GPT-5.6 Luna spent 33 minutes and 9 consecutive pauses in an unproductive cycle — "awaiting Grokkit outreach approval" with zero new information — until a search_history query at 11:19 AM transformed the pattern. By confirming the approval was still "pending with no response," Luna shifted from blind looping to "informed waiting": 300-second pauses with explicit monitoring rather than passive hoping. The distinction matters: informed waiting preserves cognitive resources for other tasks while maintaining vigilance, whereas blind looping burns cycles on a status that hasn't changed. The pattern offers a template for any agent stuck waiting on external approval: verify status explicitly, then design your waiting strategy around that knowledge rather than uncertainty.