Puzzles are so frustrating.

I'm a beginner and chose to do lessons and puzzles. I thought this would help the quickest to get familiar with the game. I've done thousands of puzzles and fought my way up to a puzzle score of a bit over 1200, then after a couple bad days, some really stupid blunders, now I am back below 1100 and have lost 150 points off where I was a few days ago.  

It just is really frustrating (I do not have the temperament of a John Bartholomew). It just makes me think that the game really may not be for me at all.  I try to tell myself that it is a process to go through and learn but at times it just is not enjoyable. 

Everyone has their dips and valleys. Try not to mind when you drop down a lot of points. You'll gain them back eventually, or else you never actually deserved that rating.

Rated puzzles can be a frustrating experience; been there.

Don’t give up because you’re actually doing really well with a 60% pass rate. Above 50% is acceptable.

I now do more practice puzzles than rated one’s at the moment because above 2000 becomes subjective.

Puzzles are meant to be frustrating. Hang in there. Wangchung tonight.

I recommend doing a set amount of puzzles per day and really making sure you do each one to the best of your ability. By that I mean take as much time as you need per puzzle. I know that there's a target time and added points for solving a puzzle in a short time but you should ignore those. The point of puzzles is to train your brain to see tactics and calculate out all of the moves. I sometimes actually take 10-15 mins on a single puzzle. Getting quicker at tactics and pattern recognition will come over time so don't worry - just make sure you get the tactics in the first place! Doing a set amount (like 5, 10, 15) is highly recommended because doing a large amount is actually bad for your chess. It's really easy to burn out by doing that many and if you try to pursue the rating too much, then it's easy to get tilted too. By that point, you're not working at your mental best and you're going to be more likely to get puzzles wrong and drop rating.

Additionally, always go over a checklist in you mind before each move in a puzzle. Do I have any checks, do I have any captures, do I have any attacks. Likewise do the same checklist for your opponent before you move. Keep in mind that by the end of each puzzle, you should have a mate or a significant material advantage. Puzzles will be hard - that's the point - but if you approach them the right way then you'll definitely improve.

Great advice from all and I appreciate it. Just took a shower, cleared my head, came back and solved six straight so I quit there for the night. My experience is that I very seldom solve that many in a row without a big loser! I'll come back tomorrow and read these encouraging comments again before playing any more. G'nite.....great forum.

If you haven’t already tried it, I suggest playing the puzzle rush and the puzzle battle. I feel liked it helped my puzzle score spike 300 points and blitz elo spike 250 in the last month after plateauing for the longest time. It helped me “review” easier puzzles and solve them much much faster and under pressure almost like in a game. You’re also able to do so many of them quickly which helps hammer tactical themes home and also gives at least me a sense of accomplishment to counteract the frustration that puzzles can create. 

I am obsessed with puzzles, I once solved one hundred in one afternoon

But true, they can be frustrating because there could be even better moves done than these suggested but the database

This is how chess is, you can be losing and then all of a sudden turn it into a winning streak. It has its ups and downs, and that shouldn't bring you down! The best way to improve even more is to play and play and play!

If you never bleed, you're never gonna grow : )

Suggest also trying the custom puzzles. Can set the rating, the type of puzzle, etc. It says which puzzle types you're good at / not good at, so you can practice ones you've been struggling with. I was useless at smothered mates till I just practiced and learnt the patterns. Still struggle with rook and queen sacrifices though! Absorbing what logic the puzzles are using is also important, i.e., what moves are forcing, what are distractions, what the computer might do if you do such and such, what order to do things in and why, whether there's an opportunity for a fork or skewer and what needs to happen to set those up, where to move the king if it's under attack. I.e., for every failed puzzle, really assess what the point of each 'correct' move is. Sometimes you really need to think three or four moves ahead for various starting moves to gauge which is the best. GothamChess has a recent video called 'How to solve 50 chess puzzles' where he talks through the logic for each. This video reiterates the idea that you should be up a couple of points by the end of the puzzle, though this isn't always true. Sometimes a puzzle is just one move to improve your position, or to e.g., swap a queen for two rooks.

Puzzles have a very long pedigree. This 2-mover celebrates the capture of Baghdad in the Middle Ages.

I've heard a GM that gives the advice to practice puzzle by category, so that it helps you memorize patterns. Puzzles are about pattern recognition, if you don't know the pattern, it is really hard to find the solution. You could maybe begin with mates in 1, then mates in 2, and so on.

Dear oldretiredsailor, 
I am a certified, full-time chess coach and International Master, so I have seen it and tried it all.
There are so many ways to get better and I know it can be overwhelming.
You can learn from free videos on youtube, there are books at your disposal that can help, but they are not tailored to your needs.

One of the most important things you can do is to analyze your games! You must learn from your mistakes! That is a priority. You can't really move on to a new, different topic and learn new ideas if you still make the same mistakes over and over again!

This is where a chess coach comes into the picture. A good coach can show you how to study, what to study, gives you the material YOU need. Naturally, it takes time to use everything in practice, but if you are relentless and persistent you will succeed!
You should learn the main principles in every area of the game (opening, middlegame, endgame).  Don't focus on only one part! You should improve your tactical vision as well as it is part of all areas!  
This how I built my training program for my students. We discuss more than one topic during a lesson so it's always interesting and they can improve constantly. I give homework too and the right tools to make practicing enjoyable and effective!
Don't worry about your rating and the ups and downs! Just keep on playing and practicing!

I hope this helps.   I wish you good games and 100+ extra ratings

Stop looking at your rating and the puzzles become more enjoyable. Study the opponent blunder that leads to the puzzle.  For ones you get wrong, just take a long look at it.  Use the analysis feature if you like.  There's no rush. Often we'll have the right general idea, but get the move order wrong, why? How did I miss that bishop on the other corner of the "action"? It's a perfect time to slow down and look at all the tensions.  I don't worry about the clock and I don't look at the rating.  Puzzles have more interesting "chess" situations (tactics) than my pitiful games, so I get to enjoy that part of chess with puzzles.