Kathi's playlist
I tried this so you don't have to -speed puzzling series
Welcome to my monthly creative speed puzzling series, I tried this so you don’t have to. This spring, I’m going through some quirky experiments to see if they help me get faster.
This one has been my favorite experiment so far! I‘ve been listening to Kathi’s playlist while puzzling. The idea came from a fellow puzzler, when I gathered ideas for this post series last year, and I immediately knew I wanted to try this one out. So big thanks to the puzzler and to Kathi, who gave me the green light for giving this one a go.
In case you don’t know, Kathi is one of the fastest puzzlers in the world, and has made it several times to the podium in competitions like the German Championships, the European Championships, and the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championships. Kathi also organizes puzzle events, and is known as a kind and supportive puzzler, who shares her knowledge generously. I think it was no wonder that when Kathi shared her playlist, it caused quite some excitement.
How music can help in speed puzzling?
Before we dive into the experiment, I wanted to share a few words of the role of music in speed puzzling. This is actually one of my favorite topics actually! I’ve used music pretty much always in my speed practice, and it has helped me a lot. I wrote how I’ve used music in my practice more thoroughly in How I reached sub-40 min times, but in a nutshell: music helps you to block the outside world away during a competition, enabling you to focus on your own process. It also helps in building a good vibe and mental confidence before competitions, and keeps up your pace during the assembly. In addition, music is perfect for practicing specific speed puzzling skills, like sorting. A song works as an interval: choose a song which length is ideal and practice the skill until you manage to complete the area or task before the song ends.
