Thinking Through Story Problems
Image by Zoltan Matuska from Pixabay
One of my co-workers brought in a puzzle.
This has, of course, escalated, and now we have a STACK of puzzles in the office. I think we’re even doing a swap with one of our other locations, where we each send the other office the puzzles we’ve already done, so we both get lots of variety. I know there was a thrift store run in there too, somewhere, though I don’t know who was responsible for it.
Most folks use a portion of their lunch break to work on the puzzles, but every once in a while, when someone needs a mental break, either to step away from their project for a bit or to change gears before tackling another project, we find them working on the puzzle.
This can work when you need a mental break for a story problem too. If you find yourself getting stuck, try finding another activity that still engages your brain, but that isn’t writing. It could be a puzzle, but it could also be crosswords, sudoku, or even word-related games. Anything that doesn’t involve plotting or composing is likely the best bet.
The process of engaging a different portion of your brain than you were using will sometimes let you shake loose the things that were keeping you from the solution to your story problem!
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