Have you solved the problem before?

Sun Jan 13, 2019 · 146 words

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Look through your email, your journal, your notes, your blog, your files… whatever you have that could remind you of how you solved a problem previously.

If you’ve solved the problem before, why not use the same solution?

If it worked before, it’ll work again.

The key to this is keeping detailed digital notes of the problem, relevant references and the solution(s).

Keeping detailed digital notes is overhead, but doing so helps you solve problems in the future.

Your notes will grow over time, and that’s the point!

Since they are digital, they are searchable. Although you won’t feel the benefits at first, you’ll soon be searching your “knowledge base” for ideas.

The benefits will compound over time, because every time you get a relevant hit or idea from your notes, you’ve saved yourself some time.

See the problem-solving checklist for more ideas about solving problems.