SUDOKU
App makers advertise sudoku games as brain training and memory boosting. For me, they are boring but compulsive.
My favored sudoku play is using prefill. Most people think this is cheating. I feel like it is a big waste of time to have to fill in the notes. I also don't like to be scored. Sometimes I punch the wrong number by accident. I don't want to get a lower score because I have clumsy or fat fingers. And I don't like to play competitively. The only person I want to be better than is myself.
That leaves time as the only score to beat. Sudoku levels come in Easy, Medium, Hard, and Extreme. Easy has the most number clues already on the board, so I usually play the Easy games without prefilling the notes. My best Easy time is 4:10.
Mostly I like to play the Extreme game. Anything under nine minutes is acceptable to me. That is a random time that most of my games end in. If I get times over nine minutes I play until my time is lower. When I play an eight-plus minute game, I usually play at least one more time to reduce the time to under eight minutes. I have played extreme games in under three minutes.
Am I training my brain? Am I boosting my memory? Sudoku is simply sorting numbers into a pattern. You don't have to be smart to play it. You do have to pay attention. If I get a lousy score, it is because I am distracted. Playing sudoku helps me to focus. When I am focused, my only limitation is how fast I can scan the board and move my fingers.
Playing sudoku is like a meditation that quiets the mind. When I play it at night, I sleep better. When I play it in the morning, I am more productive. Sudoku quiets the subconscious, self-judging mind. That is more important than any best-time score.
