Mirrored W❄️rld

Getting Things Done (Without Keeling Over)

It was two days before the end of Battle Action Fantasy Jam, and I desperately pushed myself to get back on track.

Everyone had done their parts, and I struggled to do even the smallest thing.

I wanted to scream (scream I did).

I wanted to tear my hair out of frustration.

I wanted to cry.

And then it passed in a blur and I drew the owl.

I try to live up to my principle, but all of us know that real life is incredibly messy. Due to multiple personal circumstances I don't want to divulge publicly (but welcome to talk about if you ask me in Devtalk, say), I have to deal with executive dysfunctions, near-constant fatigue, disruptive mood swings, demanding self-imposed standards, insecurity, approximately one million interests, while fitting in my personal projects alongside a full-time job and running a household. Depending on when you talk to me, several part-time jobs might also be in the equation.

After 17 years of making things, the cadence of a project is familiar to me. The heady rush, the valley of despair, the anxious phase, the emptiness after. It would seem that every other project tortures me so, and yet I still go back to make more, something that has invited concern and apprehension from well-meaning partners. Most of the time, I like what I do. Oftentimes, when I get to the swing of things, I'd forget how hard it was for me to even start. It's an uphill battle, fighting yourself to be able to do what you want to do, often to a ridiculous degree.

Over the years, my collection of "digital ephemera" steadily grows. Since 2008, I have inflicted upon the world a couple hundred fanfictions, a couple hundred original writings (short stories, novels, poetries, essays, news articles, zines...), fifteen games, two comics, loose program scripts, and both credited and uncredited roles in a dozen comics and games made by other people. In 2025 I challenged myself to do one jam a month just to see how far I can go. My personal rate of completion is quite excellent if you ask me, and that has taken me to advise, manage, and supervise people on their creative endeavors. I find myself repeating the same thing over and over again, so I write this down in hope that it might be useful for more people.

To be clear, this is not prescriptive, and not meant to be yet another "I can do this so you do too". It's meant to be a springboard for you to think about your own situation and devise something that fits you, because everyone is slightly different. I also loathe the notion of productivity hacks, especially for the industrial and capitalistic overtones. I'd rather consider this a guide towards shaping your life where you want it to be. Feel free to take away and leave whatever, but I must beg you not to discard the context of any given advice. If it's not applicable to you, disregard. If you're in a dangerous or potentially harmful place, extricate yourself and get some help. If you simply like starting a thousand toy projects to tinker with and learn from, that's fine too.

Before we start, here's the golden rule: if you don't take care of yourself, you lose more than what you gain.

Know Thyself

Knowing yourself is half of the battle, and I'm not starting with this to copy the cringeworthy airport business book riffing on Sun Tzu and turning it into boardroom mantra. Knowing yourself is half the battle, because only when you know how your brain operates you can devise a strategy to work around it. Too often people let themselves be swept into the chaos of things, letting their conditions define them, not taking the time to properly assess their challenges.

Breathe, observe. Take notes at how your body behaves, how your mood fluctuates, what triggers your flight/fight instinct, what problems are you facing, what makes you feel comfortable, when you work best, why you're doing art in the first place, what your goal is... You can experiment with yourself and see what works and what doesn't. It may be frustrating at first because it feels like shooting in the dark, but eventually you'll at least notice something.

For me, my main problems are executive dysfunctions, near-constant fatigue, and disruptive mood swings. I have difficulty to start on doing something, can go from full energy to extremely exhausted at the drop of a hat, and suddenly losing interest at anything. I have noticed that I'm at my worst in the mornings, especially if I'm hungry. The way I deal with this is to stock snacks in my pantry and making sure I have something to eat first thing in the morning. Sometimes I cook the night before. Sometimes I order takeouts. I let myself cheat so I won't have to force myself to cook the moment I wake up, allowing me to sort my thoughts a bit. I'm at my best in a dark, cool, and quiet place, and I can arrange my workspace accordingly. I'm not a deadliner, so I take time to plan ahead and make copious notes. If my place is not conducive to work at, I have a couple places I can go to (a cafe near home, for example). Whenever I have problem starting things, I talk to my friends and they would nudge me gently.

