This is a discussion thread about applied rationality.
In the comments, please explain an actual problem you have in your life you want to solve. Using their combined powers of rationality, the community can discuss the problem with the poster and eventually propose solutions. My hope is that this will give Less Wrongers a better idea how to apply rationality to daily life.
A note to those posting problems: Please stick around long enough to try the solutions and comment on how they worked. Remember to include negative results (the solution didn't work), including mini-problems like if you meant to try a solution and didn't get around to it.
Edit: Ack! I see Alicorn posted something similar about common-knowledge problems between when I wrote this and when I posted it. Because I have a general policy against deleting my posts, I will leave this up here. I do think rationality-specific solutions are useful, but let's wait a month or so.
Here's a problem, for example formatting. Problems can be as easy or hard, and as complex or simple, as you think is reasonable.
Problem: I don't know how to find scientific data. I can get some common-knowledge stuff, but anything controversial (ex. global warming) or hard to locate by keyword (ex. how well normal distributions model actual data) I have a hard time finding. Especially for controversial items, I don't know how to evaluate the soundness of the study. What tools can I use to find and evaluate studies.
Progress/Effort made: I can find studies with specific keywords. My current evaluation strategy is to look at the statistical comparison in the experiment, or to find a blog that mentions reputable papers about a subject. This doesn't work in general, because blogs don't discuss obscure topics, and I have a hard time finding out if a blog writer is a reliable expert.
Parameters/Evaluation: I want to be able to evaluate studies in pharmacology, but I don't want to learn too much about pharmacology in general. The problem will be solved when I can find out whether a scientific issue is solved one way or the other, along with the degree of contention. I would prefer solutions that don't involve personally talking to experts.
Wikipedia really is an excellent start, even as preparation for lukeprog's suggestions.