We’ve covered the idea that puzzles may be good for the brain before and that they might even make you smarter, but there are still some more potential benefits of puzzling for your brain that you might not know about.
Let’s jump right in so you can get back to puzzling and you just may improve your brain health in these fascinating ways!
Working on a puzzle may help you become more creative because it challenges you to think outside the box. There’s no one right way to put a puzzle together, and every puzzle experience is different. Each time you crack open a new puzzle, you have to flex your problem-solving skills to get every piece in the right place.
Engaging in puzzling could potentially enhance your problem-solving abilities, which might prove useful in real-life situations. Think of it as a muscle you can exercise and develop. Over time, you may find yourself approaching real-life challenges with more creative solutions.
An important part of brain health is cognitive flexibility. It’s your ability to shift your thinking and adapt to new ideas and situations. When you boost your cognitive flexibility, you become more resilient to change.
Working on a puzzle is a great way to practice cognitive flexibility in a low-stakes environment. If your original strategy isn’t working, you need to quickly find a new one. You may need to try several strategies before you land on the one that puts all the pieces together (literally).
Practicing cognitive flexibility while working on puzzles might have benefits that extend to other areas of your life. Since life often brings changes and unexpected situations, building resilience to handle curveballs could be a valuable skill.
Thanks to the digital age, our collective ability to focus has decreased over the last few years. We’re used to having everything we need at our fingertips, and we consume content that’s meant to only hold our attention for a few seconds.
It’s crucial to take part in activities that challenge your ability to focus. You should also maintain a few screen-free hobbies to give your brain a break from constant stimulation. Puzzling fits the bill perfectly. It may help boost your ability to focus and your patience. Let’s be real, we could all use more of that!
Working on a puzzle challenges you to remember what multiple pieces look like. You need to remember their shape, size, and color so you can fit them into the right place when it appears.
Strong visual memory makes it easy to recall faces, locations, and other visual information. This skill makes it easier to move throughout your day-to-day life and may help protect your memory for the long term.
Working on a puzzle has been shown to reduce stress. You may get into a meditative-like flow state that calms the mind and enhances emotional regulation. If you puzzle often, this brain benefit may spill over into your personal life. You could be more likely to slow down and react to the situation calmly instead of having a knee-jerk reaction.
Think that puzzling is only a solo hobby? Think again! You can work on a puzzle with friends or family members, and group puzzling competitions are all the rage right now. Working on a collective puzzle is a great way to meet new people, and there’s a huge puzzling community waiting to embrace you.
Social interactions do a ton of good for the brain. They stimulate cognitive function, improve memory, and strengthen neural networks.
Neural plasticity is essentially the brain’s ability to adapt to new situations, injuries, and experiences. The more “plastic” your brain is, the better you’re able to adapt and form new neural connections. This helps you learn new skills and stay agile.
Working on a puzzle has been shown as a great way to boost your neural plasticity. Your brain may literally be creating new neural pathways as you piece your puzzle together!
As we said earlier, puzzles may help with your concentration. Well, a bonus benefit of that is that they may also make you more productive throughout your day. They increase the amount of time you can focus on one task, which helps you get more done in that time. If you struggle with staying on task at work or in school, try working on a puzzle on a regular basis and see if you notice any changes.
Ready to get smarter? Research shows that training your brain with exercises like puzzling really does work. According to a study, there’s a strong association between puzzle skills and intellectual abilities.
When you do a puzzle, you can have a great time, destress, and get smarter all in one sitting. Not bad!
Remember when we said that puzzles may boost problem-solving skills? Well, this benefit is connected to that one. When you develop problem-solving skills, you also develop the ability to think critically.
Puzzles help encourage critical thinking because they require you to look at clues and make logical deductions with limited information. Critical thinking skills help you excel at all of your tasks and teach you to think bigger.
The potential brain benefits of puzzles seemingly never end, and some of them may surprise you. You’ll have fun and may boost your brain health all at the same time.
Ready to make puzzling part of your normal routine? Sign up for a membership with Completing the Puzzle, a one-of-a-kind puzzle subscription service that makes puzzling simple and fun.
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