How does a wishbone work?

How should I go about organizing my work when doing math exercise?

• What I have always done is to just write stuff wherever I could. For example, 19 a would go on the right column of the page, and then 19 b, c, and d would go on the left side. b is on top of c, and c is on top of d. 19 a. work b.work work work work c. work work d. work work However this is unorganized and it makes it hard to go back to recheck my work or my notes. Is it better to just write top to down like: 19. variables listed a. work work work b. work work c. work work With each line taking up one step? I feel this method takes up too much space. Then I have to flip between pages to look at variables. So what if I divided the page into two columns and did this: 19. variables a. work c. work work work work d. work b. work work work Only thing is this can be messy too, and I have to guess how much room I will take up. How do you mathematicians do it?

• Answer:

  First, you write down the pertinent information and you define all variables. Then answer each part of the question one at a time. Do not split the page into columns as it will make space tight. If you've messed something up, it'll be harder to scratch it out and fix it. Give yourself the whole page width (even if everything seems to be on the left side). You may use multiple sheets of paper but the object isn't to save paper, its to learn math.