getting unstuck

Some things to try when you feel like you are stuck:

  • Visualize!
  • Draw a picture - really draw, not a schematic (a schematic is for solving).
  • Conservations laws
  • Limiting cases
  • Go for a walk
  • Dimensional analysis
  • Guess and check - sometimes figuring out how to check is helpful.
  • Act out the problem - try it! Experiment!
  • Find smaller parts of a large problem.
  • Simplify the problem and solve that - the infamous "spherical cow".
  • Work backwards - when you know the answer, but not the route!