Brain teasers: Rubik’s cube, puzzles and juggling

Unfortunately, I don’t feel as engaged these days. Not as engaged socially, or educationally. I have been trying to combat this boredom and dull mind state with some puzzles. My first puzzle goal started with learning to solve a Rubik’s cube. I’m certainly not going to be a world record holder and do it in under 10 seconds, but it’s just another random skill (and another party trick) to have up my sleeve. It takes a bit of time but once you remember the basic patterns you can do it without fail.

Next, I’ve been doing a couple of jigsaw puzzles. They’re apparently a great workout for the brain and they certainly give me a sense of accomplishment when I finish. At the moment I haven’t gone over a 500 piece, but I’m slowly working my way up to 1000.

Finally, another challenging one that is really good for your coordination and brain is learning to juggle. This is something that has taken me ages (especially with my two left feet). I started out with one ball, slowly getting the motion, then increased to two. I got stumped on two balls for quite some time but eventually cracked it and figured out the motion of juggling three objects. It only took me a few days of intermittent practice but I’m sure a coordinated person could get the job done in a day. Now the next step is to learn how to juggle four objects.

Additionally, any sudokus, cross words and colouring in pictures I come across I’ve been trying them out as well. So, when times are dull and you can be motivated, try a puzzle or two. Maybe like me it will spice up your very monotonous days at the moment.  

Note: If you're lacking some motivation at the moment, you might like to check out this resource on procrastination.