Thoughts - Means of Problem Solving

I'm not sure how other people really think - I have a degree in Psychology but I'm still not entirely convinced by the ideas on theory of mind. I have a few observations that I'd like to share. For one thing, and this is kind of strange, when there is a problem I need to solve I can't "think" through it. If I try to reason my way through it, my conscious mind wanders off to God knows where and I get nowhere. But if I relax, clear my mind and just allow some internal process to work, all of a sudden the answer appears. This is the gap in the internal monologue to which I refer. This does *not* work with mathematical problems. I have always struggled with those sorts of problems. I refer more to the interpersonal problems or even IT problems of which I encounter on a daily basis. Even the lead up to writing this was only a vaguely conceived idea until I started typing and the right words appear on the screen.

I wonder how other people "think" their way through problems? Do they have a specific process they go through to find the answers? In a movie I saw once, one of the characters is telling another about finding the B's and C's. His boss was able to skip from A to D, but a normal person needed to find those B's and C's. I certainly do not subscribe to the idea my thought methods are unique or special, but I merely wonder at the other types of thoughts. Is it possible to learn how to think in the opposite way. I wonder at the efficacy of intuitive problem solving against a more step-wise approach.

I think that these are innate means of thinking and we are born that way. As hard as I've tried to learn a more structured means of thinking it escapes me. Trying to be organised and have everything planned out doesn't work. I can maintain it over the short term, but I get tired of the effort and go back to a more messy/non-linear style of thinking. I wonder how many others experience this?

Hmm I want a MacBook Pro too while I'm rambling. They are very sexy.

Oh and in case you're wondering at the nature of this post - remember the name of the blog is "somewhat" thoughtful thoughts. Sometimes I haven't worked them all the way through :)