What We Can Learn From Puzzles...

I am a massive fan of those nonogram (also known as picross or griddlers). I do them on the tram into work and on my breaks, sometimes when I'm sat at home while waiting for dinner to cook.

And these have taught me something very important about myself. And I'm going to break down how I came to this.

Look at the 5x5 puzzle to the left - how would you start?

Would you have done it the same way as me?

I start with the higher numbers and then work from there.

Comment below and tell me how you would have started to solve this!

Now this is a 25x25 nonogram - more difficult. How would you start to solve this?

My answer is on the next slide.

Alright so we do puzzles differently. Or the same. The bigger puzzle is more difficult since it has more numbers and spaces. There's more factors to consider.

Both of these are still puzzles, the 5x5 grids can take just as long as a 25x25. That bigger grid may have ten rows of 25 and 15 rows of 23. That'll go much more quickly.

In the end the results will be the same - you'll feel happy when you realise you can see the picture you've created.

Alright, but what does this teach me? Apart from how to finish a puzzle...

Life is like those puzzles. Some people may have a 5x5 grid, others may have a 25x25 grid but we're all filling in those squares. We're living and we're getting through each day. Some of us may have a 25x25 grid and one of those rows may have the number 25 in it. It's not something we need to think about, but a friend may have a 5x5 and a number 1 that makes it harder for them to complete.

Essentially, don't compare your progress to others'. You're not them.

I love English Literature (so I did two degrees to do with that) but I struggle with maths. It takes me ages and ages to solve maths problems. So comparing myself to a friend who did the opposite wouldn't make sense.

Be kind to yourselves.

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Hey! Tara here and thanks for checking out my blog. I update every Tuesday with posts about studying tips, advice and talk about productivity and organisation too. If you want to keep up to date with my latest blog posts I’d love it if you subscribed to this blog.