How to deal with unsolvable challenges? - I recommend running away or mess up
After a strenuous table tennis training session, a club mate recently asked me an exciting question: “What do you do when you don’t know what to do and there’s no easy solution in sight?”
I can only assume that I spent the training very focused - almost doggedly - hitting the ball, because that day I brought a challenge from the world of work with me to training. Of course not to discuss it there, but to distract myself - to smash the challenge or mess it up.
I usually train in the evening after dinner. I take the tricky challenges from my basement office upstairs to the dinner table. In moments like this, I listen to my children's stories and I say very little myself - partly because I'm in my thoughts and partly because I'm annoyed with myself that a seemingly small thing is holding me up like this.
After dinner I go to training. This approach works really well. When I do sports, I focus and with that the thoughts move into the background, but somehow continue to work in the back of my mind. The real blessing is even afterward, late at night in bed after reading my book, so I fall asleep well. A really important ritual for me. So I'm not burdened by the challenges of the day - at least most of the time. It doesn't always work. The next morning, with fresh energy and a different, completely new and positive perspective on the situation, a solution is always found.
If a challenge like this arises early in the day, of course I don't wait until the evening. In this case there is the alternative magic bullet: running. This has the same effect on me, just in a completely different way. When I run, I think about the challenge from all directions. Sometimes about absurd approaches that are almost ridiculous. But no one hears the ideas. And some crazy approaches inspire me to follow other approaches and my perspective slowly shifts.
After the run, either the solution is there or I can make notes about the different approaches I came up with. I'm no longer obsessed with the problem and it doesn't block me. I discovered possible approaches. Either I tackle the challenge directly or I can devote myself to other tasks. At least I'm not stuck anymore.
These are my two approaches - I almost want to say miracle weapons - mess up or run (away). What do you do in such situations? What helps you?
