By Duong Huynh 
How I Kept Screwing Up Brook Questions
Alright, so the other day, I was trying to answer some Brook questions for work. Felt easy, you know? Like, come on, how hard can it be? Got my coffee, sat down all confident.
Bam. First answer I wrote? Completely wrong angle. Missed the whole point Brook was actually getting at. Felt pretty stupid. Went back, read the question again. Like, actually read it this time, not just skimmed. Realized I skipped a tiny but super important word. Classic mistake number one: not reading carefully.
Decided I needed a break. Made more coffee. Came back, looked at another question. Felt like I knew this one. Typed out a long, kinda smart-sounding answer. Hit submit… and later found out I used the wrong formula. The question was asking for something specific, and I picked the similar-looking but totally wrong formula next to it in my head. Ugh. That was mistake number two: assuming formulas without double-checking.
Now I’m getting annoyed. Sat down with a notepad, old-school style. Tried question three. Wrote out my steps step-by-step. Thought I nailed it. Then, compared my answer to a reliable source later… the numbers didn’t match. Traced it back. Duh. Basic arithmetic fail. Added instead of multiplied near the end. Super embarrassing. Mistake number three: messy math. Rushing because I thought the hard part was done.
Fixing My Slop & Avoiding Disasters
Okay, clearly my “just wing it” method wasn’t cutting it. Needed a system, like yesterday. Here’s what I forced myself to start doing – my five fight-back tricks:
- Read It Like A Detective: Now I pretend the question is hiding clues. I read it twice, slowly. Underline keywords Brook uses. Before typing anything, I try to say in my own dumb words: “Brook is basically asking for…” Makes sure I get the right target.
- Formula Showdown: If it smells like it needs math? I stop. I grab my cheat sheet (yeah, I made one) or open my textbook. I actually find the formula, don’t just guess. And I write it down clearly above my work before plugging anything in.
- Write It All Down, Dummy: No more mental math halfway through, tempting as it is. Every single step gets scribbled on my notepad. Every add, every multiply, every decision. Makes it way easier to spot where I went berserk later.
- Stop & Reverse: When I think I’m done, I don’t just hit submit. I pause. Then I try working backwards from my answer. Does it actually make sense with the question? Plugging it back into the situation Brook described? Often catches huge “wait, how can that be?” blunders.
- The Coffee Check: Last one. When frustration hits or my eyes get blurry? I just walk away. Get coffee. Stare at a wall. Seriously. Trying to force it when I’m fried just makes more stupid mistakes. Ten minutes off saves me an hour of fixing nonsense later.
How It Worked Out (So Far)
Changed things? Big time. Did I still mess up? Oh yeah, yesterday I forgot my “Formula Showdown” trick on one and used the wrong one again. Duh. But catching it myself felt way better than someone else pointing it out. And that messy math? Since writing every step down became a habit, those little + vs disasters have basically vanished. It feels slower at first, writing everything, but man is it faster overall when you aren’t redoing crap constantly.
Not pretending I’m a Brook master now, but at least I’m not tripping over my own feet constantly. Feels solid. Those five things? Just habits now. Less stress, fewer answers I’m embarrassed to show. Good enough for me.
yadanarbon 