Yesterday I was struggling to get started on a request from a colleague. I just couldn’t figure out a way to get going. Then I realized, the problem I was trying to solve was the wrong problem, at least for me. So I rewrote the request into something I could get after, and in about an hour sent it off to him.  The response back…..  “I hadn’t thought of it that way, thanks”.  I’m not sure I got him what he wanted, but it worked for me and I was able to check it off the list.

Don’t be afraid to construct problem statements in ways that best let you solve them. If you are feeling like you just can’t get going on something, try redefining the question and see if that at least lets you escape the blank page. You still might have to go back to the original question at some point, but at least you can get started, and often that’s more than half the work.