Solving the Furniture Puzzle

furniture-assembly

Try this today

• Choose an uncluttered workspace.
• Read the directions. No, really — read the directions all the way through! Note any symbols in the directions and review their meanings.
• Match parts from the box with the list of parts in the instructions. Once you’re sure you have everything, organize the parts by size.
• Set reasonable goals, perhaps breaking the project down into several phases.
• If something goes wrong, don’t stress. Instead, retrace your steps.
• Give your final product a place of importance.

Why

If the thought of putting together furniture makes you groan, your brain might thank you for changing your way of thinking. Furniture assembly, if approached with patience and fun, can serve as an excellent — and practical — problem-solving exercise. If you think this particular activity will be easier for men than women, you may be right.

 

One small Norwegian study found that men were better than women at assembling Ikea furniture, although this may simply be because they had more practice playing with Legos when they were young or because they think they are better at it. (Turns out confidence goes a long way in using that tiny wrench.) But if you think you will be miserable at putting together your Hasselvika nightstand, don’t give up hope.

 

Other research has found that practice can improve the spatial reasoning skills you need to follow the directions and make the furniture pieces fit together correctly. Working on these skills can help you be better at solving all kinds of problems: from figuring out a better way to rearrange the living room to pulling perfectly into a tight parking space.

 

The next time you need a new bookshelf or a table, consider a piece that requires assembly. Give yourself plenty of time and approach it like a puzzle with a purpose.