A meta-analysis of incubation research found that stepping away from a problem helps most when the break is filled with something undemanding — for word problems, a boring task beat resting outright

Getting stuck on a problem costs more than the minutes spent staring at it. Push through anyway and the same three approaches tend to circle back, none of them any better than the last. Walk away entirely, and there's a real chance of never coming back to it, or ...Read More





