to break down each problem into as many sub problems as you can, thus “No Money” becomes “No Job” and “Spending too much on shiny gadgets”. “No Job” can be broken down further still, perhaps to “No Time”. You’ll discover a whole bunch of links between your various problems (“No Time” because I’m playing with my shiny gadgets) and these links can help to clarify what’s worrying you the most and how other things on your mind influence those worries. I usually end up with a big web of connected worries.

Step 3: Problem solutions

Once each big problem has been broken down into smaller ones, and the connections between them are apparent, you can start to look for solutions. I add these to my mind map in a different colour, branching them off the various problems they solve.

Step 4: List solutions

List all the Scribbled solutions from your mind-map.

Step 5: Categorize solutions

The next step is to look at your solutions and categorize them. Play with them and try to identify any changes in your lifestyle which would solve a number of problems. Look for non-specific solutions (“Buy less Stuff”) and specific ones (“Stop buying Tobacco”) & write down the changes you intend to make somewhere.

Step 6: Identify Specific Actions

From your categorized solutions create a list of small, actionable things which you can actually do right now. For instance, while an overall solution might be “Send out CV’s to get some Work”, you could “Find your old employment records” right now.

While this system looks a little over-complicated for what it is (that’s writing down your troubles and then writing how you can solve them), It allows your already chaotic mind to remain so, even when defining the solutions. Try it next time everything gets too much.