With a metropolitan area of ~ 2.7 million people to serve, top of the chart commute times, and congestion, we clearly need some kind of wrap-around plan to address our transit woes. The recent vote against an extra 1/2% sales tax might appear, therefore, to be a setback. Many people may be relieved that they don’t need to pay yet another tax, whereas others probably feel like we’ve all missed an important opportunity. I’m not writing to voice opinion on either side of the issue, but I do bring this up for an important reason. Rather, I think the transit struggles that many of us experience on a daily basis present opportunities for us to examine our approach to problem solving.
I was recently reviewing a draft of an excellent book on cognitive-behavioural therapy, in which the author discussed different attitudes and approaches to problem solving. If you want to become overwhelmed and frozen in response to problems, here’s the way to do it (some of these were inspired by the book I recently reviewed, whereas others come from research people have done on problem solving and mental health): (a) think about how awful the problem is, (b) dwell on the problem, (c) ruminate, or think over and over about the problem and why it’s occurring, (d) spend your precious time blaming yourself or others, (c) avoid thinking about the problem, (d) think about what can’t be done more than what can be done, (e) worry a lot about what might happen, and (f) escape all thoughts and feelings related to the problem. Most of us have done “a-f” at some point in our lives. Perhaps, while sitting in a traffic gridlock for the 5th time that week, you’ve spent a lot of time dwelling on the injustice of your situation, blamed other drivers for poor driving, worried about how late you’ll be or what you’re missing out on by taking longer to get home, and so on. These strategies inevitably lead to frustration, stress, and anxiety. What’s more, they don’t help you solve the problem.
So, what is an effective problem orientation? Well, for starters, it’s important to take an active approach to problem solving. An active problem solving orientation tends to be related positively to mental health and your ability to recover from stress. Those who take a passive orientation to problems or who focus a lot on getting rid of their negative emotions don’t tend to do as well. It can also be helpful to reflect rather than react. This means that the first step in dealing with a problem is to step back, observing and describing the situation and getting a clear sense of the problem before proceeding. What is the problem? Is it that you’re stuck in traffic and will be late? Is it that you don’t know how to deal with the new Compass Card system? Whatever the problem is, it’s important to start with a clear and unbiased description.
Often, the second step is to figure out what’s bugging you about this situation. What makes the situation a problem for you. Understanding that will help you figure out how to tell when the problem has been fixed or improved. Perhaps the problem is that you are anxious and afraid of being late for work, as I was a week ago when the Compass machine wouldn’t accept any of my cards (visa, debit, whatever), and the train was about to leave. Incidentally, my problem solving skills weren’t at their best in that moment, and the best I could come up with was to shriek in a panicky voice that the “Machine won’t take any of my cards!” The transit attendant was thankfully sympathetic and told me to get on the train and pay on the other side. But, I digress.
In any case, a third important step is to specify your goals. What do you want? How would you like the situation to be different? When I was dealing with major traffic hassles on my commute home a few years ago, I realized that my goal was to get home earlier so that I could spend more time with my young sons. That’s what I was shooting for when I did my problem solving.
A fourth step is to brainstorm possible solutions. Just let your brain freely come up with any solution, and don’t veto anything. Anything goes with brainstorming! You can always evaluate your solutions later on. For now, just let it rip.
Fifth, choose a couple of good possible solutions and evaluate them. Think about the pros and cons of each solution. Choose the one that seems to be best.
Sixth, put the solution into action, and evaluate the outcomes. See what worked and what didn’t work. Figure out whether you need to do anything else to make the situation better.
I should mention that many of these steps come from a variety of leaders in the field of psychotherapy and problem solving, such as Dr. Arthur Nezu, who developed Problem Solving Therapy, and Dr. Marsha Linehan, who developed Dialectical Behaviour therapy. Take their advice, and actively work to solve the problems (transit or otherwise) that are driving you crazy. – Alexander L. Chapman, Ph.D., R.Psych.