#boredom on the other hand has ALWAYS been a motivating factor. i hate being bored. it makes me restless

[iamnotlookingidonotseeit]

also on the subject of wanting more from me than I can sustainably offer. when my parents said 'we didn't let you become aware as a kid that you could take it any easier and still succeed'. that made me really fucking mad too

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

hey so i'm hoping to get some writing advice about creative burnout? like i seem to write in fits and spurts. some months i can churn out a oneshot or chapter everyday and some months i can do one (1) creative thing only. so i'm wondering how to prevent creative burnout and how to just create more smoothly <3 thank you!

Creative Burnout & How To Ward Against It

First, I’d like to preface this all by saying you’re definitely not alone. You probably already know this, but sometimes it’s nice to be reminded.

I know from personal experience that creative burnout can leave you feeling hopeless, detached from yourself—the kind of identity crisis no one needs in 2020. 

So buckle in, folks. It’s a dosy.

I. The Symptoms

Not to be the local WebMD page here, but signs of burnout can include:

Procrastination (more than usual)

Dreading writing and feeling stuck or overly perfectionistic when you try

Physical tiredness and/or irritability

Feeling like everything is monotonous

It’s more than just writer’s block. It’s a physical and emotional exhaustion response to something that goes deeper than a simple lack of inspiration. In my experience, and from a bit of research, I’ve found that what your brain is really looking for is dopamine.

Dopamine is essentially your brain’s chemical reward system for doing something interesting or exciting to you. As someone who is diagnosed with ADHD, I have chronically low levels of dopamine, so this is a constant struggle for me—but it is absolutely made worse by creative burnout.

II. The Problem

Studies have shown that the more we do A Thing the less that thing will give us dopamine (unless a component of the activity changes regularly). This is because eventually our brains desensitise to the stimuli provided by the activity, and subsequently, we become disengaged.

But it’s not necessarily The Thing (i.e. writing) that becomes boring. Actually, more than a few factors could be at play here, and the first step to finding a solution is to identify the problem.

1. ENVIRONMENT LACKS EXCITEMENT/CHANGE—

Sometimes, the monotony of everyday life can feed creative burnout. This becomes especially applicable in quarantine when you’re not leaving your house.

What we don’t realise is that even something as small as the variables of driving to and from work, or interacting with passing coworkers, gives us dopamine. So if you have the same routine every day that does not involve any added variables, your brain will begin staunching that dopamine supply.

2. EITHER TOO EASY OR TOO CHALLENGING—

In 1975, Hungarian-American psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, coined the term “flow”, which refers to a heightened state of creativity and concentration on an activity. Csikszentmihalyi posited that if your skill level is equal to the level of challenge in any given activity, you will experience this state of flow.

The chart below is taken from Csikszentmihalyi’s own study on the subject of flow and motivation. It examines “your skill level” on the x axis in relation to the “challenge level” on the y axis.

Essentially:

Too much challenge + not enough skill = anxiety, worry (which might lead to procrastination and perfectionism)

Too much skill + not enough challenge = boredom, apathy (which might lead to monotony, irritability, and other depression-like symptoms)

Skill level = Challenge level = Flow

3. NOT ENOUGH “ACTIVE” STIMULATION—

When it comes to dopamine seeking, there is a distinct difference between active and passive stimulation in the brain.

Active stimulation is any form of activity that you have to actively engage in. For instance; exercising, doing a crossword puzzle, or reading a book. These kinds of activities not only give you dopamine, they also facilitate critical thinking and problem solving thought processes, which act as catalysts for creativity.

Passive stimulation, on the other hand, comes in the form of television, social media, and YouTube. It’s anything you can consume without having to actively engage. Passive stimulation will indeed give your brain dopamine, however, it won’t activate your creativity.

The problem also lies in the speed at which you receive the dopamine from passive activities. Passive stimulation is so easy to access that the more you consume, the harder it becomes to pick up active stimulation. Your brain expects a hit of dopamine just by picking up a phone or turning on the TV—it becomes addicted to the quick fix of a Netflix binge.

III. The Solutions

Based on the problems mentioned above, I am going to list a few solutions. Keeping in mind that not every solution will work for everyone, these can act as both preventative measures and remedies for someone who is currently burned out.

1. CHANGE UP YOUR ENVIRONMENT/ROUTINE—

Aim to do at least one thing per day that will add “variables” to the monotony. This can be as simple as going on a long walk, dressing up in that bold outfit you always wanted to wear to the office but never did, or sitting at a different workspace in your home.

Anything you can do that’s simple, but might provide an extra variable to your day to spice things up. Note: this shouldn’t be the same thing every day.

2. CHALLENGE YOURSELF MORE—

If you find yourself bored by your work, try challenging yourself more. This could mean setting goals for yourself that go a bit beyond what you’ve been doing. 

For example, if you’ve been writing 500 words per day, see if you can beat your own word count every day for the next week. If you’ve been writing mainly fluff pieces, switch it up and do an angst piece. See if you can write a book in a month, or start a blog where you don’t write fiction at all!

Anything you can do to add a little kick to your workload. Note: Beware of challenging yourself too much! This can lead straight back into burnout.

3. CHALLENGE YOURSELF LESS—

If you’re on the flip side of that coin, and find that you are anxious, procrastinating, and perfectionistic when it comes to writing, fret not. Just because you’re experiencing any of these things, doesn’t mean you’re incapable of doing the job with your skillset.

