WORK PROBLEM SOLVING 165 words
Design a problem-solving session that breaks through a stuck point
You have been stuck on this for a while, and trying harder the same way is not working. This designs a session to break the deadlock: a warm-up that reframes the problem before you attack it again, a structured middle that works new angles, and a close that captures progress. Give it the problem, how long you have been stuck, what you have tried and what solved looks like, and it builds the session.
I need to design a deep work session specifically for solving a problem I am stuck on.
Problem I am trying to solve: {PROBLEM_DESCRIPTION}
How long I have been stuck: {TIME_STUCK}
What I have already tried: {PREVIOUS_ATTEMPTS}
Session length available: {SESSION_LENGTH}
What a solved state looks like: {SUCCESS_CRITERIA}
Design the session architecture:
- A warm-up that reframes the problem before attempting to solve it (prevents re-running the same failed approaches)
- A structured problem-working sequence: problem decomposition, root cause exploration, solution generation, evaluation
- How to handle the frustration or avoidance that comes with difficult problems mid-session
- When to take a genuine break to let unconscious processing work
- A rule that prevents me from jumping to solutions before fully mapping the problem
- A session output: even if unsolved, what must I have written down by the end?
- A shutdown note: what is the single next action if the problem is not resolved this session?
Make it specific to this problem and the stuck point. ⚠ human-in-the-loop: you are responsible for the results of using this prompt, not us.