Struggling

My chess game feels like a jigsaw puzzle in which I have only a couple of pieces together and a lot of gaps in the over all picture.  I managed to enter the month of May with a rating just over 1400, a goal has been reached and now I feel as if this is going to slip away.  I have gotten real good at hanging my queen and cramping my position so it feels like a noose around my neck. I believe I need to go back to studying tactics so I can improve my vision on the board, and hopefully see threats better.  So frustrating when I know I should be playing better.  Oh well, life goes on and the game still brings pleasure.