Let's stop here and allow me to make this clear: you have the sole responsibility of knowing yourself, identify what you can control, and cope from there. No one is beholden to live their lives around your needs, and you can't demand other people to fit. If there are mismatched needs between you and your housemates, for example, try to communicate but never expect. Also keep in mind that your ideal environment is neither a prerequisite for getting things done or something you have to shoot for.

In my good days, I stash work like a squirrel, getting as many tasks done as possible (without straining myself) so I won't be behind when I'm spiraling down.

I have a rough system to categorize my workload:

Mechanical, repetitive tasks like converting files or data entry you can mostly do on autopilot. For example, when making games, I have set up some templates and checklists so when I really cannot think of anything I can still follow the checklist and get some progress in.

Something that does take some thinking but you're good enough already at it so it doesn't take too much out of you. For me this is something like testing my game for bugs. I don't have to solve it on the spot.

Something sufficiently complex but repetitive. For me this is something like finetuning an animation. It's mostly reloading the game and changing numbers until it looks right.

The big stuff. I save this for good days, because struggling at core tasks like this tend to drive you into further spiral. This includes setting yourself up for a success in the future: creating templates, writing automation scripts, cooking big batches of food, etc that you can use in the bad days.

You may have other systems that work for you and your unique set of challenges. That's great. If you haven't found a system that work for you, keep trying. Remember that it doesn't have to be perfect at first, and you will keep learning about yourself as you go. Don't know where to start? While many parts of the book leans towards commercial indie games too much for my likings, Don Daglow's Indie Games: From Dreams to Delivery has some good set of questions applicable not just to indie game makers but also freelancers and general art practitioners.

As an aside: if you, like me, have a million interests and a jack-of-all-trades, keep a commonplace book. It'll help you unload your idea and sort them out later. I think people like us tend to be unfairly associated with shallowness and inability to commit, the launcher of a thousand WIPs and conqueror of none, which I love to prove wrong. I always circle back to my interests, and each time around learning more and going deeper.

Start Your Engines

Good appliances/tools/engines can make your journey so much easier. Tools that work with the way you think and do things are even better. A friend of mine got a noise-cancelling headphones and it was a gamechanger. However, people are prone to analysis paralysis and get stuck on this process forever, waiting for the day their life begins. "I can start making things after I have a good desk," you say. Then, "I can start making things after I have a good drawing software." In the end, you have spent a bunch and made it aspirational.

Pick one and stop. Make do if you must. If you like tools like I do, feel free to schedule regular review/experimental projects where your goal is to test a particular tool. Make a project start to finish with it, see if it fits you. Otherwise, pick one and stick with it. Your first pick is likely not the best you can have and you probably find something better later, but at least by then you would have started. If you need to compare between multiple tools, just use them one after another. Get your feet wet. Asking people and trawling reviews won't get you what you want and debating the merit of a particular feature you don't even understand will get you nowhere. Once you start, you'd notice what you like/dislike from a particular tool, so your next exploration has clearer requirements and constraints. I have done projects in a range of tools and software, but for things I really want to get done I will lean towards a set of old stalwarts I have known well.

Sane Scoping

This is a problem I keep pointing out and something that keeps getting ignored. For many people especially beginners, sane scoping is hard to take. It sounds boring that you can't make Big Profound Things. They want to create MMORPGs as their first game. They want to do this sprawling 10-books epic like their favorite authors. Then they got themselves underwater and, feeling dejected, don't want to do it anymore. One of the oft-repeated advice for beginners is don't start with your Dream Project and it's true, because usually said Dream Project is too big to tackle when you barely know anything.