It just means your perception of the job needs to be shifted.

Procrastination, at its heart, is a fear of failure, which results in actively avoiding the negative emotions associated with the task that causes this fear. Perfectionism is a type of procrastination that is a combination of a fear of failure and a fear of success (or, more accurately, other’s critiques of your success) all at once.

Neither have anything to do with your actual skillset, but they have everything to do with your perception of your skillset. Obviously, this is a harder thing to fix, as it has to do with deeply ingrained levels of self-esteem.

What I can offer you is a tactic to trick your mind into thinking you’re capable.

If you have a task, big or small, and you are feeling overwhelmed by it (like you might go curl up in bed and scroll Tumblr), immediately break that task up into smaller tasks. Keep breaking up the smaller tasks until you have the smallest possible part of the bigger task without doing nothing.

Then do that smallest possible thing.

If your goal is to write a 2000 word one shot, a small part of that task is writing half of it. An even smaller part of that task is breaking the one shot up into “scenes” and writing one scene. For instance:

Jude wakes up to a sore throat, a runny nose, and a fever.

She tries to go to work, but Cardan, being the mother hen that he is, threatens to never make her another grilled cheese sandwich (her favourite food) ever again if she doesn’t stay home.

Jude agrees begrudgingly, and Cardan sits her down in front of the TV with a bottle of Gatorade. He leaves to go get medicine from the store.

When Cardan comes back, Jude is worse than before. He makes her soup and saltine crackers and spoon feeds her.

She complains the whole time and, in her feverish state, threatens to never buy him another bottle of wine (his favourite food) ever again if he doesn’t let her feed herself.

Each bullet point represents one “scene” of about 200-400 words each. Obviously, there will be more details that you work out as you write. But with these five smaller scenes, your goal is no longer writing the 2000 word one shot. Your goal is writing the first of the five scenes.

If you complete the smallest possible task, you can stop, and you’ll still feel like you’ve accomplished something because you can cross off that task from your list. But chances are, by the time you cross off one task, you may have inspiration enough to keep going.

4. ENGAGE IN ACTIVE STIMULATION—

Since active stimulation has been proven to turn on the creative “tap”, try incorporating more of these activities into your daily routine:

Exercise: As the resident couch potato, I hate to say that exercising is good for creativity, but it is. Even if it’s just going on a short walk, so long as you’re moving.

Reading: Sometimes you have plenty of ideas, but no words to fit those ideas. Fill your well of words by carving out an hour or two each day for reading a good book.

The Creative Process: In the writing world, the creative process is a process of about 20-30 minutes that the writer partakes in every day before they start writing. This process should be creative, but also have nothing to do with writing. You can try colouring in a colouring book, painting, organising a page in your bullet journal. Anything that is creative but does not make you think about everything you have to do that day. Think of it as creative meditation.

Listen to music: Having APD, I personally can’t listen to music while I write. However, studies have shown that if you listen to at least ten songs per day, it will significantly benefit your dopamine levels and overall mood. If you’re like me and prefer to work in silence, maybe stick on a couple songs during your creative process. If you can manage music and writing together, get out those headphones!

5. KEEP A REGULAR SCHEDULE—

I know this is the most cliche point in the book, but it’s valid. This doesn’t mean do the same thing at the same time every day over and over, because ultimately we’re looking to avoid monotony. 

But having pillars of structure to bolster the excitement can definitely work to keep you from slipping into burnout. Going to sleep, waking up, and having your meals at relatively the same time every day are good examples of this. 

Feel free to change up the things you do between breakfast and lunch, but make sure you have those pillars of consistency so your brain knows that a break is on the horizon and doesn’t get tired.

6. PACE YOURSELF—

This is particularly difficult for those of us who are coming out of a creative burnout, but I urge you to pay special attention to this one. If we are suddenly hit by inspiration and the writing is flowing and flowing and flowing, eventually we will hit the point of highest dopamine capacity for writing.

Not putting a check on the flood of inspiration coming out of a creative burnout, I’d argue, is actually a guarantee that many of us will experience burnout all over again. It becomes this vicious cycle in which we are trapped.

While it feels great to write non-stop and receive immediate validation for that work, try to limit yourself to how much you’re writing and how immediately you post your writing (if you plan on posting it).

Whenever I finish a one shot or a chapter of something, I like to allow at least one day for editing before I post. This timeframe is important, because it acts as a buffer of rest between writing marathons. 

