Idea The ability to work on something for long periods daily

W

Wayfarer

Guest
I often end up in the following situation:

Each day, I'm eager to start working on my project, and generally in the first 2 hours of work I make a lot of progress. But at certain point during the day, I become content with my progress, and end up playing my game over and over. My game is a platformer which is heavily slope based so I constantly go back and forth across the screen doing various jumps in a trance-like state.

To a certain extent playing your game like this can be useful because it allows you to imagine things you might like to add, and occasionally you spot bugs or oversights in how things work. But there's definitely a point where you're playing it too much and it's not beneficial. Does anyone else have this problem? I have a feeling it's pretty common, but it's annoying because I definitely have periods where I'm very productive, it's just that after a certain amount of "work" my will power reduces. There have been multiple studies on will power and how it, at least, seems to reduce throughout the day as you do more and more work. But I also wonder if not being able to work for longer periods could be like a bad habit. Like once you reach 2 hours or so, you're so used of stopping that you continue to do the same thing you always do!

What do you think?
 
G

Guest User

Guest
you could try taking a break at the 2hr mark instead of continuing to work or play your game, if you haven't already.
 
D

DBClutis

Guest
I definitely do this:) I agree with you that it is beneficial to be able to focus on the work for a longer period of time, but I think that the fact that you start playing your game and can't stop is great! It means that you have made something your proud of and, like you said, there are so many benefits! (Just be weary that if you play too much you may overanalyze and begin to pick out flaws that are not really flaws and your awesome project won't look so awesome.) That being said, I would either 1) allow yourself to keep a 2 hour per day pace if those hours are really well spent and you have no time limit, or 2) Continue to play your game, but limit the time or amount, take a break after 2 hours, then use the continue to work after 15-30 minutes.
 

Yal

šŸ§ *penguin noises*
GMC Elder
  • It's a good sign if you like playing your game, don't worry too much about it.
  • Take regular breaks even if you feel you're making progress, just don't interrupt mid-editing something unnecessarily.
  • If working on something feels boring, take a break to work on another part of the game.
  • Use to-do lists to track what needs to be done, it makes it easier to focus. Don't necessarily make things in the order they're written on the list, make whatever is the easiest to do first and tiebreak in order of importance. I usually have my lists be sheets of paper I scribble down things randomly at, that gives me space to doodle explanatory graphs and stuff if needed.
This GDC talk could be interesting, too:
 

woodsmoke

Member
When you take breaks don't play games, do sth totally different where you don't sit (go for a walk, cook, clean the house, sports). Then come back fresh. Playing your game is also important, but I think we do this enough anyway.
 
W

Wayfarer

Guest
Thanks, this is all great advice :D
Many of the suggestions are things I could definitely improve on.

I'm starting to watch that Gunpoint GDC talk now (or at least have it on in the background). I have a feeling I've seen it before, but I'll watch it with more intention this time.
 
Top