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Problem-solving skills will be useful throughout all stages of life. It’s a valuable skill for children to learn while young as it assists them in moving through school and then finding a job. As an adult, you’ll also benefit from having a good set of problem-solving skills. It’s one of the first things an employer looks for in job applications and all facets of adulthood are simplified when you can solve problems.
It’s up there with creativity skills as an essential thing everyone should continuously develop throughout life. There’s no excuse to let your problem-solving skills falter – especially when you see how quick and fun it is to improve them! Check out a few ideas below and start from there:
Do Daily Puzzles
The popularity of Wordle suddenly spawned a whole new set of daily activities for people. Nowadays, you can play loads of puzzles every day to try and develop problem-solving skills. The NY Times does a daily sudoku that’s a fantastic place to begin. This is one of the best puzzle games out there as it involves finding patterns and critical thinking to place all the numbers in the right places.
Other great options include Connections or a crossword. Connections is when you get a grid of words and have to find four groups of words that are connected by something. It’s a brilliant puzzle to engage lateral thinking as you have to think outside the box to find the connections. Of course, you can’t go wrong with a crossword as it tests your general knowledge while also helping you solve a puzzle.
Play Strategy Games
Puzzles aren’t the only games you should play to develop problem-solving abilities. Loads of strategy games are perfect for this; they force you to put your thinking hat on and literally solve a problem ahead of you. Playing chess online is arguably one of the best ways to enjoy strategy games for free. You can play as often as you like and learn different strategies to beat your opponents. It’s such a fantastic game; when you’re up, you still have to problem-solve by thinking two or three steps ahead to prevent your opponent from coming back. When you’re down, you have to try and solve the problem of avoiding defeat.
There aren’t many strategy games as effective as chess, but you can always try different video games too. Loads of video games come with puzzle features these days to encourage you to think strategically. Then, you have classic board games like Risk or Catan that are built around strategies. Playing these now and then keeps your brain whirring and teaches you to solve problems without delay. The additional benefit of chess is that you can play a game a day easily, so it’s a good thing to fit into your routine to boost problem-solving abilities.
Read Or Watch Mystery Series
Perhaps the most enjoyable way to passively develop problem-solving skills is through watching or reading mystery series. Only Murders in the Building is a fun one to start with – it’s a pseudo-mystery/comedy based on murder podcasts and you’ll enjoy trying to figure out who the killer is every season. Many other mystery series exist to watch on TV so pick one that you can get into and you’ll immediately begin reading into everything and trying to solve the mysteries.
If reading is more to your tastes, Goodreads has a wonderful list of the best crime & mystery books to read. Being engrossed in a good novel is even better than watching TV as you get transported into the book itself. You start looking out for telltale signs, developing your theories, etc. Based on the list, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the highest-rated mystery book of all time (and it’s also a movie, so that’s a bonus) or you can enjoy loads of great classics from Agatha Christie or Dan Brown. Either way, engaging in mystery series forces you to solve problems and you’ll naturally develop better skills.
When you develop different skills, this usually requires a lot of boring work. You might have to study or spend time doing things nobody likes doing. The difference with problem-solving skills is that they can be developed by doing things you love. Whether it’s playing some fun strategy games, doing a daily puzzle, or simply reading a good mystery novel. These activities encourage you – and your kids – to get better at solving problems, and this translates back into your daily lives. Give these ideas a go and see how big of a difference they make.
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