I've observed this as well. It's very satisfying to finally realize you don't need to solve it in the first place, because your assumptions created a problem wh

I've observed this as well. It's very satisfying to finally realize you don't need to solve it in the first place, because your assumptions created a problem where there was none. E.g. mulling for weeks over optimizing some code until you realize to measure it as-is and it isn't even slow! Or maybe there's room in the underlying design to shift the weight off the problem, thus "solving" it laterally (by solving some other, easier, problem instead).