WhenIhaveanimportant(ortough)problemtosolve,Ioftenaffordmyselftheluxuryofshelvingitforafewdays,evenifIthinkIcanalreadyseeasolution.Duringthistime,Idon’tthinkaboutitanditdoesnotweighonmymind–I’mbusydoingotherthings.AlthoughI’mnotconsciouslythinkingaboutit,itpercolatesawayinmysubconscious,andasolutionoftenannouncesitselfwhenIleastexpectit.

Ifafewdayspasswithoutamagicalsolutionbubblingup,I’llstartthinkingabouttheproblemagain.However,Iquiteoftenrealizethatthere’sabetterwaytodefinetheproblem–andthistimeit’smucheasiertosolve.

IamoftenamazedbythesimplicityandeleganceofthesolutionsIarriveatusingthismethod.Eachtimethishappens,I’mquitesurethatIwouldnothavebeenabletoproducethesolutiondeliberatelyusingalinear,logicalthoughtprocess.

ThetimethatI’mmostpronetoreceivingtheseinsightsiswhenI’mnotworking,andusuallydoingsomethingphysicalratherthancerebral.Mymorningrunoralongdriveoftenofferupsolutionstosuchproblems.