Solve Problems & Get Unstuck with AI Prompts
Job to be done: Solve problems and get unstuck using AI prompts
🇳🇬 Ways to use this in Nigeria
Ideas to get you started, adapt to your situation.
- Student
Turn a complex assignment topic into a simpler problem statement to get started on research.
- Entrepreneur
Identify mental blocks in your startup strategy and get three new ways to approach a market challenge.
- Small business
Define your customer complaint problem clearly to figure out what's really broken and how to fix it.
What you’ll get
You’ll learn to use specific AI prompts to break down complex problems, challenge your assumptions, and define issues more clearly. This approach helps you overcome mental blocks by guiding the AI to offer fresh perspectives and simpler ways to think about challenges.
Tools you need
- ChatGPT (freemium): An AI chatbot to help you brainstorm and solve problems using text prompts.
Steps
-
Open your AI chatbot: Go to the ChatGPT website on your phone or computer.
- You should see the chat interface ready for your input.
-
Simplify a complex problem: If you’re feeling overwhelmed by a big problem, use this prompt to break it down into a simpler version. Replace
[Topic]with your actual problem.I'm struggling with [Topic]. Create a strictly simpler version of this problem that keeps the core concept, help me solve that, then we bridge back to the original.- You should get a simplified problem statement and guidance on how to approach it, making the original problem feel less daunting.
-
Rethink your approach: If you’re stuck using the same methods, ask the AI to help you identify your mental blocks and suggest new ways of thinking. Replace
[Problem]and[Current Approach]with your specifics.I've been stuck on [Problem] using [Current Approach]. Identify what mental models I'm stuck in, then give me three fundamentally different ways of thinking about this.- The AI will point out common thinking traps and offer fresh perspectives, helping you see the problem from new angles.
-
Clearly define your problem: Before diving into solutions, ensure you truly understand the problem. Use this prompt to get clarity on what success looks like and what constraints are real. Replace
[Situation]with your specific challenge.Help me articulate [Situation] as a clear problem statement. What success actually looks like, what's truly broken, and what constraints are real versus assumed?- You should receive a well-defined problem statement, making it easier to find effective solutions.
Original source
This workflow is inspired by a Reddit post titled ‘6 Problem-Solving Prompts That Actually Got Me Unstuck’ by user /u/EQ4C. The author shared practical prompt frameworks they found helpful for overcoming challenges.
Notes & variations
- You can also use other freemium AI chatbots like Claude (claude.ai) or Gemini (gemini.google.com) for this workflow. The prompts will work similarly across these platforms.
- A common mistake is being too vague with your problem description. The more specific you are when filling in
[Topic],[Problem],[Current Approach], or[Situation], the better and more relevant the AI’s suggestions will be. - Experiment with follow-up questions. If the AI’s first response isn’t quite right, ask it to elaborate, simplify further, or focus on a different aspect of your problem. For example, “Can you give me more examples for the second way of thinking?”