Participate in a game jam. It forces you to make fast decisions and to incorporate elements you might not normally use. Also since a jam is typically only a week long or so, you will learn lots about time management, idea management, idea sacrifice and how to put an idea together fast. Even if you don’t finish, there is always something valuable to learn.
Also do some of your work on paper. It’s a lot easier to organize ideas and keep track of what you’re doing and in what order. Nearly every game I work on has extensive dev notes and diagrams. Here’s a quick peek at the madness from a week-long Halloween jam that @TinkerSmith and I are working on.
