0)  Recall that all HW problems are based either on the Examples covered in class (or, rarely, on more theoretical material like "properties") or on textbook Examples or other material marked in the Lecture notes as "MUST READ." There will never be a situation where you would need any resources other than those two.

1)  HW problems are listed not in the sequential numeric order but in the order in which I want you to do them. This is also the order in which the material, on which a given problem is based, was covered in the Lecture notes. So, if problem # 2 is listed towards the end of the HW, this is:
(a)  when I want you to do it, and
(b)  where in the Lecture notes you need to look for a related material.

2)  Check that the problem at hand has any comments (i.e., Notes or Hints) listed under this HW. If it does, follow these comments in your solution! These comments are there either because someone in the past has been confused about this problem, and I put the comment to clarify the confusion, or because I want to stress important points which I will later test you on.

3)  Browse (i.e., scan but do not yet read carefully) the Lecture notes or the MUST-READ textbook material and identify all Examples (or other material) that look similar to the HW problem. Mark all of those Examples/material so that you could easily find it at the next step.

4)  Now go through that marked material and identify a subset of it (usually, just one Example) which looks most similar to the HW problem.

5)  Study this Example. That is, go over it making sure that you understand every step of it. (If you do not understand a particular step after reading it a couple more times, contact the instructor for help.)

6)  Apply the technique of this Example to the HW problem.

PS - You may think that Steps 5 and/or 6 are the longest ones to do. However, in reality, the longest Steps are actually 3 and, perhaps, 4.