The last lesson focused on how you approach a problem. This lesson focuses on the problem itself. Before you try to solve it, you need to describe clearly what it is.

There is a familiar idea behind this step: “A problem well-defined is a problem half-solved.”

When someone has been stuck for weeks, the problem they are trying to solve has often never been expressed clearly in a single sentence.

Begin by choosing one problem. Do not try to define the entire week, your whole job, or every part of a difficult situation. Choose one specific entry from your stress record.

Next, identify the facts.

When we are under pressure, we often fill the gaps in what we know with assumptions. We may then react as though those assumptions are facts.

The distinction is important: “A fact is something that most people would agree to be true. An assumption involves a person’s beliefs, opinions, or interpretations without determining its validity.”

Describe the problem as clearly as a reporter would. Write down who was involved, what happened, when and where it happened, and what you know about why or how it happened. Use language that someone unfamiliar with the situation could understand.

This matters because our descriptions often become vague and overwhelming when we are stressed. As the authors explain, “especially when we feel stressed, we tend to use language that is unclear.”

Everything is falling apart is too broad to work with. Two projects require my attention on Thursday, and I have already missed the report deadline twice gives you something specific to address.

Next, identify what is standing in your way. An obstacle is simply “something blocking your path to a goal.”

Most problems involve only one or two main obstacles. They are often more ordinary than the emotions around them suggest. Perhaps a decision has not been made, you are missing a specific skill or piece of information, or two tasks cannot both be completed on Thursday.

Then set a goal. This is where the exercise often becomes less useful if the goal is too broad or unrealistic.

Your goal needs to be achievable because “expecting yourself to complete unrealistic goals only sets you up for failure.”

The goal must also be within your control. Your own actions should be able to move you towards it, without requiring another person to change first.

Make my manager become reasonable is not a goal you can act on directly. Ask in writing for the Thursday deadline to be moved is.

Before completing the exercise, check whether this is the right tool for your situation.

If someone is treating you badly through bullying, harassment, discrimination, humiliation, or any other harmful behaviour, this worksheet is not the right tool. The same applies if your workplace is physically unsafe.

Defining harmful treatment as a problem for you to solve can turn something being done to you into a task you may feel responsible for fixing. You are not responsible for handling it alone.

These situations require support from people or services that are able to act. Depending on the situation, this could include HR, a union representative, an occupational health service, a legal advice service, or a dedicated helpline. If you are in immediate danger, contact the emergency services or police.

If you are unsure whether what is happening qualifies as harmful or unsafe behaviour, that uncertainty is common. It is not a reason to manage the situation alone. Speak to one of these services and ask for guidance.

A different approach applies when a situation is neither unfair nor unsafe, but genuinely cannot be changed through your actions.

In that case, the method allows you to set a goal related to your own response rather than changing the situation. Your plan may also be a deliberate decision not to act.

This option applies only to situations that cannot be changed. It is not an appropriate response to any of the harmful or unsafe situations described above.

The next lesson focuses on a step that most people skip: finding more than one possible way to reach the goal you have just defined.