You can take however long you need for the editing process, but definitely make sure you have a set amount of time in place. Otherwise, your brain might not have enough time to come down from what is essentially a writing high, and you will always need to reach greater heights in order to achieve that same level of dopamine.

~~~~

Overall, the most important things to take away from all of this are: 

Change up your environment

Keep your brain actively stimulated 

Have pillars of structure between which you can run about chaotically to your heart’s content

PACE YOURSELF!

Hope this helped. Happy writing!

-Em 🖤🗡

Writing Tip Masterlist

Fic Masterlist

Celebrate 2K with me!

[tidesreach]

So, somebody commented on a post of mine to say that Xue Yang's actions throughout the show/novel were definitely not about classism, and in constructing a reply I… wrote far too many words to fit into a reply box. So here is a rambling post instead. No slight at all on the person who commented, I just wanted to delve into the topic a little more and offer an actual explanation to my thoughts. Because I have more Thoughts on this than I anticipated. Also I’m procrastinating on doing Uni Work.

That post was not exactly meant to be Serious Meta, but I do think there is definitely an argument for classism as a motivating factor for Xue Yang. I can’t not, really. I mean, yes, Xue Yang is very into murder. Murder is fun! I am here to be feral and kill people! Yes. But I don’t think that’s his sole motivation. Xue Yang grew up in poverty. He lived on the streets, suffered a great deal of abuse, and was beaten by and lost his finger to a Sect Leader for the crime of being too trusting and just... wanting some sweets. These are all facts. The sect leader in question received zero punishment or repercussions because... well, Classism. Because the lives of the poor have little value in Cultivator Society. Xue Yang's treatment/trauma as a poor person who was viewed as subhuman was the catalyst. It shaped his entire view of the world. He outwardly shows disdain for cultivators and the way they look down on him. Was it his sole motivation for all of his actions? No, but I think it was a part of it. Just like having Xiao Xingchen murder all of those farmers was part of it. Not his sole motivation, it was super fun too! But it was also about bringing Xiao Xingchen down to his level for various reasons. (I think Xue Yang always had it in his head that he was going to tell Xiao Xingchen about the people he had him kill one day, a grand moment of revelation. He did it to prove a point to Xiao Xingchen. But then... he experienced Feelings and started to enjoy his boring little life, because boredom is okay actually, when you’re loved, who knew??? So he decided hmmmm, but what if I just..... don’t tell him ever? The actual moment of revelation only came because by that point there was nothing left to salvage.) So, there's methodology there. Very twisted methodology, sure, but it’s there.

Xue Yang desperately tries to explain this to Xiao Xingchen during their final confrontation when he opens up about his finger. Desperately tries to explain the position he was put in as a child on the streets with no money, no parents, no status. He was a destitute child born into a society that caters to the Cultivator Elite. He realised very quickly that no one was going to defend him or offer him any justice for the abuses he suffered because he simply was not deemed important enough to defend due to his lack of status. He realised very quickly that the only person who was ever going to defend him was himself. So he took matters into his own hands because no one else would. His revenge on the Chang Clan was part of that.

Xue Yang starts to lash out at Xiao Xingchen during that final confrontation because Xiao Xingchen just fundamentally cannot understand where he's coming from. Xiao Xingchen sees Xue Yang's massacre of the Chang Clan as a wholly disproportionate revenge. He asks him why he couldn't have just taken a finger (or two, or ten, or an entire arm!) in revenge rather than murdering the entire clan. Which, yeah, is a fair fucking question. But also, this is a society where disproportionate revenge and needless suffering is rife. (Consider the surviving members of the Wen Clan who were slaughtered. But that was acceptable because the Elite deemed it justice. Which is, well, my whole point.) This is a fundamentally broken society. Xue Yang knows this. “My finger was my own. Those lives were other people’s.” That one sentence there is, damn. It’s fascinating to me. Because he highlights so succinctly the fact that no one ever put any value on him, not on any part of him. Not his finger, not his life. Even Xiao Xingchen is saying, essentially, it was just a finger! But Xue Yang is adamant that no, that’s not the point. The point is that it was his finger. It belonged to him. It was part of him, and it was taken away from him as if it had no value. But it had value to him. So why should he value their lives? No amount of lives he took in revenge can equal what was taken away from him. “How could it have possibly been equal to one of my fingers?” It’s essentially Xue Yang arguing why should their lives have more value? It’s all fascinatingly complex, oof.

I think there is a part of Xue Yang here that is desperately hoping for a kind of epiphany from Xiao Xingchen, for him to realise that hey, maybe Xue Yang has some points here! The fact that Xue Yang even tells the story about his finger at all speaks to that. He wants someone to understand the ideas of value placed on the Elite and lack of value placed on kids like him. That’s what’s really disproportionate! He goes on to chastise Xiao Xingchen for standing up for the Chang Clan. For daring to think he could decide who was right or wrong. Tells him he should have stayed at the mountain if he can’t comprehend the happenings of the world. But of course the epiphany Xue Yang is hoping for never comes. Even if Xiao Xingchen could understand the motive, he was never going to understand the method. It’s not until Xue Yang realises that there’s no salvaging anything that he starts really lashing out. 

Xue Yang tells Xiao Xingchen quite clearly that the people he hates the most are people like him who think they are righteous and virtuous. Who think that they've made the world a better place just because they “did something good”. This is also where a lot of Xue Yang's anger and revenge-motivation towards Xiao Xingchen comes from in general. Because Xiao Xingchen has a strong sense of justice. He has all of these wonderful ideals about morality and making a better society. He wants to save the world. To Xue Yang this is unbearably arrogant and naive because you cannot save a world you refuse to understand. Which is what Xiao Xingchen is doing by refusing to understand the point he’s making in telling his story about his finger. It's a bitter and personal attack from Xue Yang. It's you claim to be righteous and virtuous and good but what good have people like you ever done for those truly suffering? The point Xue Yang is trying to make is that Xiao Xingchen could not have possibly hoped to save the world with a few good acts when he overlooks some of the Actual Problems with the world, when he understands nothing about how the world works for most people. Nothing about the rules of justice. Nothing about the real injustices.

