Jigsaw puzzles
Thousand-piece puzzles as a screen-free way to switch the mind off
Assembling a picture from several hundred to several thousand pieces, spread over evenings or weeks on a table nobody else needs. People use it as a screen-free way to switch off: attention narrows to shapes and colors, the phone stays in another room, and each placed piece gives a small hit of completion. Custom puzzles made from your own photos are cheap now, and the better brands cut pieces that fit with a definite click. The only downsides are table space and the risk of staying up far too late.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Hugh JackmanDoes it
Actor · Wolverine and The Greatest Showman
After a show he would happily eat and then spend an hour on a puzzle, and has to set an alarm to make himself go to bed. Thousand-piece Wentworth puzzles of places he has been are the pick. Probably another form of meditation, he thinks, and his restless legs never trouble him while he is doing one.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #444 transcript
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under stress or focus.
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10-20 minutes of formal practice, most days
On record from 21 of 62 tracked people: 17 do it, 1 recommends it, 3 have discussed it - HabitFREE, no cost
Deliberate solitude
Regular time with your own thoughts and no other inputs
On record from 12 of 62 tracked people: 9 do it, 3 recommend it - HabitFREE, no cost
Daily prayer
A fixed time for prayer each morning, before the phone and before the day starts
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 4 do it - HabitFREE, no cost
Personal mantra
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Chess
Short games used as a mental reset between blocks of demanding work
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it
Habit entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.