Your first idea is often the most obvious one; stay long enough to meet the interesting ones.

The first idea is the one already available, which usually means it is the one anyone would have. It arrives quickly because it is nearest, and stopping there guarantees ordinariness. The more interesting material sits behind it and only appears if you stay in the problem past the point of having an answer.

Make a rule of not using your first idea. Generate five more, including several bad ones, before choosing. The middle of that list is usually mediocre and the end is where the useful ones start appearing, once the obvious options have been exhausted.