On Doing Too Much: Musings On Productivity
I have a bit of a problem of putting too much on my plate, and never finishing projects.
I constantly jump from one idea to the next before finishing (and releasing) anything.
I've recently had a bout of feeling overwhelmed by all the things that I have/want to do.
Not only do I have multiple projects within one domain, I have multiple domains that I want to work in.
I have a music project where I want to make something that can run indefinitely and yet be unique with every moment.
I have a few game ideas I'm working on in some capacity. One game I want to actually release in some capacity. It's almost at the alpha stage, but I got a bit burnt out and took a break that hasn't ended yet. Another prototype is more for personal use with my friend. It doesn't need to go anywhere, but it's fun to work on. Then there are a few ideas I have that I really want to exist, but are beyond my capabilities of skill, time, and budget.
I'm not even sure I can count all of the writing projects that I have waiting in limbo.
Let's see...
There's a short story that needs edited. I have a six or seven book series that's been stuck, on the fifth book, for almost three years now. I have a bible study resources I'm working on. There's a nonfiction book I want to finish. I've got a weird thing that's a blend of fiction and nonfiction that's my current focus. I think there's at least two other books that are deeply backburnered. One involves purely handwriting a book, the other is a project I can't even remember what the point of it really was. I feel like I'm missing something, but I guess that about covers it all.
I also have an art thing I've been working on. Ironically, it's the most likely to see completion because it's so simple, and I've been able to turn it into a daily routine of small progress.
I have this blog, modermonk, as well as a toki pona blog that I would like to do more with.
Blogs are a tricky one. They're really easy to start, but are kinda constant projects that never really end. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I guess it's nice to have something to constantly work on. But, I think a thing that I've been missing in life is a sense of true completion. I want something to finish and then be able to sit back and relax for a bit. Right now, it's just constant, go, go, go.
Not to mention, you need to release things to actually have any chance of making the modicum of income from any artistic pursuits...
As I said, I'm naturally inclined to sporadically jump from one obsession to the next. Part of me want's to simply trust and lean into my natural creative process, but I can't deny the evidence that it doesn't work. If, at the end of the day, I have no finished product to share with the world, has my natural creative process really succeeded?
I guess it depends on the point of creating things. Is finishing the point? Or simply doing?
I don't know.
I think for me, the process is the personal reward, but the point is to share with the world.
I guess, when it's put that way, creating in a way where nothing is shared is a pretty selfish act.
If an artist's work never leaves their hard drive, does it truly make a sound?
I need to finish and publish more. I want to finish and publish more.
But, I'm not really sure how to go about it.
I kinda want to raze my todo list and only focus on one project at a time, not changing until it is finished.
But, I guess I'm scared of missing out on something else that might come along.
Inspiration strikes at random and must be listened to in the moment. Or does it?
For instance, I've been pretty focused on my weird current book thing for a while. My music project has been ongoing for a few years now, and I haven't been making any progress for a while. I recently had an idea that cause me to pick it back up and go crazy with it, creating a lot of new things. But now, the book I've been trying to finish is on the backburner (which itself put a project on the backburner that put another thing on the backburner, etc...).
But, is that the way to do it? Do I just let the Muse shift my focus? When one idea becomes hard to push through, do I let something else start or get picked back up and wait for inspiration to strike?
My game that is near alpha completion was put down because I was stuck with a huge bug that I didn't know how to tackle. After being put down for a while, the answer came to me out of the blue and I now know how to fix it. However, since it's been sitting for a while, I don't have the momentum or motivation to pick it back up and finish it. It wouldn't take much, but other things feel more important at the moment.
But isn't it better to just be done than leave things waiting?
I am a pretty strong believer in the ideas put forward by the Cult of Done. Though, I'm not great at following it. Partly because I can't follow it.
- Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
There are some things that I can't abandon even if I tried. I can say I'm done with something, but if I'm not 'really' done with it and release it, let it go into the world on its own, then it will just gnaw at the back of my mind and keep coming up until I do something with it.
Maybe that's my problem.
Maybe it isn't this big grand black or white thing.
Maybe, it is generally best to follow your natural creative flow. Listen to the Muse and follow wherever she leads. But, if you leave too much undone, the gnawing in the back of your mind becomes too much and your whole mind becomes consumed by everything with no space left to properly think on anything.
I should embrace my wandering creative interests, but for a season, I need to hunker down, and finish one thing at a time, so that there is less gnawing at my brain constantly distracting me with new possibilities.
I guess this is all basic project management stuff, but we all gotta learn it sometime, somehow. I'll take it late than never learn.
I'm going to do one thing at a time, until it is complete and released. If I really get stuck on something, I'll allow myself to pivot, I guess, but, right now, I really just need to finish things.
But, I do need to allow for flexibility. For instance, the music thing I thought was really close to being done. However, it turns out, it's kinda hard to publish music made to run infinitely... So, I guess until I have funds to dedicate to it, or have a new idea of how to do things, it's a project that will just have to wait.
I guess there's also been another lesson that's been staring me in the face this whole time.
My art project thing is the one thing that I can actually see myself finishing because it's become a daily habit. I work in obsessive spurts of creativity on whatever project comes, but to really finish things I need daily habits.
I think what I need to do is structure my time in a way that allows for working chaotically on whatever grabs my attention, but also focus on daily output on one specific thing until it's finished.
Rule one of the Cult of Done is:
- There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
Of all my numerous projects, there's only one that stays in the action phase. Everything else hits a wall of not knowing and stalls.
The only things I ever finish are blog posts that can be written in a single sitting.
If I want to finish bigger projects, I need to clearly delineate when something is in the not knowing phase or the action phase.
Things in the action phase need to see constant progress or be abandoned (or moved back into not knowing). If I find myself working on things from the not knowing pile and putting off the current action item, it's either time to abandon the current action item, or focus up and finish it. But, if I can at least make daily progress towards the goal of finishing the current action item, I can be free to explore whatever else comes my way, simply leaving them as ethereal unknowns that may or may not become later action items.
There. A plan. Right now, clear the backlog. Later, keep one (or two) main things in focus every day.
So with that, I think I'll finish these ramblings.
I touched on it here, but sometime later I want to explore my thoughts on blogging. It's feeling less and less congruent with how I want to create. It doesn't feel conducive to focusing on one larger project until it's done. Though, it itself could be considered one larger whole, so, maybe it's the best example of one larger project with daily progress...
I don't know. That's a not known for next time.
Thanks for sticking though this nonsense of me thinking out typed(?). If you have any comments or advice, feel free to contact me!
Done.
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