Systems Check

Every few months, my brain declares that it’s bored.

Since I’ve been younger I have had to put weird processes in place to make sure I do what needs to be done. This is not limited to chores or other self-directed work — I used to choose which hobby to indulge in on a given day by random chance. My home is filled with abandoned diaries and databases created to give form to this frustration, strained attempts to map my lightning-quick brainwaves.

My early systems were largely unsuccessful, but I at least felt like I was trying, and sometimes the attempt alone would help mix things up enough that I could knock out a bunch of tasks. About four years ago I took an online time management course and the frameworks I learned lasted MUCH longer, years instead of months. Structure, frustratingly enough, is useful to have.

So it’s really disappointing when after so long I have to once again have to acknowledge that important stuff is slipping through the cracks. And it’s not because the systems don’t work — it’s because my brain is used to them by now. I return to the drawing board and refine my specs, looking for the cool new feature that will make this update worthwhile.

I’m working with a lot of IT Project Managers, can you tell?

Recent Gigs

Since my last update, I have had the pleasure of providing additional voices for the following shows:

• My Unique Skill Makes Me OP Even at Level 1, Episode 2

• The Great Cleric, Episode 1

• Horimiya, Season 2 Episode 1

• Reign of the Seven Spellblades, Episode 1

In a true coup, I have discovered how to clip scenes from shows I have been in, but I have NOT figured out how to embed those scenes in this newsletter. So while I do, visit my Instagram for cool stuff.

Consume!

So I need to rap a little about Paradise Killer.

Polygon called this “The most confident game of 2020” and I gotta agree. As it thrusts you into a world of gods, demons, and lying ex-friends, Paradise Killer eases you into its mad machinations by trusting you to learn what you need to as you go — a remarkable thing, especially when lore is abundant but exposition is minimal.

Paradise Killer is an investigative game for players who love stories and are frustrated by the idea of one concrete truth. It is for players who love the freedom of open-world gameplay but chafe at the idea of spending 50+ hours exploring a setting they will one day leave. It’s for players who love collecting but don’t need to earn achievements for doing so. And apart from a couple of moments of frustration, it felt like it was made for me.

Performance of the Week

Anyone who has met Lexi Nieto knows that she is an effervescent ball of sunshine, so it is VERY fun to listen to her use the part of the toolbox she digs into for Pete Reston. Almost the polar opposite of the character Lexi is best known for, Pete is sullen, snobbish, and has a LOT to prove — Lexi has her finger on the dial in this performance already, zeroing in on Pete’s level of interest (or ire) in any given part of his surroundings. From the little I’ve seen of the “Reign of Seven Spellblades” light novel, Pete’s got a wild road ahead of him, and I’m excited to see Lexi take us along down it.

That Darn Second Quadrant

This recent systems update is going okay so far. In the time since I last published, I have…

…bought and tested a new microphone, AND created a new in-home studio sample…

…bought a new dining room table to replace the little wooden stand I bought when I first moved to Dallas…

…caught up with some friends I haven’t spoken to in a while…

…did a deep clean of my apartment…

…all while knocking out a bunch of paid work as a resume writer.

I think about this blog post a lot — Urban codifies a lot of ideas I had struggled to express, or even acknowledge, as a young adult, and I return to it even now to recall core truths about productivity. The most important of these — the lodestone that holds my systems together — is that the most important work is rarely urgent.

What he means by this is, especially for artists, the essential work lies within the second quadrant of the Eisenhower matrix — tasks that amount to practice, refinement, and expansion, tasks that won’t make or break you if they don’t get done TODAY but will build upon each other to unlock more ambitious and fulfilling projects tomorrow.

These are the things that tend to fall by the wayside when I get “productive”. Of all the things I listed above, only one of them is something I would place in Quadrant 2, and the vast majority of my day-to-day is spent in Quadrant 3. And like, if this wasn’t the case, I’d have to be a lot more creative about how to make money - and I think that’s something most people struggle with. And what’s worst, time spent worrying about how things just aren’t working becomes the least fun part of Quadrant 4 — not important, not urgent, and actively keeping you from getting better.

I don’t have a solution to this. It might take me my entire life to finally find one. But it does make me feel better to know that I am not the only strange creature building metaphors out of my missteps.