Before You Try Another Fix, Write Down What You’ve Already Tried. GOACTO Notes, Team GOACTO.

Before You Try Another Fix, Write Down What You've Already Tried

The short answer: When the same problem keeps getting in your way, it's tempting to grab the next new app, planner or trick. Before you do, write two lists side by side: what's in the way, and what you've already tried. Then make your next try different on purpose.

The map: This article has 3 parts.

  1. The old way: fix-hopping
  2. The new way: a two-column list
  3. How to do it, in 3 steps

1. The old way: fix-hopping

Fix-hopping means jumping from one fix to the next without looking at what happened with the last one.

Here's how it goes. The problem shows up again. You find a new app, a new planner or a new morning routine. It feels fresh. A week or two later, the problem is back, and you go looking for the next fix.

Because each fix feels new, you rarely notice that you've tried something like it before, or why it stopped working.

Pause and write: What's one problem you've tried to fix more than once?

2. The new way: a two-column list

Take one page and draw a line down the middle.

  • Left column: what's in the way.
  • Right column: what you've already tried, and what happened.

Seeing both at once shows you the pattern. Maybe every fix was too big to start. Maybe every reminder lived somewhere you never look.

We learned this question from marketer Ryan Levesque's book Ask, which is about asking people good questions before you build for them. One of his questions is, in short, "What solutions have you tried?" We put it on our One Question page as an optional second box, right under the question about what's in the way. It turns out the same question works just as well when you ask it of yourself.

Pause and write: Draw the two columns now and fill in the left one.

3. How to do it, in 3 steps

How to do it, in 3 steps: 1. Name what's in the way, in one plain sentence. 2. List what you've tried, with one honest note each. 3. Find the pattern, then pick a next try that's different on purpose.

Step 1. Name what's in the way. One plain sentence. "I keep forgetting to drink water during the day."

Step 2. List what you've tried, with one honest note each. Write what you tried and what happened. "Big water bottle: kept leaving it at home." Be honest, not harsh.

Step 3. Find the pattern, then pick a next try that's different on purpose. Ask: what did my past fixes have in common? Then choose a next try that avoids that thing.

An everyday example (made up to show the idea): Say the problem is forgetting to drink water. You tried a big bottle (left it at home) and a phone reminder (swiped it away). The pattern: the reminder was never where you already are. Next try: fill a glass every time you make coffee. The cue is built into something you already do. A cue is the thing that reminds you to start.

The two-column list. Left, what's in the way: I keep forgetting to drink water during the day. Right, what you've already tried and what happened: big water bottle, kept leaving it at home; phone reminder, swiped it away. The pattern: the reminder was never where you already are. Next try: fill a glass every time you make coffee.

If your pattern is "every fix felt too big to start," the main guide below will help.

Pause and write: Write your next try in one sentence, and how it's different from the last one.

Go deeper

The one thing to remember

Before the next fix, look back. Write what's in the way next to what you've already tried, find the pattern, and make your next try different on purpose.

Team GOACTO
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