How do you solve hard problems if you can't make incremental progress?
Goladus: Avoid stress and distractions.  Do not multitask.  Take breaks to eat (healthy foods), exercise, and sleep.  Feel free to discuss the problem with friends and colleagues but minimize emotional investment with other people.  Read books and articles on the subject.  Study existing tools and study similar problems.  If you can't make incremental progress on a solution you can incrementally increase your chance to solve it all at once by getting smarter and getting better tools.No facebook, television, hacker news, video games, twitter, dating, drinking.I would not say this is a particularly healthy lifestyle in the long run.  When possible incremental progress will make it easier to live a happy fulfilling life.  But if you really need to solve something...