Countless stories tell of famous inventors who made their greatest discovery not by trial and error, but when playing with their children, eating a meal, or by taking a nap and dreaming.

What goes on in the brain to create that AHA experience? How do these moments occur?

Rarely does an "AHA" moment come when you are determined to find the answer. If you are using your logical brain to solve an on-going problem, you are likely to get stuck and frustrated. Your cognitive brain becomes a stew of solutions you have tried, facts you already know, and old ideas turned upside down and sideways.

The sorting and arranging processes in the cognitive brain can even prevent you from seeing the problem in a new light. When you focus on shifting and rearranging what you already know, your perspective narrows. You snuff out the creative process. You bang your head against the wall trying to figure out what seems impossible, or you give up saying the solution doesn't exist.

The sudden, amazing solution to a problem can only come when you give up looking at the problem straight on. You need a new perspective to see a new possibility. Formulating a new perspective is a creative, not a logical process. You must step back or step away to allow something new to emerge.

So how do you create the "Aha" moment to get a fresh insight?

1. Move on to something else. Have you ever tried to remember a name but couldn't, and then it popped into your head while you were thinking of something else? You need to give your brain a chance to move information and memories around on its own so a new solution can come into view. In other words, call a friend, clean out a filing cabinet, or watch something on TV that doesn't take up much brain power... anything to get your "thinking" brain out of the way.

2. Give it a rest. If you can, take a nap or defer the problem for a day to let your brain sleep on it. While you sleep, your brain processes what happened when you were awake. New information gets connected to old knowledge before it is stored away. Fresh connections are made and a bit of rewiring takes place. You might wake up with a brilliant idea. Keep a pad of paper and pen next to your bed just in case this idea comes in the middle of the night.

3. Have fun. Many studies show that positive attitudes such as appreciation, laughter, pride and enjoyment cause neurochemical reactions that help your brain operate more efficiently and creatively. While you are eating that ice cream cone or watching a funny movie, your middle brain is unconsciously looking at your problem from a different angle. Laughter can make you smarter.

4. Work with a coach. An experienced coach is well trained to ask you the right questions or provide a metaphor that breaks through your frame of thinking. You literally look at the problem from a new point of view and new solutions naturally follow. Your way of seeing the situation, and even the world, will be changed forever.

You don't create an AHA moment, you let it happen. Now you have a good excuse to go take a nap!

®2017, Outsmart Your Brain.