3 Important lessons I learnt from solving a 1000 piece puzzle.

With Singapore in the middle of our circuit-breaker (CB) mode, me and my wife recently started and subsequently completed a 1000 piece two-sided puzzle. In our puzzle-solving journey, I learnt 3 key lessons that is vital during this period.

Lesson 1: Staying focused is the key

Throughout the puzzle solving process, there will be times where we get tired from seeing the same colour profile over and over again. I was often distracted and tempted to try out another area of the puzzle after being stuck at the same area.

However, doing so will mean spending a significant amount of time initially to understand the rough picture of the new area. Unfortunately, when that is done, my brain will often be too tired to be effective at solving the new area. Instead, taking a quick break, and going back to work on the same area ends up having much more success.

Likewise, in this working from home (WFH) period, there are times I get distracted by the incoming slack or email notifications. This usually meant getting myself into a conversation or typing a reply e-mail in the next minute.

When I do get back to my task on hand, it usually takes me some time to gain back the efficiency I was at previously. Hence, taking inspiration from the puzzle solving process, I decided to tackle my daily tasks within a set period and not checking any slack/email channels. Specific slots were set aside for both slack/email response.

What I gain in return, is a more focused duration where I can complete task after task without the need for contextual switching.

Lesson 2: Inspect and adapt

This lesson is something I appreciate towards the end of the 1000 piece puzzle. As the puzzle was about 80% complete, the remaining pieces were spread across two main areas with similar colour palette. This meant the previous tactic of focusing on one area at a time was no longer effective. We literally inspect the puzzle and decided to adapt our strategy accordingly.

We picked out the similar shaped pieces and group them into the various clusters shown below. Thus, if we were looking for a specific shape, we simply had to find the right piece from that shape group. This saved us a great deal of time trying to comb through the remaining pieces for the right shape and colour of puzzle piece.

Making use of inspection and adaptation also improved my working habits. During the initial phase of WFH, I placed an emphasis on maintaining or even increasing the interaction I have with my colleagues to make up for the lack of face-to-face interaction.

However, after weeks of WFH, many team members including myself start to notice a trend of us having too many meetings. This was a result of setting up meeting at times where a simple slack message will do. I was indeed a guilty party of this. After careful inspection and adaptation, I realized some of the meetings I set up can be replaced with a short slack conversation or email.

Looking forward, as we face more uncertainties in the way we work, it is ever more important for us to inspect how we collaborate within our teams and adapt accordingly.

Lesson 3: Don't be too hard on yourself

As the puzzle was completed, one of the most important lesson I learnt is to take a break and not be too hard on myself. There were times where me and my wife were near the completion of an area, we ended up staying late at night to complete it. This last push at the end became more frustrating than fun at times.

Eventually, we learnt to take our time and took turns to be the one to call it in. Even though we spent a longer period of time completing the puzzle, we truly enjoyed every minute of the process at the end.

In this CB period, as everyone are WFH, the line between work and life becomes blurred and there seems to be this pressure of learning a new skill, reading books or trying out a new fitness routine. All these are great initiatives, but as everyone has their unique challenges in these times, it is important for us to understand our own capacity.

After all, staying physically and mentally healthy are of utmost importance. So if we do binge watch a korean drama like Itaewon Class (check my previous article on it here) to give ourselves a much needed break, we should not feel too guilty about it. After all, there is a Chinese saying, 休息是为了走更远的路。(This roughly translates to, taking a break is to prepare for a longer journey ahead.) As the road ahead remains uncertain, we have to take care of ourselves and avoid burnout.

With that said, I had a great time completing this puzzle with my wife and capturing the lessons this taught me. I now have to find a 27 by 20 inch puzzle frame that is double sided as well. Wish me luck!