Concentrate on its aim. 

What do you want? 

Write the question down -- helps focus the mind. 

What are the facts?

What inferences can be reasonably and confidently made? 

What potential uses can be made of the facts known? 

What assumptions can you use? 

Is there an answer to this question? 

If there is, can you find it? 

Is there just one solution, several solutions, no solution 

Is your idea for solving the problem clear or vague? 

Is your first hunch likely to work? 

Is there another hunch that may seem less satisfactory, but may lead in the right direction? 

Have initial guesses helped clarify assumptions and strategies as productive or unproductive? 

Look around for an appropriate related problem. 

See what information you can glean from the question 

Find questions from the data. 

See what questions your first examination of information may raise that need clarifying.

What kind of problem is it? 

Is it related to any known problem? 

Is it like any known problem? 

Do you know a related problem?

Can you imagine an analogous problem? A more general problem? A more specific problem?

Make a note of related problems, problems with a similar structure.

Imagine a similar problem, even a similar problem in a different domain, but preferably one that you could also image a strategy for solving.

This creates a usable piece of knowledge to attack the problem from the outside. 

Restating the problem may bring in new elements. 

Consider the analogy of unwinding a heavily knotted parcel by locating a free piece of movable string

The goal is to jog your mind into potential solutions that may have been overlooked. 

Reduce a difficult problem to several related problems. 

Investigate the validity of any assumptions.

Widen or narrow the problem by place it in a larger/smaller context.

Examine other ideas than the first one that comes to mind

Review the logical implications of each idea to identify those that are helpful

Use analogies and metaphors to connect knowledge with the problem at hand.

Examine the problem in its simplest terms, looking again at the question, the known facts, and the circumstances. 

Is everything present being considered?

Are the concepts that are essential to the problem understood?

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