The Power of Sleeping On It

I’m sure you’ve faced a problem before – whether in work, personal life, etc. – where you just couldn’t make a move. Couldn’t get inspired. Couldn’t make a decision. Just got so completely stuck that you stared at something for 2 hours without making any progress. This has certainly happened to me in my design career, and this time in particular it really drove a lesson home for me – sleep on it. Walk away, and go to bed.

I was working on an upcoming Kickstarter game called Nanolith, and having a blast with it. One of the larger elements of the game – the playerboard – was next on my plate, and the due date was fast approaching. The night before I was set to turn in my design to the client, I was staring at this:

I know it’s ugly. It was never meant to be anywhere near a completed project, I was just throwing down boxes in the sizes I knew needed to be reserved for cubes, dice, etc. But all day, the day before my deadline, I stared at it. I moved boxes from left to right. Knowing I was stuck, I walked away, picked up my daughter from daycare, ate dinner, all the while feeling certain that I would return to the playerboard later that evening and get it done.

Then ‘later’ came, and my mind still wouldn’t budge. For another two and a half hours I stared at this file. Stress was starting to build at this point, as the due date loomed and I had nothing. I scoured the internet for inspiration. Finally, defeated, I went to bed.

The next morning I had barely gotten to my computer when a message from the client came through.
“Can’t wait to see the playerboard!” He said. Me too, I thought. “Any chance of a WIP picture?” He asked eagerly. I looked again at my pathetic file. No way I was showing that to a client. I assured him I would have something to show soon, and then, smushing my panic to the side, got to work.
And guess what? That time, I did it.

What a difference a night of sleep can make. I had no brilliant ideas when I powered down on this project the next day. I didn’t know what I was going to do before I was doing it. What I did have was the renewed energy and a fresh mind to tackle it, one step at a time.