Topics of the productivity channel

The #productivity-and-motivation channel is a space created in 2021 in the DevTalk discord to discuss tips, experiences and questions around productivity, working habits, motivation, self-care, and getting a handle on things.

Below are key topics that were discussed in the channel. Message links should take you to the rough start of the topics below the link. They are meant as quick bookmarks, so occasionally you may want to scroll up for full context. This page is in chronological order, i.e. newest entries at the bottom.

2021

January

• energy levels, physical limits

• yearly themes, planners / planning styles, todos, actionable todos

• procrastination, focus tools

• Pomodoro
• perfectionism, when are you "done"
• resting, recharging
• motivation through being public

• game jams and productivity

• productivity talks and impostor syndrome (part 2)
• circumstances within and out of your control
• apologizing and being assertive, navigating social relationships

• energy levels

February

• time tracking, habits
• separation of actionable todos and non-actionable projects / reference

• Hell Yeah or No

• game jam actual working time

• FOMO, fear of missing out introduction

• meditation
• philosophy (Epicurus, the Stoics)

• short and sweet motivation boost

• lunch break productivity (maximizing small windows of time)
• physical hobbies

• hobbies and learning

• finishing a project
• CLT construal level theory

• the "dip" visualization of the artistic process

• types of rest
• failure percetptions around the world, survivorship bias
• testing out the Intellect app

March

• post-jam productivity, and perceived closure
• updates on time tracking, negative tracking ideas

• creating a schedule
• personalizing schedules, free / alert time
• commutes

• not losing sight of motivating factors

• bad coping mechanisms: escapism, worrying, denial, venting...

• making significant changes to your life / schedule / work load
• cutting things out from your life
• taking longer breaks

• ABCD journaling / cognitive behavioral therapy CBT
• dealing with limiting external factors

• physical well-being
• staying up late vs. interrupting the flow to get enough sleep

• measuring writing productivity
• short motivational comic

• working on less pleasant tasks, repetitive activities
• using schedules and compartmentalizing or layering to accomplish unpleasant tasks

• big table of productivity terms

• getting quick control over tasks
• online services like HacknPlan, Trello

• pacing yourself, negative effects of the flow
• creating an effective break routine
• blocking unwanted distractions, blocking apps, eliminating distractions

• Cortex podcast

• setting up schedules
• updates on trying out scheduling and planning ideas, kaizen

• update on Routinery app
• routines vs. habits, benefits of both

• overcoming learning curves

• paper planning
• creating a monthly plan
• paper vs. digital planner (vs. combination)
• kanban

• perfectionism
• self-esteem and its reliance on external factors
• letting go / finishing a piece of art

• affirmations, looking back, seeing progress

April

• the "now" page, information on current projects

• day planner usage
• pens and paper
• markup systems
• Panda Planner

• Bullet Journal
• Dash/Plus system
• ring binders vs. bound note books

• printables, templates for organization
• Emergent Task Planner

• daydreaming, The Secret, success visualization
• premature sense of completion
• early project announcements and motivation

• perfectionism, setting standards

• writing down tasks, relying on externalized info only

• "start-stop-keep" review system

• game jam fatigue / cycles
• seasonal hobbies

• employment search
• resumes, portfolios, hiring managers, broadening search

May

• environmental triggers to working
• music and audio for working, categories, apps, services

• seasonal creativity
• creative cycle metaphor of seasons, multiple cycles

• overcoming blocks to writing advice for others (external article)

• burnout help: exercise, motivation / achievements

• simply doing
• working without structure as long as possible

• separating work from free time, space to unwind
• ideas for work spaces, physical and mental separations
• work rituals, signifiers for "work mode"

• cleanup week(s), taking time to organize (Part 2, Part 3)
• how to organize a mess / collecting into temporary place first vs. putting it back immediately
• benefits of tidying (space for new ideas + self-respect)

• minimal planning, simply doing II
• limitations and benefits of structuring free work
• the 9-5 structure

• working on two large projects in parallel
• prioritizing, making time to finish
• tracking progress of a large project
• kanban

• benefits of hand-written plans

• DevTalk weekly progress report initiative statistics (20 weeks in)

• large amounts of work ahead
• daunting project scale, slow visible progress

June

• time blocking / time boxing vs. scheduling, benefits

• paper planner / Panda Planner experiences
• being overbooked, stretched too thin

• analog gear, pens on different types of paper
• erasable notebooks / GreenBook

• breaking down tasks into smaller bits
• larger context of Getting Things Done (GTD) and need for a Weekly Review

• multiple viewpoints on feedback to creative works, from Cortex ep.112
• generalizing from a narrowed down selection
• inevitability of extremes occurring
• repeated comments and their relative value
• criticism read in your own voice
• activation energy of comments

