Rethinking Productivity for 2024

The year 2024 will be the third consecutive year when I'll be attempting to create a Pong Snake visual novel game, and the smallest MVP (Minimum Viable Product) I'll consider a success.

In this regard, nothing has changed.

However, my approach will change.

So far, I always thought there was a lot of hard work ahead of me. In the back of my mind, I always have the glowing neon sign saying:

Work smart, not hard.

Although I have the feeling that I don't fully understand it myself.

I tend to engage in self-analysis, which I often hear is a bad thing. One should be a person of action, they say. But I also often hear that laziness is something bad. However, regarding laziness, you can also hear Bill Gates' opinion:

I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.

If laziness can be turned into a virtue, self-analysis shouldn't require that much effort 😉

I didn't have to wait long for conclusions. Especially since I drew many conclusions earlier but didn't implement them effectively enough.

I have a lot to do this year. I need to take care of my health and improve my professional skills. And I also feel the need to finish what I've already started. This includes, among other things, completing my first game.

There's always a lot of hard work, but if you're working hard on the computer, it may mean that your processes are inefficient. Tasks are not divided enough, dull work is insufficiently automated, and tools are not selected to make life easier.

Every big task - potential hard work - can be done by taking care of your processes - whether they are automation or just learned habits.

I learned from reading James Clear that to develop an effective habit, you need to make it as simple as possible, as easy to start and finish as possible.

Or, as a certain acquaintance product owner says:

Underpromise, overdeliver!

Under promise to yourself, deliver over your expectations!

With small daily steps.

The key is not the word "small," the key is the step.

The step you take every day.

And that's where I'm heading now.

Whatever, daily!