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TIGSource ForumsPlayerGeneralYour Day Job And You, as a Developer
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oodavid
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« Reply #40 on: August 27, 2014, 11:07:42 AM »

24 hours in day.

Your job is 8, but lets be honest, it's 6 + fucking around. Make sure your fuck-around time is researching, planning or writing snippets of code.

On the train for 2 hours a day? Read a relevant book; games programming, storytelling, psychology - make cribnotes.

Have to talk to your wife? Talk about your game! After all you do the right thing in bringing home bacon every day, your enthusiastic chat about games is nothing to be ashamed of.

Have kids? Play with them! Channel their fun into your endeavours!

Sleeping? Dream of Games! Code! GFX!

On holiday? Go somewhere elated to your game! Hit the museums, talk to people, think about light and form, shape, life emotion etc. it's all important.

Ultimately, your time at work is the most insignificant part of your life.
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« Reply #41 on: August 27, 2014, 06:55:26 PM »

What I do is I break down a feature into a tiny 15-60 minute pieces and work on at least one a day. 
I completely agree with this. I found that a big part of staying motivated enough to finish something is to not feel overwhelmed by the task at hand.
You can use things like Trello to "work" on your game on the bus, on the can or during down time by planning and dividing tasks. Even if it typically takes a long time before your game is in a good enough shape that improving it becomes its own reward, you can always use your planning to at least get a sense of progression.
In my day job (as a AAA developer), I also find it important to "leave on a win". And by that I mean trying to finish the work day on a positive note (code compiles, task is sent to test, design is fleshed out, etc). It makes me much more excited to get back to it.
Nobody is motivated by a messy pile of dirty dishes. But if they are sorted, then your efforts become measurable.

(Also, first post on the forums...  Smiley )
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« Reply #42 on: August 28, 2014, 12:30:59 AM »

This thread already has some great advice for productivity and time management and there's nothing I could add on top of this. I'm pretty sure you will be able to cut out some time for game development using some of these tricks. Skimming this thread, most of the postings deal with how to get more work done and how to squeeze in some little tasks into every slightly available corner of your day - and I guess, this is what you asked for.

Now I'm not sure how everyone else is in this regard, but for me personally, there always has been a hidden danger in all this. I've started developing hobby projects when I was twelve, like a lot of programmers do, and I sometimes poured every waking hour into it. Motivation was not the problem most of the time - rather, it was settling down and stopping. Sometimes I would be on vacation with my family and become totally stressed out of this one problem I wasn't able to solve back home, and I simply couldn't let go. Some other times, I would do nothing but work for a week straight. I still do this sometimes, and my experience is that it wears you out.

It feels great at first, because you're getting things done, you're making progress! Yeah sure, you get a little tired and have less time for social life and enjoying stuff like reading or watching movies, but whatever, just look at how much you've managed to do, right? For a short period of time, this is awesome. But if you're like me, there is always the danger that this is not a short period of time, but slowly becomes the norm for a while. And that can bring you down.

Besides all the work, remember relaxing and doing things you love, and do spend time with friends and family. This really shouldn't be the last point on your ToDo. Sometimes the most important part of your work is to know when to stop. Learn to watch yourself.

I currently have two jobs at once, and am studying towards my masters degree - a combined theoretical effort of seven point five days a week. And then there is that medium-big Open Source project I'm managing, tech support for its small community and my blog to update. That's quite a lot to do, but I still chose to do it all the time, because it's challenging, rewarding and sometimes even fun. I still fall into the workaholic-trap from time to time, and luckily there is friends, family and relationship to stop me. I'm slowly learning to do so myself.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, be careful. That is all Smiley
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oodavid
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« Reply #43 on: August 28, 2014, 12:33:01 AM »

Besides all the work, remember relaxing and doing things you love, and do spend time with friends and family. This really shouldn't be the last point on your ToDo. Sometimes the most important part of your work is to know when to stop. Learn to watch yourself.

Top advice Adam_
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« Reply #44 on: September 02, 2014, 07:42:47 PM »

I've been thinking about this a fair bit lately, and a lot of my main tenants just echo the other good advice in this thread.