• periods of no output
• finishing open obligations

• Pomodoro meets ASMR

• the Eat That Frog method, introduction

July

• burnout
• burnout tactics: success journals, minimum viable product (MVP), pacing

• burnout and overwhelm
• too many projects
• sustainable dev lifestyle

• portability of scripts to work on the go

• change of environment

• jams and productivity
• jam habits unsuitable for regular/longterm work

• day job and dev work
• doing pre-planned work to increase efficiency
• waking up early / doing mental work at optimum time

• Focusmate, online co-working

August

• pros and cons of participating in jams

• publicly committing to a deadline, positive and negative pressure

• relocating (physically), timing of moving to a different city, place
• economy of moving

• VN statistics article
• estimating VN jam results

• benefits of NOT joining jams
• countering FOMO Fear of Missing Out

September

• "just do it" productivity advice and its issues

• Agile project management
• hybrid GTD Getting Things Done and Agile setups in Notion

• GTD setup in paper form

• sticky notes, paper productivity

• prioritizing projects
• questions to assess project load and relevance
• reducing project count / increasing focus on specific projects

• Mark Forster's "algorithmic" lists
• Autofocus, Superfocus, Final Version and other list-sorting systems

October

• tackling difficult tasks first
• picking up old unfinished works after much time has passed
• resistance, dread and paralysis, tasks that "have your number"
• layering production technique

• risks of submitting in the last day of a jam
• submitting too close to the deadline

• picking up hibernated projects, stalled projects
• sunk cost fallacy
• refamiliarizing phase

• keeping a consistent schedule
• word count limits, minimum word count techniques

• biological prime time
• time to write, but no energy / inspiration
• lunch break productivity

• layering technique when it comes to writing
• entire script or chapter by chapter implementation

• vanishing motivation
• motivation to think vs. motivation to work
• outgrowing projects

• starting a paper planner

• formulating goals vs. setting targets for levels of proficiency
• finishable tasks vs maintenance tasks

• using collaborative note books to merge ideas

• burnout
• public pressure and obligation to others
• over-visioning leading to too much abstraction

• completion, succeeding
• escalation of commitment / sunk cost fallacy

November

• custom logs in a paper planner
• weekly goals

• burnout video concepts (Part 2)

• four energies Blissed, Blessed, Pissed, and Dissed

• bullet journal layouts
• color coding interaction types

• writing goals, wordcount goals

• busywork
• perfectionism
• feedback on art

• negative to-dos, not-do-do list

• inspiration at busy times
• fatigue
• inspiration as procrastination

• pre-mortem

• discussing and talking about one's current projects as a way of motivation
• working out details via public discussion vs. premature sense of completion
• talking about your ideas vs. listening to other people's ideas

• negatives of talking about details of ongoing projects
• talking, not devving
• recency and emotion as indicator of progress

December

• ending a project, canceling a project

• random playing with tools as a dev phase

• development work vs. project management when completing a larger scale work
• creating one's vision vs. being hands-on

• CEO mindset and dev mindset

• wrapping up the year

• weekly reporting on paper

• Atomic Habits
• focusing on identity-based habits vs. goal-based

• scheduling

• focusing on one project at a time
• the TEA framework

• reducing electrical load
• working offline
• working with portable devices
• bluetooth setups

• multiple artists on struggling with motivation

• dealing with depression
• anxiety, fatigue

• impostor syndrome

• year end exercises
• Start-Continue-Stop
• yearly themes

2022

January

• things being worth one's time

• soft burnout, exhaustion, being tapped out
• working without feedback

• printable planners

• logically pleasing / symmetrical productivity advice
• visually appealing words

• personal projects moving slower than work projects

• being able to sit down
• physical focus, ADHD resources

• impact of technology on productivity
• buying new things to improve productivity

• how artists evolve
• observation vs. skill, evaluation skills and art ability

• 1 year channel summary

• rest days, days off
• recovery techniques, meditation, 4-4-4 / box breathin
• Headspace app
• weekly vs. multi-week cycle of rest and work

• visual monthly plan (Part 2)

• increasing focus in day jobs
• working more instensely 4 days to have the 5th day off
• finding time for physical exercise, outside activity

• physical cleanup week

• using jams to start VN making
• jams with limitations on the scale of projects or their assets

• sudden increase in workload
• prioritizing
• using planners to schedule

• cleaning social media, reviewing follows
• unfollowing accounts periodically

• Noteium experiences, physical planner

• daily todos with added time frames, windows of time

• customizable planner templates
• printable planner sheets

• desk organizer

• career, longevity in VN dev, lifestyle design
• 5 4 3 2 1 goal setting, 54321, 5-4-3-2-1 planning, bullet journal planning
• Eisenhower matrix use cases

