How many times during a day do you say, “Not again, this always happens.”? You can’t find your keys, you are late for work, the water overflowed, or you are out of toothpaste.

If a problem continuously happens, it’s probably time to do something about it, don’t you think? Complaining about the same thing over and over, but not fixing the problem doesn’t help.

Most of the time we put up with problems even though they consistently irritate us. Why? We think we have too much to do. We don’t take the time to stop, think things through and come up with a solution.

1. Name your problem

What problem keeps coming up for you?

2. Look at your current procedure

Are you late because you go to bed late, wake up late, and then do too many things right before leaving?

Do you lose keys because you don’t have a specific place for them or a habit to put them there so you throw them wherever you end up first?

Do you run out of things regularly because you don’t have an errand day or a shopping list put up?

3. Is there any way to tweak your procedure?

Can you research online for how to get your kids to listen better?

Can you create a habit to help you remember nice things about your hubby instead of criticisms?

Can you make a routine to back up your computer every Friday so you don’t lose files?

4. Try out your new procedure for 2 weeks-a month

Put a note in your calendar to review your procedure. What’s working? What isn’t? Is there any more research your need to do? Is there anyone to ask about this problem?

5. Keep tweaking until the problem is solved to your satisfaction

Too many people give up after one try at something, figuring nothing will work and they will have to keep putting up with this problem. Keep at it. Do you know how many different solutions there are to all kinds of problems?

As you go through your week, think about which recurring problems come up. Print out this Problem Solving Plan and play with one of the problems:

Problem Solving Plan

Of course, some problems can be solved without a whole plan. Just noticing the problem can make a difference.