Sometimes, it helps to have read HPMOR and to ask, “What would HPMOR!Harry do?” Maybe he would step away from the problem for a moment, learn something new that might help him, and then get back to work. Maybe he would think about his actual goal, think about what tools he has available, silence the part of him that says to be afraid of bad ideas, and just try to use those tools to fulfill that goal. (Something something twelfth virtue?)
Sure sounds like me...
Sometimes, it helps to have read HPMOR and to ask, “What would HPMOR!Harry do?” Maybe he would step away from the problem for a moment, learn something new that might help him, and then get back to work. Maybe he would think about his actual goal, think about what tools he has available, silence the part of him that says to be afraid of bad ideas, and just try to use those tools to fulfill that goal. (Something something twelfth virtue?)