Sometimes you read something and it hits you like a ton of bricks. This tweet did that for me last year:

The brick-hitting bit, for me, was the first clause:

I’m lazy and solve most of my problems ambiently

This is exactly how I feel, but I had never had the words for it. And, worse than that: historically I have sometimes felt bad about this being how I most effectively solve problems!

Often there’s a situation I need to figure out — maybe a decision to make, or an email I need to write — and instead of doing the industrious thing and, you know, sitting down and sorting it out on the spot, I just let it languish in the back of my head. Lazily.

This paradigm isn’t the same as when I know exactly what I need to do, but I just don’t want to do it (which happens too, of course). This is about not knowing how to solve a problem.

But then somehow, seemingly-inevitably, at some point before the action needs to be taken (perhaps thanks to Parkinson’s Law), an answer I feel great about pops into my head and I’m off to the races. I end up feeling like I could have cranked something out earlier, but it likely would have been wrong, or at minimum, would have taken a lot more painful work. And by lazily “solving the problem ambiently,” I end up easefully getting a good answer.

Again: I had often felt bad about this. Why can’t I just solve the problem or make the decision when it comes up? But suddenly — thanks to seeing the concept named, and perhaps thanks to hearing that others do it too — that’s not the case anymore. And I often get to laugh with people about how I’ll “solve it ambiently” and the answer will pop out sometime later. It feels like I have permission now (so, thanks Romeo, whom I have never met!).

The idea also evokes a favorite comic I send people, Dilbert’s “Most problems go away if you wait long enough”:

All that to say: if you’ve felt this, I hope now you too feel like you have permission to “lazily” go about “solving problems ambiently.” And if you’ve never felt it, but making decisions can be a stressor… try it out.

(Note: I still think most decisions can/should be made quickly. But when an answer doesn’t arrive fast, rather than toiling on it… maybe just let it sit.)

I think the first time I read the tweet I basically stopped at the first few words due to the aforementioned brick impact. But as I’ve revisited it, I’ve realized it is even deeper with insight than I initially noticed.

For your consideration, I would point to the casual aside of:

if I find myself ruminating about something (looping due to working memory constraints)

Have you ever thought of “ruminating” that way?

And of course, his four questions:

  1. What do I want

  2. What do I have/know

  3. What am I missing (knowledge/resources), such that if I had it it would make things easy

  4. How can I use all of that to get what I want

Try this!

And:

If things still seem screwy then there are some emotional blockers, ie the problem qua problem is just a metaphor or I secretly don’t want the goal etc.

Much to think about here. For related subjects I’ve covered: Beware of Trying, Your problems are your fault in two different ways, Ways of Looking, Assorted excerpts on the malleability of “reality”, and Ways of Looking: a brief guide to ending suffering.

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