Many people would focus on the project management part first, but I put this under Know Thyself because it's actually really hard to scope sanely if you have never tried doing anything (and probably failing some). Sane scoping is about the ability to gauge what you can reasonably work on in a given time and set the goals accordingly instead of bargaining in should-haves (I should be able to do this much, surely). The more projects you work on, the better sense you will have of your own capability and limitations, when you can push or not, and this iterative approach should get you to a place where you can look at your current situation without assigning moral judgment on yourself. You may have to cut things at this rate. No biggie. You may not be able to accept this project. You can participate, but you'd have to adjust some expectations. If it's your first project, it's likely too big. If you keep failing, it's likely too big.

Your project plan should be practical, not aspirational. If you have to cook for the whole family in the weekend, if you tend to be tired Sunday Morning, if you feel this is a rough month, if you have trouble working for more than two hours at a time, if you need breaks in the midday, be honest with yourself and factor things in instead of hoping for the best and foisting responsibility on Future You. It's a recipe for disaster. So much of this hinges on maintaining upwards momentum especially for your first few rodeo. Completing something usually gives you a sense of satisfaction and confidence to do more, while getting yourself trapped in a cycle of shame and guilt might be a kiss of death for a creative endeavor.

Broaden Your Horizon

You can't reliably scope if you keep looking at AAA productions and think 20% of them is "small enough". Go read self-published books. Play jam games. Watch amateur movies. Look at projects similar to the scale you're operating at. Read/watch/listen to postmortems. They're incredibly useful. Someone else has gone through things so you can learn from them, and they fill the day really nicely if you are too swamped to do anything else. Do remember though, someone else's sane scope is not necessarily your sane scope. Anne might be able to crank out 20000 words a day, but if you only have time to squeeze in 500, then you should work with that number in mind.

Go out. Read books. Explore other artforms. Talk with people. Play more. Pay attention to things outside your field. You'll be surprised at what you can find when you let ideas cross-pollinate. Try that when you get stuck. If you say you have no time for that, if your own art is all you're interested in, well... good luck.

Get Help

If you have underlying issues preventing you from completing your projects, handling feedbacks, managing failures, or anything else, address them first! No workflow in the world can save you if you're continually sweeping the real problem under the rug. If you suspect you might have mental health issues, go seek therapy. If you have chronic illness and you have trouble managing yourself, consult a professional. If your environment is not supportive, obviously uprooting yourself is not at all practical but you'll want to know your options and weigh them. Stop taking everything as your own personal burden.

This applies to the rest of us who feels like they don't have "particularly pressing problems". It can be difficult for people to admit they need help even for the smallest thing. For me, this means swallowing my pride and acknowledge that yes, I can't handle writing this part can you help? Yes, I would need someone to come help me clean. Yes, I'm really struggling here and would appreciate some input. I am aware looking for help does not always equate getting the help you need, but if you never ask you'll never know.

There's a certain level of fetish towards solo creators (or the myth of America's favorite 'Self-Made Man') that I don't feel is healthy. Everyone's situation is different and it's often hard to see what support systems are in place and what obstacles other people are facing. There's also a certain level of fetishization towards suffering for your art. Your worth (and your works, by extension) doesn't diminish just because you ask for and accept some help. On the flipside, resist the urge to paint yourself as a self-made, self-sufficient person. Never take the world around you for granted.

Focus Inward

But Kelly is juggling three jobs, bedridden, and still does so much more than I could!

Stop right there. You don't know what you don't know. Comparisons like this is not just unhelpful, it's actively harmful. Some people have better support system than the others. Some people have experiences and skills you may not have. If you keep focusing on this, you'll be stuck on have and have-nots and blaming everything you can't control. It's an ugly festering wound prone to infection. Focus on what you do, the way it relates to your personal goal, and things you can actually control.

What you can control is your relationship with external factors. Are you sensitive to numbers? Do you think your hobbies and projects should give you financial gains? It's always nice to see people being appreciative of what you make, but chasing numbers (especially when you haven't gained foothold of your identity) would usually lead to dubious decisions and burnouts. Remember what drove you to create, and recalibrate often.

