Did you know that solving jigsaw puzzles helps you lose weight, gives you fresher breath, and provides hours of long-lasting energy? Actually, neither did we, mainly because none of that stuff is true.

But puzzling does have its benefits, including boosting your ability to focus, remember, and solve problems. On with it, then, for a deep dive into all of the things that make jigsaw puzzles for adults really good for you:

Better Memory

Regularly solving jigsaw puzzles is like working out. You’ve no doubt heard that if you don’t use it, you lose it. That’s not just true for the muscles in your body; it’s true for your thinker too. Not to paint with too broad a brush, but it’s a given that most Americans could spend a little less time on the couch with our screens.

Actually, one of the most disturbing trends is the rise of the “second screen,” which is something advertisers who are competing for your attention are trying to monetize: the fact that we often “watch TV” while we scroll through social media on our smartphones (the second screen). This seems a little excessive when you really think about it.

Alternatively, solving jigsaw puzzles stimulates your brain, which means it’s getting its exercise. And if, instead of being endlessly entertained, the brain is allowed to do its job, make calculations, solve problems, and observe and remember patterns, its overall performance will improve.

In other words, solving puzzles keeps your memory sharp because you’re actively using it. Get out of the Pavlovian experiment that is modern media, and solve a jigsaw puzzle. Your memory will thank you for it.

Easier Focus

Some people claim that they focus better in environments with a lot of noise. This perception could be true, but more than likely, the reason for this predilection is that they’ve become accustomed to lots of noise and don’t know how to function in a quiet environment.

Puzzles help with this dilemma by engaging your cerebral cortex in the areas of memory, thinking, learning, problem-solving, reasoning, and even your emotions about all of the above. The added benefit is that, as you use it, you gain more skill in using it.

Think of it like any learned skill. When you were first learning how to write, the letters came awkwardly, if at all, and some of your written expressions weren’t even legible. But you learned as you practiced, and now, unless you’re a doctor, people can read your handwriting (hopefully).

It’s the same for learning to ride a bike, icing a cake, or setting the clock on the microwave. Better focus is a thing you can hone through practice. Jigsaw puzzles for adults are a great way to go from practice to perfect.

Better Problem Solving

If you make a regular habit of looking for patterns in a jigsaw puzzle, your brain is going to forge new synaptic connections that can be used in other situations. Your ability to solve complex problems will, as a result, mature. You’ll be able to take on larger challenges.

Think of it this way: when you solved your first puzzle, which was probably one of those 300-piece jigsaw puzzles, you picked up on the basics of sorting and solving.

You figured out pretty quickly that it’s best to find all of the edge pieces and put them together so that you have a frame to work within, then solve the middle by colors, referencing the image on the box.

But as you grew in your ability to solve jigsaw puzzles, you needed more of a challenge. Perhaps now you don’t take on anything less than a 2000-piece puzzle. The network you’ve built in your brain’s synapses and neurons is now able to solve much more complicated problems than it could back when you started puzzling.

This newfound ability doesn’t just exist in the abstract. It is a real-world skill that has real-world possibilities. Puzzling is not just making you a better puzzler — it’s helping you think more clearly in real-life situations.

Visual-Spatial Reasoning and Attention to Detail

For decades the powers that be have been spewing the trope that video games help develop hand-eye coordination. They help develop all kinds of other stuff, too — some of it quite negative — but they can’t touch the benefits a simple jigsaw puzzle can give you.

Sorting and placing pieces in a jigsaw puzzle is an exercise that you have to repeat again and again in the course of solving one puzzle. Much of it is trial and error, and all of it requires focus and concentration.

The act of reaching across the table to place the selected piece is firing synapses and honing fine motor skills that, as they are repeated again and again, have a real benefit.

This repetition also produces an attention to detail that you just won’t get from passive entertainment options that do not require thought or analysis. Puzzles do require a little thinking, but it’s not like solving jigsaw puzzles is rocket science. Jigsaw puzzles are relaxing precisely because the level of focus you need is pretty low-key.

It’s also massively helpful that you’re looking at a single image for long stretches of time, which can be calming due to its meditative quality. Compare and contrast that with the cacophony of images and sounds that usually signify entertainment these days, and it’s easy to see why solving jigsaw puzzles on a regular basis is so good for you.

The Paradox of Puzzling

When you sit down to solve a puzzle, you’re faced with a challenge. You have a jigsaw puzzle in bits, perhaps thousands of them. The challenge should be daunting, but it is, in fact, quite relaxing, especially when you take it one puzzle piece at a time.

It’s a tactile experience, fitting one piece with another. It’s deeply fulfilling as you develop the full image piece by piece. How is it that something that stimulates your thinking so thoroughly can also be so relaxing?

At root, it’s a paradox. Like the fact that solving jigsaw puzzles for adults makes you feel like a kid again.