What I learnt from an usual challenge

Over the last 4 weeks I’ve had a challenge not your typical millennial challenge giving up meat, alcohol or a 30 day meditation course. A challenge that could be mocked for being nerdy, what you do when your retired or what a boring person would do.

What is this challenge?

It’s been a 1,000 piece puzzle. After doing a 500 piece puzzle I dived in and thought how hard can a 1000 pieces be.

What sounds easy has been a challenge and I think there are some learnings I’ve taken from what seemed like an easy task.

• Tenacity is sticking with something and doing it little and often – I’d spend maybe 30 mins to an hour max a couple of evenings a week chipping away at it. It’s easy to procrastinate and put things off but success comes from determination and sticking at something consistently
• Stepping away gives you perspective- if you sit too long doing the same thing with no break or change of scenery you can get bogged down in the detail and not see the bigger picture
• Find something that is truly mindful to give yourself a break – I found myself getting lost in the puzzle where an hour could go by without realising where the time went. Finding something that helps you switch off and re-charge is good for your mental well-being whether that’s a puzzle, book, exercise or indulging in a box set
• Have someone that checks in on your to make sure your not over-doing it. Funnily enough I could get so immersed in the puzzle that my husband would need to come and call time before going to bed. In the tech space especially problem solvers can work later than needed as its hard to leave something unfixed. So having a trusted colleague or friend to sometimes check in with you or even do an activity remotely (peer2peer) can help you take breaks as well
• Breaking a big task down into smaller chunks. Initially I was a bit overwhelmed with it but then found working on a little section at a time made it more manageable and gave you little bursts of satisfaction along the way as you finished the trees or the cart so you got a little buzz from each bit you completed
• It’s the steps along the way that lead to overall success. It’s cheesy to say but I enjoyed the process of chipping away at it as much as the finished result.It’s a simple lesson we all need to remember that the journey needs to be celebrated as well as the destination