Complete a crossword puzzle.

“As part of my New Year goal to better myself, both emotionally and mentally, I purchased a subscription to the NYT and attempted the crossword puzzle. Actually, fearing that I wasn't intellectually capable quite yet, I first practiced with a few of the Monday puzzles. They were surprisingly easy, so I decided to just jump into today's puzzle. It took me a few hours. I did my best not to look up the answers but eventually had no choice. Nevertheless, I don't remember the last time I felt so accomplished. These puzzles are fun, relaxing, and fulfilling. I can't wait until tomorrow!”

“I still don't know why exactly I find as much satisfaction in finishing a crossword puzzle as I do. It's pretty much a useless skill. Its primary requirement is a kind of pigheaded refusal to go give up. Doing crossword puzzles has also convinced me, in ways no psych textbook ever did, of the power of the subconscious mind. I can't tell you how many times I have put down a crossword puzzle that had stymied me a third of the way or half way through, and then come back half an hour later to find that all the answers I could not get are sitting right there in the front of my mind, lined up like obedient little soldiers, ready to march out into the grid.”

“I was surprised to be able to complete them, mostly — the breezy Monday puzzles and, with enough time and effort, the gnarly, knotty Saturdays (which I learned were much harder than their more famous Sunday counterparts). Week by week, I got faster and more confident, and my mental health started to improve, too: As it turns out, racking your brain to think of a five-letter word for “performed reasonably well” was a decent way to distract yourself from all that existential dread.”