1. Decide on a parameter (or parameters) indicating an input’s size.
2. Identify the algorithm’s basic operation. (As a rule, it is located in the innermost loop).
3. Check whether the number of times the basic operation is executed depends only on the size of an input. If it also depends on some additional property, the worst-case, average-case, and, if necessary, best-case efficiencies have to be investigated separately.
4. Set up a sum expressing the number of times the algorithm’s basic operation is executed.
5. Using standard formulas and rules of sum manipulation, either find a closedform formula for the count or, at the very least, establish its order of growth.