3yo won't put in effort to problem solve or surmount challenges, or play independently

I have a daughter that recently turned 3. I've never had any experience with children, but others often tell me that she is advanced for her age (in terms of her independence, speech and social skills/understanding). Awesome! She knows her letters and numbers, she's sleeping in a regular bed, she's not using any more diapers, she's speaking in complex, grammatically correct sentences, she can get dressed by herself, feed herself, fetch objects, clean up, etc. I have always tried to take a hands-off approach, preferring to let her make a mess for a short time in order to give her the freedom to learn how to do things herself.And yet, whenever anything can't be done almost right away, she turns to me, asking me to do it for her. I'll usually say something like, "Oh, you can figure it out, I'm sure you can get it done by yourself. Why don't you try again?" or I'll add in a little hint for how to do it right. She'll either ditch the problem, or cry and insist on my full assistance (i.e., do it for her).So today she got a toy where there are different plastic geometric shapes, and you have a shape on a piece of paper, and you're supposed to take the pieces and arrange them to make the figure on the paper. For example, take two half-circles and put them together to make a circle, or take two triangles and make a rhombus - those are the easy ones. Then they get harder. Take three rhombuses and make a hexagon. Etc. She seems to have understood with the easy examples, but as soon as it became 3 shapes, she just won't do it. She won't even begin to place a shape within the lines. Even after me putting down one shape, and then helping her arrange the other two so that the design is made, she'll agree to try to re-do it herself and utterly miss the mark. She asks me to help her again. Come on! I practically did it for her and she seemed to understand and be glad when it was accomplished. But she won't keep at it, she won't really try.It's driving me crazy. How do I encourage her to work things out for herself? I feel like I've been trying. I'm worried about her development if this continues, and her future. I have a similar problem - I was always the smart kid, breezed through school without ever having to really work, and now I find I have no habit of working hard and persevering to accomplish anything. I can't work steadily, regularly towards a goal, I have a million interests that I pursue part-way and leave. I don't want her to turn out the same - especially since this tendency is starting so much earlier for her than it ever did for me. I at least used to like working things out by myself, and the structure and curriculum of school beat it out of me.What can I do to encourage this manner of independent learning? I am wondering whether I should remove all technology - tv, computer, phone. I don't believe it's necessary or even good, I am just exhausted and need a break sometimes. My daughter's very socially-oriented; she doesn't play by herself for more than a few minutes, but videos and pictures can hold her attention for much longer. I'm sad to say they are like my salvation (SAHM). But if they are making her passive and mind-numbed, I especially have to encourage independent play and problem-solving. Help! via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2sk4eoA