A Step Forward
TWP #15 - Course Correcting and Breaking a Failing Mindset
So here we sit in the heart of winter. Sunless skies for weeks prior and weeks to come. I tend to think of this as the last leg of the race, a put your head down and just push through it time. Winter will break soon, weather will turn and the frozen hellscape will melt away for a few months. I do find it harder to work in the winter for whatever reason, despite being trapped indoors for most of the time. Maybe its the perpetual bleakness of it all, the heaviness of the pale white wonderland outside. Or its the lack of vitamin D.
Pomodoro Technique for Working
I have always had trouble focusing, studying and being able to recall more than one thing from something I read. I ran into a few very interesting videos talking about this very thing and offering some tools and habits to help address this.
This first thing that I do now each time I sit down to do anything like game dev, software, reading, writing or studying is following something called “The Pomodoro Technique”. Which is simply 1. Finding a task, 2. Setting a timer (25-50 minutes), 3. Taking a break and repeating. I put on videos by “The Sherry Forumla” which provides relaxing music, nice visuals and timers to go along with everything. I remarkably found this to be an amazing focusing technique as opposed to just listening to music and working for a non de script time.
Techniques to Remember
The second thing I have been doing along with the stuff listed above, is to take more of a methodical approach to reading and remembering things. I set out to read a lot this year and so far have been making good progress, but I often find myself reading to finish a book and not reading to understand the book. To address this I am following a technique outlined here. Essentially a system for remembering everything by building out a categorized handwritten database of notes. It is broken down into:
As you read, highlight, take notes and mark pages.
For this I use a simple highlighter and pencil to quickly mark or notate something I liked.
Transfer what you liked to note cards.
Sort note cards by theme or category.
Little by little you create a database of knowledge. Written by your own hand and categorized to fit your way of thinking.
Game Dev Update
I have actually found myself to be back in the groove. Fought through some winter blues an started redesigning a few of the interiors of the game (using some great kit bash assets that allow me to focus on design and not modeling). First is the “Observation Deck”. Which is the area that overlooks the solar system.
Second is the starting “Room”. The “Room” is the focal point and starting point for each time loop iteration.
I posted a brief walk through to twitter, which you can find here:
Reading List
Updated as of a few days ago. Behind but only because I haven’t been listening to audible much.
The End
Everyone is a critic. Its lonely traveling the road less traveled. Push forward through all the noise. Go Sabres.
Put yourself and your work out there every day, and you start meeting some amazing people
Bobby Solomon