Gather information about the problem. Read it carefully, looking for any key phrases like "at rest" or "with constant velocity." Recall any common sense ideas you might have about reasonable values, etc. (A car wouldn't have a
speed of 500 mph, for example.) Can you make an educated guess at what the answer might look like, even to within an order of magnitude?

Organize the information. You might want to make a sketch and label different events. Certain problems will require specific graphical approaches (e.g. free body diagrams). Prepare a table listing exactly what information is given and what is being asked for. Classify the problem: Is it an energy conservation problem? Does it look like Newton's Laws would apply?

Analyze the problem. Determine what equation to use and solve it for the unknown. (Note: it may be necessary to break the problem down into sub-problems. You might have to calculate an intermediate value which you can then use in a second equation to arrive at the final answer to the original problem.) After completing the necessary algebra and/or calculus, substitute the known values which you organized previously. Draw a box around the final result to make it easy to find.

Learn from your efforts. Go back and see if your results fit your original predictions about what kind of answer would "make sense." Think about why you were assigned this particular problem. How is it similar to other problems you've seen? How is it different? Is there one special step that seems to hold the key to solving it?