Distraction prevents discomfort from turning into insight.

Sitting with a problem is uncomfortable, and that discomfort is often the last stage before something breaks open. Reaching for a distraction at exactly that point discharges the pressure and takes the insight with it. The relief is real and it costs you the thing you were about to find.

Notice the moment you reach for your phone during hard thinking. Try staying for another five minutes instead. Most of what people call an inability to think is really an unwillingness to be uncomfortable for a few more minutes.