Even the fact that Xiao Xingchen thought he could bring Xue Yang to justice when he first captured him all those years ago is another tick in the “you have no idea how the world works!” box. The way Xue Yang was just so blase about being captured. Because, like, doesn't Xiao Xingchen know that's not how the world works? Xue Yang knows because he's proof of it. There's something actually darkly poetic about the fact that Xue Yang was secured freedom by the Jin Clan after Xiao Xingchen delivered him there. Because Xiao Xingchen’s unwavering belief in bringing him to justice, that justice is always right and fair, actually allowed Xue Yang to go free. Because Xue Yang was finally viewed as someone important enough, someone powerful enough to be above justice and punishment. Xue Yang proved his own damn point. There is no justice in the world they live in. Only power, and that power can only be granted by the Cultivator Elite. Xue Yang realised that he couldn't beat the system but that he could use it to his own advantage, he could use the rich and powerful to achieve his own, however questionable, goals. Xiao Xingchen, conversely, believed he could change the system, and to Xue Yang that was stupid and naive because he couldn’t see all the ways in which the system was wrong in the first place. This is what he tries to explain to Xiao Xingchen during that final confrontation.

So yeah, that’s my two cents (many cents, this got long) on it anyway. I do think it is at least a motivating factor.

[rubymixes-blog]

2019-03-15

          Sensory overkill. That’s the name of the game today. Again. Often times I find it hard to shut my mind off. Just letting go for a while. Not having anything floating around in my headspace. It is funny to me when I do not spend time in front of a computer monitor because suddenly everything feels so light and comfortably empty. Empty in a way of reducing the racing velocity of the electrifying stream of energy between the two halves of my brain.

          It’s hard not to get bored after a certain amount of time. I never fully understood how people could manage to go on these monthlong vacations to India, Thailand or South America without ever wanting to shoot themselves at some point. Maybe I am not the type for these kinds of travels, I thought. But then it struck me that I have never had a problem with being away from home. Alone or in great company, urban or rural, cold or warm; these were never differentiating factors. What would make the difference, however, is the boredom that would creep up from days after days after days of literally doing nothing productive. While my motivations have migrated towards achieving financial stability, I have always needed to find a solid purpose on why to stay in any place of the world for longer than a week at a time.

          I remember spending a lot of time on vacation in Poland when I was little. My parents decided that they wanted to raise me bilingually, so my mother explained things in Polish while my father would talk to me in German. Fun fact: my parents themselves were immigrants who moved to Germany in 1988 in order to escape the communist regime in Poland and begin a new life in their own notion of “the promised land”. While they never acquired a dialect, they have been pretty good in proficiently learning the German language without carrying much of an accent. No accent equals standardized language a.k.a. “where the fuck do you come from?” When I was six years old, I began studying the English language at home. By 1999, my parents had bought their second personal computer leading them to give the older model to me in combination with an English learning computer game. I loved every bit of it. I have always been quick with technological equipment, fixing universal remotes, camcorders, VHS devices and whatever got into my family’s hands, in the blink of an eye back when I was a kid. Little did my parents expect that I would also lock down cellphones and explore internet pornography within a few clicks away from the buzzing sound of a 56K modem. When I say internet pornography, we’re talking animated GIFs transitioning images within 23 seconds at a resolution of 640 to 480 pixels. Besides, I probably had never seen anybody fucking before. Was I traumatized? A little. More by the grueling monologues of my parents than by what I had actually seen. Parents are so ridiculously not cute when trying to explain to their kids how humans are made and how they brought you into this world. No cabbage patch, huh? I get it.

          It wasn’t until I was in sixth grade that the internet had become a regular thing in the German household. In the very first weeks, I could not overhear the rambling conversations of my peers arguing about which porn site was the best. Besides them making up the most hilarious stories about them jerking off in their rooms, I remember being fairly shocked when I saw my very first clip. As an eleven-year-old raised in a rather liberal but Christian family, I had never been close to imagining how sexual intercourse could look like. Besides, there is different ways to have sex with a human being than straight-up missionary PIV? Wow! I pretty much had my mind blown. Maybe it was a result of the amount of tissues piling up next to my desk. I can’t recall but I remember that by the age of fifteen, I wanted to get laid, so badly. So I did what most people at school would do – get a girlfriend. My first high school love was a dancer, hot and cool at the same time and was basically turned into a sex maniac as soon as she got into me. Interestingly, this has been the case with all my longer-term relationships. Nevertheless, I have always considered sex and my sexuality as something very sacred that is not to be wasted on cheap meaningless encounters. If I want to engage with you, I’m going to go all in. If that’s you, get ready for the ride of your life.

          Many years later I had found out that some of my peers very much enjoyed taking girls home, fuck their brains out and dump them onto the street within the next 24 hours. I never understood this kind of behavior. Some people I met said, it is rather common for guys to do that. Interesting. My behavior puts me onto the other side of the spectrum. The side of the female that is evolutionary tied to bringing in and securing a mate, a qualified partner to spend time and procreate with. Not wasting resources on spreading out source materials rather than zoning in on the real goods of a meaningful relationship. And without any further conclusions, at the age of twenty, I thought to myself: “Am I really that weird?”

