I'm serious. A duck can help you solve problems. To be clear, I'm not saying a duck can solve your problems, but ducks do have a knack (quack?) for helping you solve your own problems. It's real. Stop laughing.
Here's how it works.
Get a non-living duck. Rubber ducks are super popular, but stuffed formerly-living ducks or stuffed never-lived-before ducks work just as well. Put it on or near your desk. When you get stuck on a problem, ask the duck for help. Voila!
If you just tried that, it probably didn't work. There's a trick to it. You have to explain your problem very clearly to the duck. It doesn't understand anything outside the very basics of how the world works, so you'll need to dumb it down to their level. Then speak slowly to the duck; English isn't their primary language. If you can't solve your problem by the end of your question, your asking the question wrong. Start over and rephrase your question.
Rubber duck problem solving is a real thing.
In programming, it's called rubber duck debugging, but the mysterious phenomena exists outside the programming world as well. It's probably more psychological than magical, but it's much more fun to think about a magic duck sitting on your desk ready to help you.
The secret to the problem solving duck is in the question, not the answer. Phrasing the question in a way that a duck would understand, asking it slowly so you hear your own words, saying it out loud as if someone is asking you, rephrasing it if the answer doesn't come; all of these help to frame the problem in a new light that your brain hadn't seen before consulting the duck. Here are some fun themed rubber ducks.
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