what is the best way to solve a tactical problem?

Right now, I just look at the tactic and analyse random moves until I find the solution. This has been going pretty well (I’m rated approximately 1650 in Chesstempo) but it takes me really long to solve the problems (10-20 minutes) and I often find myself analysing the same lines over and over again or spending a lot of time analysing the wrong line.

 by the way does anybody have a list of all tacticall motifs(as detailed as possible(but not like a million motifs detailed))

Is there a better way to solve tactical problems? (so I will learn more out of them)

I could try to learn all the tactical motifs, look at the position, decide which motifs are possible and only then look for moves that use these motifs.
The problem is that there are often problems where I first have to play a forced sequence of moves before the 'actual tactic' starts and it might be hard to see the tactic from the initial postion.

If it's improvement you're after, then treat it like a real game position and not a tactical problem. I don't think recognition will help much for that site. Chesstempo has some really weird looking tactics, and the more difficult problems there are mainly a test of calculation skills, and not recognition.

If you want to learn more out of them, I think you should just think as if it were your real game. IF you can't find it, then you know in a real game you wouldn't, so you can then fix your thinking so that you would have found it in a decent amount of time, preferably less than 10-20 minutes.

The difficulty level also affects you. My chesstempo Std was peaked at about 2250 on int. level. I changed it to hard and eventually dropped over 100 points.

well, the difficulty level is hard with me, but i think it is hard to treat it like a real game. subcontiously i would be searching for the tactic anyway.
I was actually searching for the way how to solve the problem and you're not really giving me that.

If I were to tell you that and you were to use it, then it would negatively affect your actual playing strenght.

But here it is: In each position, focus on your strengths and the opponent's weaknesses, as well as tactical motifs for both you and your opponent. Then look at all the moves that try to take advantage of these motifs, starting with the most forcing checks+captures, and ending with the threats. You need to then order these candidate moves, and calculate them one by one: the simplest first. If it isn't totally winning, then drop it (this is really bad for actual game play, since you don't practice your eval skills at all). Keep doing this until you find a move that works. That's pretty much it.

I use this method on Chesstempo (1920-1950 atm):

1) Count material

2) Check for themes that appear to enable motifs in the position.

3) Calculate any forcing moves (e.g. checks) first, just like in a real game.

4) When done: Analyze the problem and find out why the tactic was possible.

There's a list of motifs on Chesstempo somewhere.

For tactics trainer, look for the following in order:

1. Queen sac followed by continuation that leads to mate OR forks that recover the queen

2. All checks and possible continuations

3. Loose pieces that look vulnerable to tactics

4. Regular captures

Also familiarize yourself with all pins and the things your opponent can do to you. It's important to make sure you know what your opponent can do because, as good as your move might be otherwise, you might not be able to do it in a particular situation. For example, you find a forced mate after a quiet move (let's say, by cutting off an escape square for the king), but during that move, you get forked and lose your queen, or you get mated in 4 or something. Hope I was of some sort of help.

@crtexxx
1.why would this negatively affect my actuall playing strength?
2.if that doesn't work, then how should i do it? keep on calculating random moves?

jwestlakes method seems good, but it looks like crtexxx's method. will this also negatively affect my actuall playing strength?
@KenyDurantwhy:
why would i always begin looking for queen sacks? do they come up that much in actuall play/tactic trainers? 

The queen sac thing was (sort of) a joke, but in tt it does come up fairly frequently. I remember one time doing 4 queen sac problems in a row, but that's just my experience. In actual play it doesn't come up NEARLY as much.

Pretend it's a position from a real game and not a puzzle.  In a puzzle you know there's a tactic whereas if you exercise your thinking system it you'll find them over the board easier. 

Not random, order them:

1. Checks
2. Captures (in the order of the value of the caputred piece)
3. Threats (in the order of the value of the thretened pieces)

This should pretty much prevent you from calculating the same move twice and statistically will lead to the right solution fastest.

Here's some tactical motives to look for:

Checkmate, Fork, Pin, Skewer, Pincer, Discovered Attack, Double-Attack, Removal of the Defender, Queening

Just look at the position and guess something

all these strategies people are coming up with are made up.  the only way to get better at tactics is to keep getting practicing and getting better at recognizing patterns.  there is no 'secret checklist' to find a good tactic

A tactic is just the best way to achieve your general goal or plan. Since that goal is plan is strategic, tactics and strategy are pretty much linked. So if you practice only one of those things at a time, it can't help your playing strenght much at all.

thank you for all you responses!!