          At this age, it is still hard to accept the fact that you might never be compatible with the regular world. It took me a few years to find out that so many of the things I had said, as a guy, did in fact mean so little to me. More often, I found myself crying with my face in my hands saying: “My God, I am so disgusted by my own behaviors”. I have always been opposed to men hating on women. To link the fact that many men cannot properly relate to a female due to things like “hormones and bleeding vaginas” has always been utterly ridiculous to me. What gives you the right to be a sexist bigot trying to stand as something better because your dick and your balls manifest your obviously increased rationale? Give me the real thing! Unfiltered. Unbiased. Maybe there is a solution for your problem. Until then, go home, jerk off a few times, and then get a close 101 on developing personal integrity. If you want some, contact me. I’ll show you.

[lesbianyennefer]

ok ive finished andromeda and so im gunna collate my final gathered thoughts below:

All in all its been a good game but for the first time in my life in not just a mass effect but a bioware game i dont LOVE it i cant even say i think its very good - ive even been edging on outright disinterest and boredom at various points throughout. bioware games for all their faults have always made me get fully into their stories get completely immersed in the world and in mass effects case in their characters too. but andromeda is the first time ever that i find myself saying if someone asked me how good it was i would say meh. if someone asked me how the latest installment in my favourite thing to exist on this planet was i would say meh. as someone who for whom the original trilogy is genuinely my favourite thing in existence there arent words for how much it upsets me. im not even like ‘i wanna play again!!!’ like i usually am because im usually still so immersed in the world. here are some thoughts and delving deeper into the things that stood out to me:

- the writing: its poor. there have been a few funny moments and lines and most of the main quest dialogue lines are good but compared to what we are used to from mass efefct it PALES. only one moment of real enjoyment stands out to me in the entire game and that was the movie night one - of the only moments in the game I got happy about like the original trilogy. the writing for dialogue not just with npcs but with companions is often clunky, nonsensical, boring and adds nothing to furthering knowledge/relationships. i honestly couldnt tell you a lot about many of them because the conversations didnt pertain to actually getting to know them. it says in the codex that they all consider me close friends but its never been mentioned that they even considered me one nor can i recall when the friendship actually got going or how we reached the ‘close’ part. similarily a lot of criticism from critics was about the base elements being rehashed from the original and its true. so much has just been copy pasted from the ot in a way that actually makes this version less interesting. the big ‘reveals’ in the story are also so badly done that when jaal mentioned the angara were made by the jaardun is it? i didnt have a wow moment like mass effect has given me in the past i was so confused by everything going on i was just like what? nobody seemed to make a big deal out if either considering an entire race just found out they were genetically engineered. the only real ‘wow’ moment i had in the game was finding out ellen ryder was still alive and jien garson was murdered and even then you cant tell anyone and its pretty much forgotten!! ryder knows that jien was murdered by possibly this benefactor who seems to have ulterior motives for all of them and she also knows the reapers invaded and as far as shes aware eradicated the entire milky way. maybe thats something that should be shared with leadership hmm? (as much as i hate tann)  

- the plot: touching on the last the plot was, to me, nothing to write home about. ive always enjoyed that mass effect has a linear storyline that you get stuck into and follow through at a good pace. now i know they said andromeda was going to be more exploration based game - which i would normally like! - but not when the exploration has almost nothing to do with the main story and is so fucking much that you could play for 3 days 12 hours a day and not get to the next bit of the main storyline!! when you space it out too much the audience - or i - loses all connection with the sporadic main plot and what we are actually supposed to be doing so much so that by the time you go to play the next segment you dont even really know why youre there or whats going on. similarly the plot never made me go :O which the ot did a lot. an example ive mentioned before is that seeing the citadel always makes me go ahhh!!! the nexus by comparison is pretty boring. despite its flaws i love the storyline surrounding the reapers and it always gets me each time i play. sitting her writing this if you asked me to detail the main plot of andromeda i honestly couldnt. i cant remember what i did or in which order. theres no substance or linearity.  

- the exploration: i again cant believe im saying this but swtor a mmo game from 2011 has more interesting open worlds with more MANAGEABLE and relevant side quests than andromeda. they might be beautiful but none of the worlds stood out to me - though i loved elaaden and the downed remenant ship star wars reference. i dont mind doing a few bland side quests but when there in the 50s and they lead you on goose chases across entire planets i begin to get agitated. i cant recall the amount of times i had to go back to planets like kadara for one 5 minute firefight and a couple of lines of dialogue. going through the galaxy map animations, the landing animations, the lift down to the slums then crossing the threshold to actually reach the map to THEN find your destination? yeah im pretty done by then.    

- side quests: tying into the above side quests! bioware hinted theyd learned a lesson from dai and taken inspiration from the witcher 3 for their approach to side quests and they appear to have done neither. there are MORE side quests than there were in dai and i actually didnt mind dais but andromedas have become an issue for me - probably because there were so godamn many. they dont have any baring on the story and they are bland and uninteresting mostly fetch quests. i hate bringing the witcher into this because i dont like giving praise to cd projekt red but the truth is bioware could stand to ACTUALLY learn from the witcher 3. the side quests in that are small in number, long in plot and actually connected to the main story. they dont make you feel like youre straying from the plot, their content is deep and very good and they quite often have major consequences. see triss’ quests in novigrad.  one thing i will say is they did seem to take a little of the last into andromeda. some choices have consequences ie saving the salarians over the krogan. that was pretty cool but still underdeveloped. 

