Working backwards

In my last post I talked about when solving a problem working backwards can help you to process the problem better and to get solutions easier. I decided to use this method on homework yesterday and for an exam today. I will be talking about what results in this post.

What did I try?

I decided that I was going to take similar problem and see if I did them forward and backwards if I found any difference. I did this for several problems. I timed how fast I was able to find the answer to each problem to see if this strategy works.

What happened?

I found that when I looked at problems backwards it was easier to process. The average time it took me to find solutions to problems when I looked at them backwards, as compared to when I did them the regular way, was faster. I found that I was able to understand what the problem was asking better when I looked at it backwards. My mind was able to process it better.

Will I continue to use it?

I really liked using this method to solve problems. It made my mind process the information that I was taking in better and help me to solve my problems a little bit faster than I normally would. For these kinds of problems, I think that this is a great way to find the solutions.

Why might it not work?

I realized that for some bigger problems that are not so straightforward this might be a bit of a harder process. For bigger business problems that are high impact then I do not think that this can really help. Instead for those kinds of problems I would use planning out and then use my intuition to choose the best solution to the problems.