February

• physical cleanup week results

• productivity that doesn't work for you
• tips that don't work for you

• thinking time and productivity

• Cal Newport: Deep Work

• general motivational advice

• starting a new project after finishing a large one
• groundhog day metaphor

• digital planners
• Google Calendar, Scapple

• Vimi's NaNoRenO survival guide

• reaching a single person
• fulfillment
• effects of monitoring metrics
• similar artistic processes, different art forms

• motivation to edit
• general motivation advice

• reducing algorithmic content in social media

March

• social isolation

• getting back into routine
• regaining work rhythm
• post-vacation loss of productivity
• high amount of working hours
• resting guilt

• hard work and success
• dangers of overworking at a young age
• anxiety of procrastination vs. working hard

• self-worth and work ethic vs. hard work and overwork
• external measures of productivity (success, output) vs. self-worth

• what does finished mean to you

• de-stressing
• too stressed to work

• increasing writing stamina
• structured vs. freeform writing
• outlines

• VN creator introspection survey

• personal story about overcoming negative attitude towards oneself

• playing VNs to get motivated to write them

• loving the "doing"
• impermanence, things we do don't matter

• prioritizing work on VN assets

• motivation and music

• fears of getting canceled

• polyvagal theory
• workplace conditions
• catharsis

• the works of Austin Kleon

April

• jams and FOMO

• tips to overcome creative blocks

• VN Creators Introspection Survey 2022

• otome jam todo list (example of daily scheduling)

• reminding yourself of your past accomplishments

• dealing with criticism, critique
• when you can't please everyone
• changing what you like over time

• deleting old ideas
• the abundance mindset

• people who liked one of your works giving a chance to another one in a different genre

• when VN development consumes all of your free time
• (no) VN making addiction
• responding to concerns of family members

• realistic mental capacity to talk things out
• stereotypes of not listening
• talking things out

• motivation by spite

May

• coworking cafe
• external deadlines

• working with physical pain, physical limitations
• maximizing physical comfort time
• managing chronic illness

• offloading active tasks and thoughs after the working day
• recording current state and immediate todos for next day
• weekly review GTD, definition sessions

• specific project postmortem with focus on story

• doing everything right, and still not finding success
• reasons for looking for success

• increasing attention span
• eliminating distractions
• using calendars

• role of chance in success
• earning success vs. finding success
• retroactive reasoning for success
• impostor syndrome origins
• survivorship bias
• attributing success to skill, and failure to external factors

• accountability tips

• Motion app
• JRNL app, Github

• using incentives to overcome procrastination
• incentives: breaks, treats, games

• specific example of a minimum product and dream game

• Time Not Saved
• time-saving tips, aggregation of time, banking time

• project plan of large scale minimizing delay risks
• sequential project plan
• renpy tutorials
• larger scale projects, scoping calculations

• life exchange, life swap
• considering complete situation of other person when envious of their skill

June

• not getting enough attention
• comparing yourself to others
• competition for success

• life coaching
• where life coaching can help
• guided imagery
• credientials of coaches

• staying focused with time blocking
• pomodoro technique

• being good enough
• effects of negative feedback
• defining negative resulys
• constructive criticism / improvement
• asking useful survey questions
• median, mean and mode score
• overvaluing negative feedback

• the 3x rule

• the flow
• parameters of flow (when, how)

• polyvagal theory

• joining multiple jams
• overscoping, too many deadlines
• the last-minute VN
• recruiting a team and its effects on complexity and performance
• project manager vs. director

• DevTalk planner
• sections of the planner, ideas

• professional work ethic
• obligation vs. responsibility
• project lead's conduct toward team members internally and externally

• lean prototyping process
• design game in a small team, finish it with a larger one

• knowing when to stop developing
• cutting one's losses
• sunk cost fallacy

• dealing with a new project idea in the middle of a currently active project
• noting down for later, strengthening motivation for current project

• ghosting, suddenly ceasing any and all communication with the team
• phases of ghosting
• experiences with ghosting
• overwhelm leading to ghosting

• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
• building / maintaining trust in a team
• more reasons to ghost
• personal accounts of ghosting
• disruptions in a team via ghosting

July

• learning about leadership from jams

• jam productivity
• plan for half of the jam
• OtomeJam's high partial completion numbers
• types of jams and expectations of participants
• overscoping on the first jam
• using outlines to manage length

• inspiration in a monthly release cycle
• optimal length of a development or iteration cycle
• montly charging of patrons and the expectations it creates
• pay per thing

• sudden loss of key technology for your project
• ideas and workarounds for tasks requiring specific technology

• developing long term
• list of game jam guides

• DevTalk planner
• ideas for usage

• estimating project duration
• reviewing actual project duration and extrapolating progress speed

• activities to do on breaks (relax, meditate, other tasks, tidy/clean)
• pomodoro technique

• verifying you made the right decision
• unknowable nature of

• loss of motivation, loss of excitement
• lots of perceived work for little output
• expecting output while in a low
• burnout used in context of being tapped out

• Greg McKeown's "Essentialism".