* Slow and steady is better than flaming out.
* Make it a habit. I try to get at least an hour of gamedev every morning by heading out early and going to a coffee shop near work.
* Get stuff done while you have energy. After work you will be dead.
* Do other stuff. Go hiking, go out for drinks, read a book, whatever recharges your batteries.
* Write stuff down, keep lists. Get stuff out of your head.
* Don't go alone. You can motivate eachother, and take turns picking up the slack.
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Jeff Skyrunner
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« Reply #45 on: September 08, 2014, 07:08:36 AM »


I definetely agree with this

* Do other stuff. Go hiking, go out for drinks, read a book, whatever recharges your batteries.

That is exactly the opposite of that:

On the train for 2 hours a day? Read a relevant book; games programming, storytelling, psychology - make cribnotes.

Have to talk to your wife? Talk about your game! After all you do the right thing in bringing home bacon every day, your enthusiastic chat about games is nothing to be ashamed of.

Have kids? Play with them! Channel their fun into your endeavours!

Sleeping? Dream of Games! Code! GFX!

On holiday? Go somewhere elated to your game! Hit the museums, talk to people, think about light and form, shape, life emotion etc. it's all important.

Smiley
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« Reply #46 on: September 10, 2014, 06:54:54 PM »

CAFFEINE  Who, Me? CAFFEINE IS YOUR FRIEND  Ninja
Amen.  I start out with coffee in the AM, then shift directly into a strong Oolong tea, shift back to coffee, and then, if needed, it's energy drink time.
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« Reply #47 on: September 12, 2014, 03:36:43 PM »


I definetely agree with this

* Do other stuff. Go hiking, go out for drinks, read a book, whatever recharges your batteries.

That is exactly the opposite of that:

On the train for 2 hours a day? Read a relevant book; games programming, storytelling, psychology - make cribnotes.

Have to talk to your wife? Talk about your game! After all you do the right thing in bringing home bacon every day, your enthusiastic chat about games is nothing to be ashamed of.

Have kids? Play with them! Channel their fun into your endeavours!

Sleeping? Dream of Games! Code! GFX!

On holiday? Go somewhere elated to your game! Hit the museums, talk to people, think about light and form, shape, life emotion etc. it's all important.

Smiley

Rather than going the route of focusing all your life efforts on your project (which will get you burnt out really quickly, trust me), I think the most important thing is having a fixed schedule to do things.

I should also add to the OP that working on 2 jobs is not exactly easy so you shouldn't blame yourself. I can talk from my own experience that trying to work > 8 hours per day is overkill and you'll experience the tiredness you just describe. You might not be getting enough rest during the night, so you may want to pay attention to that. Sleeping time is sacred!

Since you're working only 5 hours at your day job (I wish I could do that and make the same money I'm earning now! Tongue ): when you get home, take a small nap before working on your games (30 minutes to 1 hour). I did this while I was in high school and it did wonders for me.

...actually, I think I'm going to follow my own advice and take a couch to my workplace so I can nap during lunch hours Grin
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Carrion
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« Reply #48 on: September 12, 2014, 10:34:55 PM »



Coffee
Make money making games
No Facebook
No Forums
No Netflix
Coffee

Edit:

, no more Linkin Park 4 u
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dragonslumber
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« Reply #49 on: September 17, 2014, 07:08:30 PM »

I deal with work stress by not having any. My paid job is in a small firm as a programmer, but I'm not high in the hierarchy and so I don't have to deal with the more stressful aspects of that job. I just do a 37.5 work week, and that pays for living expenses as well as the investment in my contractors for the game.

Now the game, that's stressful, that's what keeps me up at night, figuring out how to make it work properly, and some weeks just wanting to quit everything after contractors choose to move on to other projects. It's tough not to know what tomorrow will bring and whether I'll still have people working on the game. Not to mention other aspects like business management (taxes) and all of that, for which I have little to no training.

And how do I deal with that? Well, I keep my eye on the ball: making a great game which people will enjoy thoroughly. That means I need to have the discipline not to collapse and release a half completed project, nor accept sub-par work from my contractors.

Pain is temporary, games are forever.
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