I really don’t know if it’s a good idea. I feel like I have limited energy at this time in my life. But if I don’t at least play with these ideas now, I may never get to.
I opened two custom product shops — one on RedBubble, for my fun and weird stuff, and one on Bonfire, for more serious and political stuff. I used AI to create these designs after hoping for years to magically find someone willing to do them.
I’m exploring streaming to show off my Minecraft world and talk about the game. Merry insists people will want to see what I’ve built, as people are usually shocked by such things as a Nether subway system, and the fact I do it all in survival mode. Not sure how to do all this, but my friend Sep is walking me through the mechanics.
I’m planning more episodes for my abandoned podcast, “Contemplation in Action”, as someone found them, listened to them all, and is begging for more. One fan is enough … well to quadruple my fane base, lol. I also look forward to doing another “Ken Can’t Cook”, as the first one, “Go-Wump-Ken”, got rave reviews. I also want to do an Instagram series, maybe “Some White Guy’s Videos” in a ‘walk with me’ selfie format. Or maybe some other topic I can speak intelligently on, even current issues, either Instagram or Vimeo. Who knows. I just don’t want to put all my eggs in one bannable basket.
Of course, I still do Kentropolis, and am finding great satisfaction in writing and publishing. I may not reach my goal in terms of volume, but I am starting to network with local writing groups and events. I just think these other projects may all dovetail and promote each other. And money? Just started a Ko-fi account. Feels weird, but I know content creators can make ends meet if they make it.
As for the inspiration for this post, Roman asked me “From when you first started Kentropolis full time until now, what do you do to stay productive? When you stopped going to the office at JAM, did you have to do anything to keep your brain from a “it’s my day off” state?” My answer?
I have never been quite successful at this. How’ve, there are some things that help.
I find, for me, background music can mean the difference between getting nothing done and tons. I forget to put it in and then wonder where the day went.
Also trying NOT to do work at some times makes it easier to focus on it at other times.
And productivity comes in waves, sometimes weeks long.
To do lists and checking things off seems to keep things on track as well.
I’ve read about other life hacks, like having your shoes on while you work, but I think it comes down to controlling distractions.
My worst enemy is displacement activities, including games and Facebook. Some days I just don’t want to get over the hump of starting a project.
Lately I get distracted by loading screens. If something takes too long, I end up opening solitaire. Trying to rewire that habit with a fidget object and just breathe.
We can discuss later…