- the relationships: by the end of the story i  can say I love all my squadmates despite the fact that i feel like i barely got the chance to know them (the only one il say i dont know at all well enough to love em is gil who has no content aside from the incredibly uncomfortable jill storyline and i wonder why hes the negelected one hmm?). i loved how they moved around and talked to each other but the amount of times i went round to see them and they had nothing to say was a LOT compared to the fact that in me3 everytime you went to see someone they had something (or multiple somethings) to say often without having to enter into a cutscene style animation just to see if they actually want to talk. in terms of romantic relationships ( i romanced peebee) i was disappointed by how little your romanced companion interjects on the story. at least in peebees case there was very little content and she seemed hardly bothered when my ryder got injected then killed herself and then died AGAIN to save them aside from a little snarky “hands off” comment when the archon grabbed her face. she mentioned a little bit back on the ship but compared to me3 and how liara/garrus/ash/kaidan would interject a lot on mission and have hints to their romance sprinkled throughout it felt like another forgotten thing. not one person on the ship mentioned me and peebee aside from a quick thing from sam when i went to see him in my cabin. also jazzed up sex scenes dont mean anything if the rest of the relationship is bland and overlooked. i prefer liara and sheps me3 scene 10x over peebees (my little gay heart still cries). 

- the music: WHERE WAS THE MUSIC??!?! one of my favourite things about games FULLSTOP and the cherry on top of mass effect has always been the music. to this day i love the atmosphere that noveria creates and vigil makes me fucking cry. the suicide mission gets me pumped and leaving earth leaves a gaping hole in my chest. (diverting a bit even dai had fantastic music. in hushed whispers, the lost temple and thedas love theme are among my faves.) aside from the heleus galaxy map music and the ambient from that one destroyed planet i cant recall a single piece of music that stood out. i can remember about 3 tunes overall the map, the main menu and the one that plays a lot when you fight kett. there wasnt even any proper ambient music for the worlds!!!!! there arent words for how upset i am that theres no fucking mission themed bangers. im just really sad about this.       

i think at the end of the day a big reason for me why i havent loved it is because as ive said before it doesnt feel like mass effect to me. to a pretty great extent i think the reason for this is the decision to move to the Andromeda galaxy. the absence of shep and the crew and the normandy is another huge factor but rather unavoidable in terms of continuing the games, but moving to andromeda has robbed the series of everything that made it mass effect. the mass relays, the citadel, the council, the alliance, earth, thessia, palaven they all made mass effect mass effect. Not to mention the quarians (one of my fave races ever), the drell, the volus, hanar, batarians, vorcha they were all a part of what mass effect IS. even the architectural style of the colonies, the nexus its all different and it doesnt have any connection to the ot and the world it created. andromeda feels like its own game completely unrelated to mass effect and one that when considered on its own has an incredibly shaky foundation and sporadic storytelling. at the end of the day it was fun to pass the time but as a huge mass effect fan i feel it was incredibly disappointing and to be quite honest i dont consider it a part of the mass effect i love.   

[darcyfarber]

16 Pros and Cons of Being an Entrepreneur VS an Employee

Most people start their working life as an employee. Even some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs worked for a measly salary in less than glamorous jobs before they made the switch to work for themselves. Oprah Winfrey was a grocery store clerk. Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos worked at McDonald’s.

Whether to keep on working for someone else for the rest of your life or to make the jump to entrepreneurship is a big decision. There are certainly advantages and disadvantages to both. You may not want to lose the security of a guaranteed salary. On the other hand, you may hate the predictability of an 8-hour workday.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of being an entrepreneur vs an employee to help you decide whether you are more suited to one or the other.

  The Pros of Being an Employee

  1. Stable Income

If you work for a salary, you are assured of a stable income each month. Employees with fixed salaries (and who know how to budget) don’t have to worry about where the money to pay the rent and other expenses will come from. They even come to depend on an annual bonus which pays for their holidays and Christmas gifts.

  2. Guaranteed Leave Benefits

Employees are legally entitled to annual leave and other leave benefits such as maternity/paternity leave or bereavement leave. This means you are guaranteed time off to take a holiday or for special occasions like weddings and funerals. And the best part of all? Most leave while working for an employer is paid leave. So, your salary will appear in your bank account as usual even if you spend three weeks on a beach in Spain.

  3. Predictable Working Hours

The working hours of an employee are stipulated in his or her employment contract. For example, full-time employees may be required to work 40 hours a week from Monday to Friday. While there may be room for some flexibility, daily hours are also normally fixed. As a result, an employee can plan his or her personal life around fixed working hours. Employees can also look forward to their days off each week.

  4. Fewer Worries

It may be argued that an employee has fewer worries than an entrepreneur because he must only focus on doing his own job well. Other people’s business isn’t his concern. He doesn’t have to worry about balance sheets, insurance, payrolls and other organisational management issues. In principle, he has the right to forget about work as soon as he leaves the office.

    The Cons of Being an Employee

  1. Job Insecurity

As an employee, the overall management and financial health of a business are out of your control. If the business goes under, you lose your job. This can happen without warning, suddenly leaving you without a regular income. Finding a new job may not only be difficult but can also result in other challenges such as having to move to a new area. Apart from losing their jobs, employees can never be sure of promotions or salary increases. They’re at the whim of their managers or supervisors.

