Coffee and capes

Putting on my shoes - the life hack I forgot

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 10:45:02 +1100

Long before Covid gave the world the taste for working from home I actually had a couple of jobs that gave me that freedom, however I’ll tell anyone that I’m the worst at working from home. I really dislike it and to be honest I’m not great at it. I get too easily distracted throughout the day and end up working long hours to balance it out. Whenever I have the option I always go for coming into work. Unfortunately I don’t really have that choice as an indie game designer, the office is at home and I go long stretches on my own which depending on the day can be super productive or completely wasted. One thing I forgot about was the only useful observation I’d had in previous WFH jobs. Nothing about setting goals, timers checklists, checking with people etc etc - all reasonable life hacks to be sure. No, mine was pretty basic but surprisingly effective, for me at least. Get dressed and put on your shoes. I’m not a hang around the house in my pyjamas kind of guy anyway. Nor am I particularly keen on tracksuit pants etc. No judgement, it’s just not for me. So I avoid that for the most part anyway but I learned that I always focus better when I put on my shoes, even though I don’t need to go outside. It’s just one of my quirks, I put on my shoes and I feel more like getting stuff done. No shoes and I can wander around the house aimless for hours. I’m sure that this does not apply to everyone, I know some people thrive working from home but for me it is this trick that always helps me get into the groove of working. If you’re like me and struggle a little with focus etc maybe give that a try for a couple of days and see if it makes a difference - it might work or you might find yourself still building forts in the living room with the couch cushions.

Oh no, I think I'm a digital hoarder

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 09:56:16 +1100

I am the worst when it comes to stockpiling images that I either reference or use for inspiration. I used to have just the one folder under my documents folder but then when one drive took over I changed directories and so I had two folders.

Then in burst of productive sorting energy I added a new folder with sub-folders that I would move the images into which not surprisingly didn’t happen. However, not all was lost as I started using this.

I even put things into their right folders for a few months and then that started falling away as I’d just dump stuff in the general folder with promises to myself to clean it up later.

I’m not even going to mention how many double ups I have of so many images!!!

At least this is confined to folders labelled reference.

Well yeah, but then I have my working folders and also my project asset folders and I won’t even go into my media collection.

I often refer to it as my archive but I think my computer is the digital equivalent of a giant hole in the ground where I toss things. Or one of those hoarder videos where they open the house up and it is floor to ceiling stuff and trash.

Even as I write this I’m thinking about how one day I will fix all that, I’ll curate the stuff and it will be useful. Because I’m thinking about it rationally and I know myself it probably won’t happen LOL I’ll just buy more cloud space for it.

Note: yes I know Pinterest is a thing and no I have no desire to be a trash gremlin there as well!

I deleted my LinkedIn this morning

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 13:29:14 +1100

This has been a while coming.

I don’t like LinkedIn.

I don’t think I ever have, and I was an early adopter of the platform. The “safe” business friendly social network that for some reason avoids the reputation that other social media “brain-rot” channels have been hit with.

I’m trying really hard not to make general sweeping statements because like any platform some people use it really well and some people get a lot out of it.

I’m just not one of them.

For me LinkedIn is a compressed form of the whole performative corporate bullshit parade. A digital representation of those awful all staff meetings to talk about culture and values.

A whole lot of empty corporate and PR gibberish.

There are those actual thought leaders who are trying to say something on there, their messages often undermined by the hypocritic chorus of management that are completely in agreement despite their IRL actions.

And don’t get me wrong, I gavc that a go, I wrote thoughtful articales about human behaviour and game mechanics and how that applies to business. But I wrote them for LinkedIn, to perform and be seen.

Gross.

LOL.

So I’ve left the ecosystem and I wish everyone doing good work on there and using the platform well or just as a sanity channel so they can keep track of what they’re doing all the very best.

I loath the platform but the people are for the most part okay, well some are.*

So keep LinkedIn, delete LinkedIn, I don’t care what you do, this isn’t advice and I’m not really judging you directly, do what you want!

*and there are a lot of people who make the platform what it is, they suck.

Baking bread

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 10:57:31 +1100

Yesterday I started baking bread at home despite the fact that bread is readily available at the supermarket at incredibly low prices, reasonably fresh every day.

I am not sure I can even articulate why, there are more feelings than thoughts involved and I think this post, on this new blog is a way for me to sort it, or maybe even just to note it.

What I will tell you is that I cut the end of my fresh out of the oven loaf of bread, bit into it and declared immediately that I was never going to buy bread again.

I mean, we’ll see how long that lasts but the end result was incredibly tasty and fortunately it was incredibly easy to make. So there’s probably a chance I will decrease my purchasing of commercial bread LOL.

I got the recipe from YouTube as one does in this day and age and it promised no kneading, little mess and very little fuss. Only four ingredients go into it and the hardest part of the process would be time management, you need to let it sit for an hour or so and then an additional thirty minutes. With only four ingredients the mixing is incredibly easy and done correctly there is next to no mess at all.

It was very satisfying to make the bread and I am a little bit proud of the end result being sandwich worthy. In fact today I had toast with it and it didn’t taste like some sort of artisan bread, it was just plain and simple bread.

That was nice, and it was simple and it was effective.

As I get older I’m discovering the joy of occasionally colouring within the lines. In the past I would often approach stuff in my own way, with less research and reverence to rules or instructions. These days I’m more present in what I’m doing and the results are good.

I didn’t have to ignore all conventional wisdom to do this and it was pleasant and quiet to not swim against the current for a change.

That’s not to say I won’t mess with it in the future! Even now I’m thinking about how I’d adapt it to make café style fruit toast.

That’s it, just some navel gazing, no great lesson or life hack.

Thanks for reading.