It kinda depends on what kind of problem you're solving. But, all of them include drawing something or the other. Newtonian mechanics and electromagnetism have schematic diagrams, thermodynamics and quantum mechanics have graphs and statistical mechanics has tables.

First you collect all the data that you already know (e.g. initial velocities, pressures, energies etc.), then you understand what the problem is asking you to do, and then you figure out how to use the given data to get the to solution. If you get stuck, try to go back and understand the theory (maybe you will find a formula you need or a critical fact that can be used in the problem).

I understand that the "steps" I have written might seem pretty obvious, but a lot of times the basics are what we need to focus on.

Hope this helps.