New research suggests that keeping away from tendency to brood even for a small amount of time will help you to increase problem-solving ability.To understand how rumination affects problem solving, researchers asked 51 study participants to watch a short movie clip. The movie clip was designed to make viewers sad. Afterwards they were given tests to check their problem solving abilities. Researchers found that people who were able to distract themselves did better at the tests.

via Stay Away from Negative Thoughts to Improve Problem Solving Ability – Medical Daily.