Okay, so I wanted to talk about something I’ve been doing lately, this thing I just call the ‘indy split’ in my head. It’s not like some official technique, just what I started doing when things got messy.
Getting Started with the Mess
So, picture this: I had this project I was working on. My own thing, you know, an ‘indy’ project. And it just grew. And grew. Got to the point where looking at it just made my head spin. Too many moving parts, too much stuff I needed to do. I was kinda stuck, not really making progress because I didn’t know where to even start anymore. Felt overwhelming, honestly.
The ‘Aha!’ Moment (Sort Of)
I remember just sitting there one day, staring at my screen, feeling pretty bummed out. Then I thought, wait a minute. What if I just… stopped looking at the whole monster? What if I chopped it up? Like, mentally split it into tiny, bite-sized pieces? That’s what I started calling the ‘indy split’ – splitting my independent project into bits I could actually handle.
Breaking It Down
So, here’s what I actually did:
- I grabbed a plain old notebook and a pen. Yeah, old school.
- I just started writing down every single major thing the project involved. Didn’t filter, just brain-dumped everything.
- Then I looked at that big scary list. I started grouping related small tasks. Like, all the stuff related to the user login, that became one group. All the basic artwork, another group.
- I gave each group a really simple name. Nothing fancy. Stuff like ‘Login Stuff’, ‘Main Screen Bits’, ‘Saving Data’.
- The crucial part: I decided I would only focus on one group at a time. Put mental blinders on for everything else.
Picking a Piece and Working It
I looked at my list of groups and picked the one that felt, I don’t know, easiest? Or maybe the most interesting that day. For me, it was ‘Main Screen Bits’. Seemed manageable.
And then I just worked on that. Only that. If I had an idea for another part, I jotted it down on a separate ‘later’ list and went right back to the ‘Main Screen Bits’. I kept fiddling with it, cleaning it up, making it work, until I felt like, okay, this piece is sorted for now. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a solid chunk that was done.
That feeling was pretty good, actually. Like I’d cleared one small hurdle. It made the whole mountain seem a little less high.
Rinse and Repeat
After finishing that first chunk, I went back to my list. Crossed off ‘Main Screen Bits’. Then I picked the next one. I think it was ‘Saving Data’. And I did the same thing. Focus, work, finish the chunk, cross it off.
It wasn’t always perfect, mind you. Sometimes I underestimated how long a chunk would take. Sometimes I got bored halfway through and had to push myself. But the key was just keeping the focus narrow. Deal with this piece now, worry about the rest later.
Did It Work?
Yeah, surprisingly well. The project isn’t finished, not by a long shot. But I’m actually making progress again. Consistent progress. And I don’t feel that crushing weight every time I sit down to work on it. Breaking it down with this ‘indy split’ approach made it feel doable again.
So, that’s my practice log for this. Just splitting things up, focusing small. Seems simple, maybe even obvious, but actually doing it made a real difference for me. Definitely gonna keep doing it this way.
