Productivity

Hey everyone!

Today I wanted to talk to you about a concept which I've been trying to amplify as much as possible in my life. Productivity can do a lot to help you, and I don't just mean in terms of getting work done but also in feeling that you are able to get things done.

Why look into productivity? 

For me, juggling University and self-teaching Game Development it ensures I can do both of them right. More on this however, it helps me enhance both of them, it helps me get more readings done for University and Game Development, it helps me practice more and learn more; more so it also helps me explore different things, between Coding and Sprite Art, these may be related to Game Development but I am also looking into HTML 5 later on more so for my own skill set than Game Development. Learning has become more fun than simply adding onto my skill set, and this is important because when things get tough, I have one less obstacle in my way to keep moving forward.

It also helps ensure that whilst I do occupy a lot of my free-time with this studying and practice, I still have time for myself. To play games, go out with friends and so on - these things help putting things back into focus. One of the important things I found when I am learning so many new things is that I have time to just let myself rest and think on what I learned. Not getting carried away with the vast volumes of new information and things I learned is important to keep things in perspective and not get overwhelmed.

One of the things that has motivated me to keep moving forward is knowing that I am getting things done. I was motivated to learn more sprite art after I had gotten through the task of finding a software that works for me, then I got more motivated when I made something I was proud of and shared it with friends and they also liked it. Initiative and action are important, but when you want to learn to do a lot of things whilst also making sure you have time for yourself and other obligations, then time becomes more urgent (not that it wasn't already, but this makes it far more striking when you actually see how much time your using to do a task that would normally take you a few minutes).

I am not a productivity expert, truthfully I have been doing some research on the side and studying via Udemy where I found a very good productivity course called Become a SpeedDemon by Jonathan Levi. Jonathan also hosts a Podcast that brings on board a number of individuals who have very interesting experiences and ideas to share. This podcast can be found on Becoming a Super Human and I do highly recommend checking them out if you are interested in productivity.

To-Do Lists and Software

I've began to make ample use of Habitica - a Gamified To-Do list in a certain sense. It is an RPG game who's core mechanic is you. You list down habits you want to reinforce or remove, you list down your daily tasks that need to be done and you list down your To-do list. As you get things done, as you reinforce good habits and not do the bad ones, you get experience, gold, items, and so on. As you do bad habits, neglect dailies and the likes - you lose health points. It is up to you to ensure you are honest to make this gamified to-do list function well.

Another good software that you can use to keep track of your To-Dos is Wunderlist. Wunderlist can be found available on many different platforms, and if not, you can access your Wunderlist account and To-Dos via your web browser.

On my experience it's doing wonders. I am keeping up to my planning far better than when I use other software to keep track of my To-Do. Needless to say, you can always use them in conjunction, in which case if you have a lot of to-do lists in various software, I recommend Tacoapp which combines various To-do lists into one spot where you can view them all.

I hope this has helped you think and discover new things that may be of use to you!
Until next time,
Dylan