I makes me think about how I approach really difficult problems. I use a strategy that I call: "obsess and let go" that has worked wonders for me. Essentially

I makes me think about how I approach really difficult problems. I use a strategy that I call: "obsess and let go" that has worked wonders for me. Essentially it has two parts: - obsession: look at the problem intently, poke it, prod it, think about experiments, talk to other people until you're completely blocked and making absolutely no progress. - letting go: forget about it, go do something else, exercise, take a vacation, paint, attack a different problem, go to a bar, whatever makes you let go (truly let go). Eventually, as if by magic, at some unknowable time later (could be days or years), while doing something else the beginning of solution pops into consciousness, like a thread that needs to be pulled and as if by magic the whole problem untangles. I have no clue why this works (I assume the subconscious part of the brain never really lets go after a good obsessive phase), but it does work more often than not. The hard part is dealing with outside expectations.