Sometimes a complicated problem contains several simple problems standing too close together.

Problems that resist solution are often bundles. Several distinct issues have become entangled because they arrived together, involve the same people, or share a name, and attacking them as one thing produces solutions that half-work. Pulling them apart usually reveals that each piece is manageable. The difficulty was in the packaging.

Take something that has felt intractable and try listing it as separate problems on separate lines. Solve the easiest one alone. The others often look different once one has been removed.