What do the drunk, sleepy and brain damaged have in common? They are able to more creatively solve problems than those of us during our more alert and focused times.

Recent studies have found that not being able to focus causes our brains to consider information we might otherwise find irrelevant - meaning coming to new and surprising conclusions we wouldn’t reach otherwise.

In one of the studies, students were tested during early morning hours when they were drowsy and less alert and in the afternoon with a higher attention span and many were able to solve problems more easily in the morning.

Similarly, when students reached a ‘peak intoxication’ level on drunkenness they could more creatively solve word problems than when they were sober.