Scheduling Creativity and Recharging.

Podcasts are rapidly becoming a huge part of my life. I've been dabbling with them for a while, exploring the vast libraries of fantastic, free content available. And then, over the Christmas break, I bought Pocket Casts and I've been hooked since.

I'd love to hear any recommendations. So far, my favorite shows include: Hello Internet, Freakonomics and Accidental Tech Podcast. 

The last few ATP episodes have been about scheduling and software methodologies. On the surface, not particularly interesting or exciting topics. However I found that it inspired me to think differently about the way I work. 

Listening to this ATP episode in particular got me thinking about scheduling and project management based on effort, rather than time.

I have recently been working on quite a strict schedule and exploring ideas about my personal creative process. 

Working out how I best go about working. Which is rather exciting.

But this productivity comes at a cost, no matter how much I try and minimize it. Pushing too hard and working too much takes its toll on everyone. 

Creativity is not an easy thing to schedule.

So I've been recharging. I've started playing games again in my downtime.

Telltale's The Walking Dead is a fantastic example of interactive storytelling.

After a week of "I really should get round to playing that", I finally sat down, for 2 hours, and played episode 2 of The Walking Dead: Season 2.

And I'm happy to report, I feel much better for it.