I was a little afraid of this when I saw all the shiny new renders of the town. I would strongly urge the dev to block access to all the areas that are not actually in the story at this stage. Don't waste time and energy creating stuff you don't need right away. Plan it through, sure, but don't bother actually making all that stuff until the story gets there. Remember, the beautiful and highly detailed backgrounds are just that - backgrounds. Unless it is actually important to the story, no one cares if the park has 3 trees or 4; whether the streets are empty or full of traffic; whether the lighting and shadows match the time of day.
I find it helps if you write down and plan what needs to be done for the next release, and give yourself realistic micro-targets. Save the polishing for later - place-holders for the images containing text descriptions of what will eventually be there is a great way to get the story ideas flowing.
Sorry about the mess real life is throwing at you. Like John Lennon puts it: "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." Try to make it work for you - make the game designing stuff your happy place, where you go to heal and to forget your troubles for a while.
Hugs, and best of luck.
