October 14, 2008

Breaks help sort problems

An experiment has found that that taking a break from a problem solving exercise can actually help the solution come much faster. The research team from the Northwestern University in Illinois surveyed and tested one hundred and thirty volunteers to find how problem solving could be achieved faster.

They found that those people who took their minds off of the problem for a moment of two actually found the solution faster. The distraction could be a conversation, doing another job or just simply taking a break, whatever the reason to stop working on the problem did not matter.

It seems to be matter of how conscious thought works, people tend to get narrowed into a cul de sac where there is nowhere to turn, therefore they find themselves trapped with nowhere to go, but by simply taking the break, means that when they return to the problem they are able to start again.

Source [Telegraph]