[BurningFrog]

This feels very related to the "sleep on it" technique.

Works well for me. I recognize pretty well when my brain is in a "needs to garbage collect and analyze" state. Then I stop pushing and wait for tomorrow when the results are in.

[hnick]

I'm a fan of this method. Sometimes I just read over a problem, decide if it can wait until tomorrow, then move on. It can make the whole process a lot quicker.

I think a long walk can work similarly. The commonality being to quieten the active mind, though sleep has the benefit of more time.