I just returned from a wonderful bar mitzvah trip with my son that took me to all kind of car-related venues throughout Germany and Italy. Upon return I did two things: open the code of SlideMagic 2.0 to remember where I left things, and recording some musical ideas. Both were surprisingly positive.
Taking a break does wonderful things for creativity.
Your brain continues to think / process thins in the background without you realising it
Often, you dig yourself in a hole of small problems that make you lose the ability to see the big picture
Rest is always a good thing.
I use this all the time in presentation design. A few weeks before the presentation deadline, I force myself to think really hard about the presentation. Make rough sketches, write down story lines. Then I put things away before working on the presentation in earnest at a later time. This small investment of time pays off handsomely later. The key here is to make a real effort in the beginning, not just a quick though experiment.
Image via WikiPedia