[Bpal]

My 2 cents on the topic would be: it takes time for the brain to find a creative solution to tackle the problem, so a person has got to give a thought some time, kind of let it run on the background on its own. I've used this technique a lot of times in my life. If I can't remember where I've put something, I don't try to find it asap. I try to distract myself from the task by anything like reading news, or making a cup of tea or doing some exercises, anything really. It takes considerably less efforts to find the thing or the right solution when I don't feel that it's life or death important. And after the thing or the solution is found, it's really worth of sharing your thought with people as they might help you see some weak sides of the way you are about to take and help with peices of advice. So all in all, the best approach imho is giving a problem some time, no rush, no panic, and then share ideas with people to get the most of it.