1. If you have a choice for a project, don't settle (be invested)
This one is dangerous if you don't understand what I mean, because it can easily be used for justification to overscope a project. I do not mean try to make your own Skyrim or MMO because that is your dream. What I DO mean is that don't just choose a project because it's convenient* or people around you want to do it. If you don't feel interested or invested in the project, it's a serious problem and needs to be fixed as soon as possible. This point boils down to make you sure you are getting something that you want to from a project if possible and feel invested in the quality of the product.*caveat this is meant for larger projects such as Game classes or full-semester projects, not required smaller projects for other classes.
2. Don't live with broken windows
This point is taken directly from the Pragmatic Programmer and is basically that signs of neglect in any system or situation leads deterioration and can quickly make things feel like they are out of control. If you encounter a problem, do something about it, even if is not fixing it. You may not have time or resources to replace the broken window, but you might be able to quickly board it up to show that you are aware of the situation and are on it.3. Understand "Fail often, fail early"
You'll often hear this repeated in anything related to software development. What is needed here is the idea of constantly reassess and iterate on what you are doing. If something isn't working, don't follow it down the rabbit-hole. Instead, reflect on the problem and see if there is a different path or even small change you can make before embarking to Wonderland.
4. Let people, who can help, know you're failing (ask for help)
Simple point, most people are empathetic and can understand your situation. You don't have to elaborate if you don't want to, but letting instructors, teammates, friends, etc. know that you feel like you are floundering and that need help to continue can often result in some form of relief or re-invigoration.
5. You can't do that one superhuman push
The most common trap I see people fall into at DigiPen is "If I just work really hard for the next two weeks..." or "If I don't sleep...". I've seen this work one time in my DigiPen time, and that person was always a hard worker. Don't expect that you will suddenly have a three-fold increase in productivity based on no evidence. Instead try to bring the work in line with your productivity* and accept the situation. Otherwise you will likely burn out and the cycle will repeat on a larger scale.
*if your productivity is zero, this is a separate problem.
6. Postmortem
All five of these points can be summed up as "Be pro-active", but even then sometimes, despite your best efforts, projects (or you) will fail. In this case the most productive thing you can do is a postmortem. Postmortems are great for almost everything in life in my opinion. The saying "hindsight is 20/20" is often used sarcastically, but it does speak truth about you knowing more now than earlier. Using this to reflect on your action and subject them scrutiny is an important way to improve on anything you do. Sometimes you might realize that there was nothing you could do without more information, but most of the time you can glean some lessons and improve for next time.