• demotivating effects of other people's (collaborators') low self-confidence

• having ideas, without skill or time to implement them
• attachment to ideas, despite not being in a position to realize them
• scarcity vs. abundance mindset for ideas

• slow acquisition of skill, frustration with slow progress
• taking more structured approaches to learning, finding support
• realizing some things are not for you, after meaningfully attempting them

• difficulties with asking for criticism
• recognizing flaws in one's own work, tips and ideas

• reducing scope
• cutting visual novel scope article

August

• first time jam participation, first time completeing a visual novel, article

• lack of drive
• second guessing, lack of self confidence, as a block to creating

• setting daily goals
• balancing ambition and achievability when setting goals
• differentiating between essential and "nice to have" goals
• carrying tasks over to next day
• goals based on word count vs. scene (writing)

• scheduling tools (doodle, when2meet)

• the suffering artist

• memory palace retention technique

• burned out artists guice (article, ebook) (Part 2)

• demotivating effects of seeing your idea done better
• artist and audience two cakes meme

• the magnum opus and personal fulfillment

• music and playlists and effects on productivity

• keeping up productive energy over an 8-hour day
• ideas for utilizing times of low focus and motivation with the 8 hours

• ending up in high pressure working conditions

• finishing a project despite lack of motivation or confidence in its merits
• dealing with the loss of a key / irreplaceable collaborator
• going from very minimal productions to higher tiers with graphics etc

• techniques for increased focus (headspace)

• article: dealing with work obligations and hobby work on the side
• finding time to make the creative process enjoyable
• value of shorter projects in terms of mental load

September

• doomscrolling, avoiding being a doomer
• effects of following news, nature of news
• maximizing misery video

• being a solo developer
• structuring general ideas in a way that they can be captured and estimated
• techniques for breaking down and recognizing unrealistic ambitions
• the motivating power of guilt vs. self-expression

• Tidying, order in your physical space
• The Life changing Magic of tidying up by Marie Kondo

• creators ghosting audiences, reasons
• accountability, professionalism, updating

• toxic positivity vs. politeness
• literal meaning of encouragement vs. intended effects

• mental health crashes, mental health lows, creativity cycle
• leaving time to recover vs. keeping up minimum of work during recovery

• secretly dreaming of success
• keeping a niche while still appealing to a broad audience, having both
• always wanting more

• breaks from work, how long should breaks be

October

• the appeal of emergencies, crisis, crunch

• reinventing yourself, rebranding

• mental health day, focus on resilience

• productivity during physical recovery

• weekly dodos, weekly goals
• prioritized todo lists
• 2-week cycle for non-appointment todos

• your work liked or acknowledged by people you respect
• pressure to keep to the style that was praised by people you respect

• using meditation practices to counteract reward-driven motivation
• delaying gratification

• stoicism and self-discipline

• finding and accepting your role
• not feeling bad about leaving other roles for other people

• project management, scope creep, multiplying complexity (Part 2)
• MoSCoW prioritization
• time, cost, scope triangle
• iron triangle paradigm shift
• agile, waterfall, and hybrid systems

• burnout after losing hyperfixation on a goal during a jam
• ADHD and jams

• how to break out of procrastination
• waitbutwhy articles

• finding fun and enjoyment in work
• using a simpler project to get back enjoyment

• DBT, dialectical behavior therapy
• coping ahead
• radical acceptance

• Project thinking in everyday life

• using high amounts of restrictions to finally complete a VN
• O2A2 rules, O2A2 restrictions applied to projects outside of the jam
• reading project postmortems

• improving during development and having to re-work from scratch as a result

• Not your fault, but still your problem
• praise passing, praise in public, criticize in private
• project lead vs. project manager, leadership
• responsibility funnel, accountability, professionalism
• lowering chances of ghosting, checking back, open communication

• keeping peace between team members
• joining a project vs. joining a team

November

• self-contained nature of social media and internet, digital wellbeing
• the AIR method for less dependence on digital devices
• the effects and nature of news as entertainment vs. information

• writer's block, productivity cycles

• the meal planning approach to entertainment, separating acquisition and consumption, intent and action

• project planning resources, ice breakers
• people assessment
• scheduling work, letting entertainment grow around it

• being recognized, popularity

• timing of public announcement of large projects
• public pressure vs. motivation and feedback

• varied immersion in different types of tasks
• scheduling, timeboxing tasks
• tasks breakdown

• FYVN jam and using loose-rules jams to finish projects

• The Pareto Principle, the 80/20 rule

• more productivity through public accountability, streaming

(end Nov 15th 2022)