An important way to avoid major problem solving hindrances is to think creatively. This means seeing things under a "new" light - creating solutions that are both different from the norm and useful. Frequently this means the problem solver must reject previously conceived ideas in order to, after intense concentration, come up with a solution that redefines the problem. One method which can be used to produce creative solutions is creative visualization. A person uses imagery to try and get a better grasp of the problem at hand. One problem many people who use this method are trapped by is that of structured imagination. As human beings, we are frequently limited by what we have already experienced and it is difficult for us to imagine a completely alien environment, with no relation to our own. Thus a creative visualizer must make pains to stretch the boundries of the structures imposed by experience.
Another method is insight. Insight, the sudden realization of an idea, has been debated by psychologists Weisburg and Metcalfe. Robert Weisburg believes insight is nothing special or mythical, it is merely a delayed realization of a solution that the brain has already arrived at in the traditional method. Janet Metcalfe, on the other hand, performed several tests to show that in many cases, insight in problem solving is an abrupt process, not a gradual one.