The variation I do on this is cycles of train and forget. So I look at a problem, read up on it, have a good hack around the edges of it, then deliberately go a

The variation I do on this is cycles of train and forget. So I look at a problem, read up on it, have a good hack around the edges of it, then deliberately go away from it and leave it be and either focus on another unrelated problem, or just go and have fun, or whatever. Then, once I have left the problem alone for a while, I go back to it, often starting right at the beginning again, but with a much quicker learning curve and a deeper understanding the second time around and many solutions seemingly at my fingertips. Repetition of this process seems to be one of the best approaches to problem solving and learning that I have found and it also lets me retain information for far longer compared to the same time being used in constant study.