  2. Boredom

Employees may be stuck in boring jobs that they absolutely hate. They stay in these jobs because nothing else is available or because they’re afraid of leaving a predictable job for a new one. People in boring jobs hate going to work. The feeling of discontent eventually also spills over into their personal life, especially if they get stuck in a work rut for most of their professional lives.

  3. Limited Opportunity for Advancement

Many employees hit a glass ceiling in the organisation or company they work for. Some may have been promoted once or twice before opportunities for further promotion dry up. Others never get the opportunity for a promotion or to apply for a different position with higher pay and more responsibilities in the same company.

  4. Making Someone Else Rich

Employees work hard to make entrepreneurs rich. Moreover, the employee doesn’t necessarily get to share in the riches they help create. A salary increase of 5% doesn’t compare with profit margins of 50%, does it? The feeling that they aren’t rewarded for their efforts in a business’ success can lead to bitterness and mediocrity.

  The Pros of Being an Entrepreneur

  1. Master of Your Own Destiny

One of the biggest pros of being an entrepreneur is that it gives you the freedom and flexibility to become the master of your own destiny. You can act independently and are in complete control. Success or failure is up to you. This realization is often more than enough motivation to give it your all.

  2. Flexible Working Hours

Entrepreneurs don’t have bosses waiting for them to arrive at the office. In fact, they strictly don’t need an office. As long as they have a PC or even a tablet or mobile phone they can work where and when they like. They have the authority and power to structure the business around their personal life. For example, a father may take an afternoon off to watch a child’s sports match and catch up on work in the evening. Time is a precious possession and entrepreneurs have complete control over it. They must just learn to spend it wisely.

  3. There’s No Limit to Your Success

The sky is your limit when you’re an entrepreneur. Who knows what you can achieve with clever and innovative ideas, hard work, motivated employees, and good business management? Embrace success and see where it takes you! The sense of achievement is enough encouragement to reach even greater heights.

  4. A Blank Salary Cheque

Just as there is no limit to how big your business may become, there is no limit to your potential income. The best thing about it? You are making money doing something you love. The financial return for hard work and effort is much higher for an entrepreneur vs an employee. And once your venture is established and depending on the nature of it, you could even make a substantial passive income.

    The Cons of Being an Entrepreneur

  1. It’s a Risky Business

The risk involved in starting and investing in your own business is one of the biggest cons of entrepreneurship. No matter how determined and motivated you are starting out, success is not necessarily guaranteed. One wrong decision can be fatal while you don’t always have control over external factors such as market trends and economic downturns.

  2. Erratic Income

A stable monthly income is not guaranteed. Some contractors may pay up front and some not. Income from commission is irregular. And never lose sight of your own financial commitments such as loan repayments, taxes, and employees’ salaries that could make a difference to your income on a month to month basis.

  3. Difficulty to Balance Work and Personal Life

Entrepreneurs may become so focused on their business, especially in the beginning phases, that they lose sight of their personal lives. As a result, relationships with loved ones can suffer. It may even lead to break-ups or divorce. Long working hours and the accompanying stress could also lead to burn-out. The counterproductivity resulting from all work and no play is simply not worth it.

  4. Mistakes Are Part of the Deal

Statistics show that the majority of first business ventures fail. Entrepreneurs must be prepared to make mistakes. However, they should also be prepared to start over after failure. As Steve Jobs said: “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It’s best to admit them quickly and get on with improving your other innovations.”

  Employee VS Entrepreneur – Which One Are You?

Do you think you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur, or would you rather stay an employee after reading the pros and cons of both?

Weigh the pros and cons carefully before you decide. The many choices in either direction can be confusing and even have a paralysing effect. First, ask and answer the philosophical questions before moving on to the practical ones. The smaller details can be managed when the big questions are out of the way.

  Possible Questions to Ask Yourself:

What would I choose if money wasn’t an issue and anything is possible?

How can my idea or innovation help others?

What joy and benefits are in it for me?

You must be 100% committed before and after registering your company if you take the plunge to become an entrepreneur. Put systems in place to help you build a successful business and don’t let go of your vision. Perseverance always pays off.

16 Pros and Cons of Being an Entrepreneur VS an Employee published first on https://mysingaporepools.weebly.com/

[darcyfarber]

16 Pros and Cons of Being an Entrepreneur VS an Employee

Most people start their working life as an employee. Even some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs worked for a measly salary in less than glamorous jobs before they made the switch to work for themselves. Oprah Winfrey was a grocery store clerk. Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos worked at McDonald’s.

Whether to keep on working for someone else for the rest of your life or to make the jump to entrepreneurship is a big decision. There are certainly advantages and disadvantages to both. You may not want to lose the security of a guaranteed salary. On the other hand, you may hate the predictability of an 8-hour workday.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of being an entrepreneur vs an employee to help you decide whether you are more suited to one or the other.

  The Pros of Being an Employee

  1. Stable Income

If you work for a salary, you are assured of a stable income each month. Employees with fixed salaries (and who know how to budget) don’t have to worry about where the money to pay the rent and other expenses will come from. They even come to depend on an annual bonus which pays for their holidays and Christmas gifts.

  2. Guaranteed Leave Benefits

Employees are legally entitled to annual leave and other leave benefits such as maternity/paternity leave or bereavement leave. This means you are guaranteed time off to take a holiday or for special occasions like weddings and funerals. And the best part of all? Most leave while working for an employer is paid leave. So, your salary will appear in your bank account as usual even if you spend three weeks on a beach in Spain.

