Cathy has three exams and two papers coming up, and she needs to decide how much time to spend on each project to maximize her chances of doing well on all of them. the problem-solving step primarily associated with this task is

The problem-solving step primarily associated with this task is "resource allocation".

The problem solving cycle is a refers to the move toward the problem solving which includes the following steps:

Problem identification

Problem definition

Strategy formulation

Organization of information

Allocation of resources

Monitoring

And evaluation.

The problem-solving step primarily associated with this task is resource allocation. Cathy makes a plan for using available resources. In Cathy's case the resources are time resources - the time she needs to spend on each project. If she manage the time good she can achieve her goal.