Hello, Internet.

So, we’re approaching the end of the year, and that means it’s time to start reflecting on what we’ve actually been doing for the past several months. In the case of PGP specifically, we’ve been asked to do this by creating an artifact that represents the learning we wish we could give to ourselves at the beginning of this year.

For my artefact, I decided to design several different screens from a game about PGP and the learning I’ve done this year. To start, I did a rough sketch of what I wanted to include.

I wanted to represent all of the learning I did in PLP, with a specific focus on the thing I think I improved most– being more productive and procrastinating less– and the thing I want to work on improving now– sharpening the saw and taking care of my own health both mentally and physically.

The first screen that I designed was just an opening screen with the name of the game, Personal Growth Plan, and a start button. In this screen, and in the background of every screen, I added a grid effect that was reminiscent of a calendar, to represent time management and time blocking.

The next screen I designed was about time management, and specifically focused on the concept of “time vampires”, or things that suck up your time. I gave some of the options that we learned for fighting time vampires: time blocking, doing a weekly review, and using the app Things.

My next screen was based around the idea of goal setting. This wasn’t an area that I wanted to focus on, but I had a lot of fun doing the visuals. This level was based around snakes and ladders, drawing on a visual representation of “goal ladders”, and with a sword representing the idea of smart goals and planning.

Next, I did a screen based on the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. The seven habits are essentially tools that can be used throughout life, so for this level I did a store where you can buy items. These items can actually be seen better in the inventory than the store itself. You can get a map, representing the first three habits (be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first), because a map is used for planning, knowing where you’re going, and being prepared for the future. You can get a cell phone, representing the fourth-sixth habits (think win-win, seek first to understand then to be understood, synergize), which are all centred around working with other people and being cooperative and interdependent. For the last habit, I added a health potion, because habit seven (sharpen the saw) is all about taking care of yourself, but I also added a sharpened saw, as a more literal interpretation of the name of the habit.

As well as the above items, the inventory contains a calendar– representing time blocking and time management– and the SMART sword from the goal setting level. It also includes a document entitled PGP, meant to represent my actual PGP, which would act in-game as a mission statement.

I also did a character screen for myself. This includes a couple of different hat options– a lumberjack one, based around the idea of sharpening a saw, a knight helmet, to go with the SMART sword, and one mode where I have a pencil tucked behind my ear, and am holding a calendar. Aside from that, the screen shows stats about my character. Drawing on ideas from The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, it has both a personal a relationship bank account, with different amounts of money in them. Instead of health, it has general saw sharpness, which is then further broken down into the four categories of health discussed in the chapter about the seventh habit: social, mental, physical, and spiritual. In my case, the social and spiritual bars are very low because I am not a very social or spiritual person, whereas the mental and physical bars are relatively high because those are areas I usually focus on. There are also some stats showing my strengths and weaknesses, based on what I learned this year, and what I still need to improve on. Productivity and time management, which I feel I’ve really improved on, have positive stats, whereas interpersonal skills, which have always been something I’ve been less good at, has a negative stat.

To finish, I made all the screens into gifs (although I’m having trouble getting them to work as gifs in the post) to animate them and make them feel more like part of a game.

I really enjoyed doing this project and reflecting on what I’ve learned in PGP this year. I am hoping to carry forward what I’ve learned in this course as I keep growing as a learner.

Toodles,

– Willa