Pace Yourself

Some people truly have limited time. For most of us though, there is no internal clock that would break down if we don't achieve X before Y, nothing that would stop the world from going on if we don't get the painting/game/novel/... done on time. You don't have to save the world and get your magnum opus out before you turn 19. There is always next time. For some people, this sounds too much like an excuse and it's easy to overcorrect to the point that it would seem as if everything would come crashing down if they breathe even one second, that this opportunity will be the last, that if they don't start working on their Magnum Opus from Day 1 everything is wasted. You can't go on tomorrow if you tear yourself to shreds today, period. If you care enough to read to this point, I don't believe that you are the kind of person that would take chances for granted. Some things are worth fighting for, but most of the time the stakes are not high and you don't have to make it a life or die situation. Make it a belated birthday gift. Submit it to another event. Release anyway.

You may feel there is not enough time in the world to do everything you want to do and you are probably correct, but at the same time everything you do adds up. Worrying about not getting things done doesn't magically gets things done, it sets you up to fail further. If you need to sleep, sleep. Working with your body's limitation tends to give you better result because constantly fighting yourself is a HUGE drain physically and mentally. Remember, 20 hours of you being alert and well-rested are more precious than 20 hours of you slogging through the last of your battery while beating yourself up mentally every five seconds. While we're at it, I call minimum working hours mostly bullshit. The time it takes to finish a task should be however amount of time it takes to finish the task, and measuring your performance in working hours tend to push people to pad their time. The result? More energy wasted on less. I personally break down my projects into granular enough tasks to tackle one at a time (e.g "code the garden scene" instead of "code chapter 1", but not too granular it becomes unwieldy to track.

Accept that things may change as time goes on. You may be able to complete a dozen projects last year but barely touch on two this year. I had an incredibly high output during high school and early college, seemingly able to jump from one project to another without breaking a sweat. I have more on my plate now and it's good enough to know I'm still making things, that I haven't stopped. I may not go as fast, but I'd like to think I have become more deliberate and skilled in what I make now. Everything you do adds up.

Equivalent Exchange

It holds true in alchemy, it holds true in physics, and it largely holds true in life. For every single thing, something else has to give. When all is said and done, your time and energy are finite. At one point you do have to recognize that everything comes with potential tradeoffs. I value spending time with my friends and, while I'm an incredibly indoor person, the importance of fresh air, so I'm still up for game nights but I'm not going to return home at 2 in the morning like in my 20s and could sacrifice sleep willy-nilly. I would get cranky and it would snowball into a day of lethargy which would make me even crankier. My reading time is non-negotiable. If spring cleaning is on the menu next week, if an important academic milestone is due soon, if my workload is surging, then perhaps it's not the wisest idea to force in a project. Remember, pace yourself. Know what you value and what you don't mind letting go.

And speaking of letting go?

Let Go

When nothing works out, give yourself permission to shelve the project or at least step back temporarily. Maybe everyone bailed out on the group project. Maybe you lost interest. Maybe you realized that it wasn't feeling right all along. Maybe you took on more than you could chew. It doesn't have to be completely scrapped, nuked, sent to oblivion. You can always pick it up later if you want to. It's not time wasted, because trust me you learn from every project, and maybe one day the time is right and you are ready. Indirect progress is still progress! You know more about yourself to set up the next project for the better. I have lost count of projects I gave up on and finished days, months, years later. Step back, admit defeat, get some rest, and process what went wrong later on when you're lucid. It's probably a good idea to do something else for a while. Everyone has their white whale project and failure to complete one doesn't define you as a person. Don't let the shadow cast over your self-worth. Finishing is a skill, but so does developing hindsight.

Postscript

I won't pretend I know all the answers. I probably have some bad takes, and every single section can be spun off into individual posts. I still break down from time to time, and I still bore my friends to death every other week with yet another wall of existential crisis. Yet, being self-aware means I have the capability to recognize when I'm going under and bounce back in the aftermath, hopefully even better every time. This has allowed me to cultivate better relationships with my loved ones, maintain a living, and indulge in my creative pursuits.

I hope that you too, will be able to find a way to live the way you want.

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#creation #evergreen