I was making fairly slow progress on my primary project. I headed up to stay with my folks for a couple days and try out a new dentist in the area (I detest driving more than 15 minutes if I’m not going to be staying there for at least 24 hours). When I was packing for a couple days, I made a conscious decision to leave my laptop at home. All I brought was a sketchbook that I keep some of my notes in (ruled notebooks are the pits and remind me of school).
Between just being unplugged for a few days and a few discussions with my Dad who knows a crapload more about databases and project management than I, I think I’ve mostly got my head wrapped around this project. I got about 3 pages of notes down, and I write densely. I think when I head home tomorrow, I’ll be ready to start working on the app. There’s still a little bit of brainstorming left to do, but for the most part, I’m there.
So, if you ever find yourself stuck on a project, try unplugging for a few days. Don’t stop working, but go to paper and pencil if you can. If you aren’t working in computers, do something else to change your perspective; A shift in practice/view tends to lead to new approaches or solutions you hadn’t thought of before. Probably just because you aren’t following a pattern anymore and your brain has to start improvising more readily.
At least, it worked for me. Thought I’d share.
Got another project underway as well. I’m not really going to be talking about these projects directly until they’re at least alpha ready.
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Tags: creative process, GTD, hints, web applications
