I read about a study on creativity. In this study, subjects were asked to draw an alien for a story they would have to write. Then they were asked to draw an alien for somebody else's story.
The aliens drawn for other people were more creative, interesting, intricate, and seemingly better in almost every respect.
We hear about problems other people have, and we can come to a solution very fast. Yet we always find ourselves in predicaments that we think are impossible to solve.
Most of us assume that our dilemmas are the worst ones. Spoiler: they aren't.
When you aren't responsible for doing the work or suffering through the pain of the more useful or better solution, it's easier to be more creative and find the (probably) better solution.
When you don't have to do the work of figuring out how to make a sophisticated alien come to life, you can let your creativity run wild without self-imposed constraints.
Picture someone else in your situation and divorce yourself from the outcome you think inevitable, and you will find faster, calmer, more creative, and well-reasoned solutions to your most challenging problems.