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I write a ticket for someone else to take care of it. Even if someone else is only future me, it's enough for my mind to accept that it is taken care of and I c

• a3_nm 14y ago
  I agree with this. I do theoretical CS research, and whenever I find a general problem that I feel must have been solved by someone but seemingly hasn't, the only way I can get the problem off my head is phrase it as a StackExchange question (usually on cstheory) and ask it. First, it forces me to write down clearly the question that's obsessing me, occasionally leading me to realize that doesn't actually make sense or isn't that interesting -- all the more so because it is published so my standards are higher that if I just wrote it in a text file of mine. Second, it gives me the impression that people will work on it now so I can stop thinking about it for a while (even if no one actually cares about the question). Third, in any case the question is documented so it won't be lost. In some cases I get insightful answers (sometimes, brilliant answers) that save me the time to hunt down a solution in an unfamiliar field or to work it out by myself, other times I end up replying to my own question because I stumbled on the solution later. In any case, it totally defuses the urge to think compulsively about a problem.