If you’re anything like me, it means you find the sorting of pieces (before you start assembling) the least interesting part of puzzling. However, putting the effort into doing it properly will really make your puzzling experience easier, faster, and a lot more enjoyable. Below are a few ways to sort faster, more efficiently.. and to make it more fun!
Got some family members mulling around with nothing to do? Or a friend coming over to hang out or chat? Ask them to help you with the sorting! You could even do it while having a meal or snack together. (My advice is to avoid messy foods like spaghetti or stuff you need to eat with your fingers!) Maybe they’ll even join you in putting the puzzle together.
There will definitely be shows that don’t require your undivided attention. I like sorting pieces while watching the news or slow paced soap dramas. It’s better than snacking or mindlessly strolling through Instagram while the TV is on.
Just like watching TV, you can use the time effectively to listen to a podcast. Likewise, if you’re not really into reading, how about listening to an audio book instead?
This will make the sorting process feel less tedious!
Sometimes we dread sorting because of the perceived time it takes to do so. Play a little game with yourself by setting a set duration of time to do so. For example, tell yourself you’ll do 15 minutes of sorting now, then do something else and then come back to do another 15 minutes later. You’ll find that when your 15 minutes is up, you’ll want to continue because our brains are goal-striving. We see the leftover pile and want to finish sorting them. Before you know it, you’re done!
To avoid throwing pieces into the wrong pile, get some sorting trays. These are simple trays or boxes that are colour coded (e.g. red, yellow, white, blue). Blue pieces go into the blue tray, red pieces in the red tray, etc. By getting (or making) sorting trays stackable, you can also pack them up neatly anytime.
Pour all the pieces out onto your work surface, flip them onto the correct side, and then slide all of the pieces you see of the same colour to the edge of the table and into its sorting box. It will feel like a pain to flip all the pieces over but this actually speeds up the sorting process.