  3. Predictable Working Hours

The working hours of an employee are stipulated in his or her employment contract. For example, full-time employees may be required to work 40 hours a week from Monday to Friday. While there may be room for some flexibility, daily hours are also normally fixed. As a result, an employee can plan his or her personal life around fixed working hours. Employees can also look forward to their days off each week.

  4. Fewer Worries

It may be argued that an employee has fewer worries than an entrepreneur because he must only focus on doing his own job well. Other people’s business isn’t his concern. He doesn’t have to worry about balance sheets, insurance, payrolls and other organisational management issues. In principle, he has the right to forget about work as soon as he leaves the office.

    The Cons of Being an Employee

  1. Job Insecurity

As an employee, the overall management and financial health of a business are out of your control. If the business goes under, you lose your job. This can happen without warning, suddenly leaving you without a regular income. Finding a new job may not only be difficult but can also result in other challenges such as having to move to a new area. Apart from losing their jobs, employees can never be sure of promotions or salary increases. They’re at the whim of their managers or supervisors.

  2. Boredom

Employees may be stuck in boring jobs that they absolutely hate. They stay in these jobs because nothing else is available or because they’re afraid of leaving a predictable job for a new one. People in boring jobs hate going to work. The feeling of discontent eventually also spills over into their personal life, especially if they get stuck in a work rut for most of their professional lives.

  3. Limited Opportunity for Advancement

Many employees hit a glass ceiling in the organisation or company they work for. Some may have been promoted once or twice before opportunities for further promotion dry up. Others never get the opportunity for a promotion or to apply for a different position with higher pay and more responsibilities in the same company.

  4. Making Someone Else Rich

Employees work hard to make entrepreneurs rich. Moreover, the employee doesn’t necessarily get to share in the riches they help create. A salary increase of 5% doesn’t compare with profit margins of 50%, does it? The feeling that they aren’t rewarded for their efforts in a business’ success can lead to bitterness and mediocrity.

  The Pros of Being an Entrepreneur

  1. Master of Your Own Destiny

One of the biggest pros of being an entrepreneur is that it gives you the freedom and flexibility to become the master of your own destiny. You can act independently and are in complete control. Success or failure is up to you. This realization is often more than enough motivation to give it your all.

  2. Flexible Working Hours

Entrepreneurs don’t have bosses waiting for them to arrive at the office. In fact, they strictly don’t need an office. As long as they have a PC or even a tablet or mobile phone they can work where and when they like. They have the authority and power to structure the business around their personal life. For example, a father may take an afternoon off to watch a child’s sports match and catch up on work in the evening. Time is a precious possession and entrepreneurs have complete control over it. They must just learn to spend it wisely.

  3. There’s No Limit to Your Success

The sky is your limit when you’re an entrepreneur. Who knows what you can achieve with clever and innovative ideas, hard work, motivated employees, and good business management? Embrace success and see where it takes you! The sense of achievement is enough encouragement to reach even greater heights.

  4. A Blank Salary Cheque

Just as there is no limit to how big your business may become, there is no limit to your potential income. The best thing about it? You are making money doing something you love. The financial return for hard work and effort is much higher for an entrepreneur vs an employee. And once your venture is established and depending on the nature of it, you could even make a substantial passive income.

    The Cons of Being an Entrepreneur

  1. It’s a Risky Business

The risk involved in starting and investing in your own business is one of the biggest cons of entrepreneurship. No matter how determined and motivated you are starting out, success is not necessarily guaranteed. One wrong decision can be fatal while you don’t always have control over external factors such as market trends and economic downturns.

  2. Erratic Income

A stable monthly income is not guaranteed. Some contractors may pay up front and some not. Income from commission is irregular. And never lose sight of your own financial commitments such as loan repayments, taxes, and employees’ salaries that could make a difference to your income on a month to month basis.

  3. Difficulty to Balance Work and Personal Life

Entrepreneurs may become so focused on their business, especially in the beginning phases, that they lose sight of their personal lives. As a result, relationships with loved ones can suffer. It may even lead to break-ups or divorce. Long working hours and the accompanying stress could also lead to burn-out. The counterproductivity resulting from all work and no play is simply not worth it.

  4. Mistakes Are Part of the Deal

Statistics show that the majority of first business ventures fail. Entrepreneurs must be prepared to make mistakes. However, they should also be prepared to start over after failure. As Steve Jobs said: “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It’s best to admit them quickly and get on with improving your other innovations.”

  Employee VS Entrepreneur – Which One Are You?

Do you think you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur, or would you rather stay an employee after reading the pros and cons of both?

Weigh the pros and cons carefully before you decide. The many choices in either direction can be confusing and even have a paralysing effect. First, ask and answer the philosophical questions before moving on to the practical ones. The smaller details can be managed when the big questions are out of the way.

  Possible Questions to Ask Yourself:

What would I choose if money wasn’t an issue and anything is possible?

How can my idea or innovation help others?

What joy and benefits are in it for me?

You must be 100% committed before and after registering your company if you take the plunge to become an entrepreneur. Put systems in place to help you build a successful business and don’t let go of your vision. Perseverance always pays off.

16 Pros and Cons of Being an Entrepreneur VS an Employee published first on https://mysingaporepools.weebly.com/