Patience is a necessary ingredient of genius.

Unusual work is rarely the product of a single burst. Most of it comes from staying with a problem past the point where it stopped being interesting, tolerating long stretches where nothing resolves, and returning to it after it has defeated you several times. That endurance is not separate from ability; it is most of what ability turns out to be in practice. Quick minds that cannot wait produce clever fragments and little else.

Take the problem you have been putting aside because you keep failing at it. Give it a regular hour, expect several weeks of nothing, and keep the appointment anyway.