It’s good to sit with a problem and try to think your way out of it. You learn a lot about yourself, and a problem, by following this method.
However, there comes a point of diminishing returns, where each additional unit of time invested has a lower and lower probability of bringing us to an answer.
At this point, it’s better to ask for help.
In my teams at work, we ask each person to set a threshold in their own mind for how long they’re willing to stay stuck on a problem.
Asking for help after 15 minutes sub-optimal. But so is asking for help after being stuck for 3 days.
We don’t set a hard ‘stuck threshold’, but we generally encourage people to try solve a problem for themselves, and if it isn’t resolved in a reasonable period of time—within which they’re tried and exhausted most reasonable options—then it’s time to seek the help and advice of someone else.
Set a stuck threshold, and don’t be afraid to pull someone else in for help.