Mind Over Scatter: How Puzzles and Pages Keep You Centered

If you’re looking for simple, joyful ways to support your brain health, mental well-being, and physical vitality, you need more than a gym membership. You need a pen, a puzzle, and a little curiosity. Here’s how a few humble habits like journaling, tracking your health, solving puzzles, and reading can help you feel sharper, happier, and more in control.

Sure Sudoku, Word Search and other brain puzzle games are fun, but they’re also fuel for your brain. These activities keep your mind nimble, exercising memory, attention, and problem-solving skills. And studies suggest mentally stimulating activities like these may help delay cognitive decline. They can also boost your confidence when you complete a challenging problem or finish an expert level grid. Keep a puzzle book by your favorite chair or in your bag for waiting rooms and quiet afternoons.  You can find a few on the new Bookshelf Page of this website.

Tracking your health isn’t about perfection, it’s about awareness. Whether you’re logging a new water intake habit, tracking daily blood pressure or measuring any other vital, health trackers help you spot patterns and celebrate progress. Monitoring vitals and routines can help you stay on top of doctor’s orders and be ready to share the details at your next visit. Caregivers may find logging results in a tracker helpful when communicating with each other or when providing updates to remote family members.  Most importantly tracking your health encourages healthy habits because seeing your wins, big or small, on paper can be incredibly motivating.  Check out our 5 new health trackers on the new Bookshelf Page of this website.

Daily journaling isn’t just for poets or teenagers. It’s a powerful tool for older adults to process emotions, preserve memories, and find daily joy.  Try one of our journals with large print, inspiring quotes and space for reflection.  It should feel like a welcome release not a chore. Writing down your thoughts can ease anxiety, lift your mood and reduce stress.  People who journal experience better sleep and are better able to manage relationships with family, friends and neighbors.  Journalling helps you engage your memory, while recalling events and writing them down keeps your mind active and engaged. And a gratitude journal can be a game changer.  Writing a few lines each day about what you’re thankful for can shift your whole outlook and turn a bad day into a Blessing.  Not sure where to start? Try our Daily Gratitude Journal with simple prompts and inspirational quotes to keep you going. 

Whether it’s a mystery novel, a biography, or a book of inspirational quotes, reading is a gift to your brain and your soul.  Reading enhances focus and memory and following a story strengthens attention and recall. Just six minutes of reading can slow your heart rate and relax your muscles.

Reading can also reduce loneliness as you connect to characters, ideas, and faraway places. And sharing your reading experience can be all the reason you need to interact with a neighborhood book club or to connect with a friend over a cup of coffee. And don't forget to read aloud to connect more deeply and joyfully with friends and grandchildren.  Ensure you always have a book ready in the queue by reading with Kindle or Audible or, if you are more frugal, try the Libby Mobile App that keeps you connected to your local library 365 days a year without even having to leave your favorite reading chair - all for free!   

You don’t need to overhaul your reading habit to begin to feel better. Just a few minutes a day with a puzzle, a pen, or a page can sharpen your thinking, lift your spirits and improve your health.  And remind you that you are still learning and still thriving.  So go ahead, pick up that puzzle book, jot down a few thoughts and lose yourself in a story. Your brain, your heart, and your body will thank you.