Saturday Update! The Break! (Patreon)

Hello friends!

Over the past week I have seen some improvements, with a few dips back down- but I think the most important thing to report is that I may have figured out the source of my mental health problem.

Instead of analyzing what was causing it, I thought long and hard about my previous bouts ( some as long as a couple months ) and what changed when I managed to get out of them.

The answer varied[vacations, a giant breakdown, rehab], but always tied back to one thing- A severe reduction in screen-time.

I live alone and all my work, play, and friends are on a screen. My typical day consists of waking up and immediately using my phone in bed to check messages, eating breakfast/etc, getting on the computer for several hours to work with only short breaks for stretching/eating, then playing video games on my computer or watching netflix/youtube on my tv until bedtime, which is accompanied by the phone again.

That's basically 100% screen-time while waking.

So I've formed a game-plan for the next month. I'm already several days into a new schedule that includes long walks, sitting on my porch, and basically doing everything I can to avoid screens [ except for now, to update my patrons and for a short time in the morning to complete my store orders for shipping ]. I have two camping trips planned and today I'm helping my parents throw a garden party for their friends.

What does this mean for The Hunt and this Patreon page?

I've decided that next month with be a nothing-month. I'm taking my first vacation in over a year. Because this month was also hit hard with productivity delay, I suggest everyone to think about their pledges right now- there's still time to edit it down or remove it this month! [ However people at the $20 mark will still be added to the credits, as promised, of course ]

As for The Hunt- I'm hoping that resting my brain and having a big reset will bring back my creativity. If I get ideas for the game, I'm going to write them down on good old fashioned paper. I can even write dialogue and menu choices this way, then transcribe them into typed text once I feel better and trust myself with more screen time again.

In the long run, I hope to find some new leisure activities so that I won't ever go back to the 100% thing again. I'd like to have a more balanced lifestyle.

And before I go, I just wanted to extend a massive thank you to everyone, especially to the people who left kind hearted comments on my previous post. You have no idea how strong the impact of that was. I was truly losing my mind at the concept of having to delay the game and lose productivity, but you guys massively lowered my blood pressure and helped me accept what has to be done. It made a huge difference. Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart.