Some problems won’t solve at a desk. Walk around the block twice with no phone and watch them untangle.

Some kinds of thinking need the body moving and the eyes somewhere else. Sitting and staring narrows you onto the same few grooves, and the harder you push the deeper those grooves get. Walking loosens that, partly because you stop supervising your own thoughts and let them arrange themselves into something you would not have forced.

Next time you are stuck for more than twenty minutes, get up and go outside without the phone. Do not try to solve anything while you walk. Come back and write down whatever showed up, even if it looks unrelated at first.