Friday, October 27, 2006
Productivity Under Pressure
I learned a few years ago (and I think this is true of most people) that I work best under mild to moderate pressure. Too little stress, and I lose motivation. Too much stress is, of course, crippling.
Due to scheduling and milestones at work, the pressure and stress has gone up. My productivity has consequently gone up a few notches the last three weeks (my boss occasionally reads this, so now I'm gonna have to field questions as to why it wasn't there the whole time... :) ) I do think that I've been a little bit less nice to my coworkers as well, for which I apologize.
Having deadlines and milestones for which you feel accountable for is one way to add that pressure to yourself. If you work at a day job, you may have management breathing down your neck and helping you set those milestones and deadlines (and having meetings to check on progress), which may serve to increase that pressure quite nicely, thankyouverymuch. But it's got to be the right "kind" of pressure, and how much is "too much" depends upon the individual. Of course, a poor manager can turn be arbitrary and micromanaging and raise a whole bunch of the wrong kinds of pressure. You want the kinds that push you to hit your goals, not hit your manager's face.
When you are working on your own projects (I'm specifically talking about creating games here, but it applies equally to writing that novel, starting that side-business, or whatever), you don't have any external manager mandating deliverable dates and calling meetings to discuss progress. This is a good thing for most people. However, without some sort of internal milestone schedule, or without any accountability, it's easy to let things slip or drop.
Before you know it, that novel has never gotten past chapter 2. Or that really fun-sounding "quick-and-dirty" game about exploding cows that you thought would only take 4-6 months is about to enjoy its one-year anniversary of development without having gone alpha.
One solution to this "throwing your hat over the fence" to peers, something that Steve Taylor (said boss, now) suggested some time ago. The analogy is that if you throw your hat over the fence, then you are going to HAVE to climb over the fence to pick it up again. You are committed. To throw your hat over the fence, you announce what you are going to do and when you are going to do it (to interested parties who will actually pay some attention). Then you are emotionally invested in the commitment, as you'll have to embarass yourself by admitting that you failed to meet your goals when you next report on it.
I did this for Void War, with impressive results. So I proposed this at the Utah Indie Game Developer's Night last week. Mike Rubin wasn't too quick to bite, as he's sort of in hurry-up-and-wait mode for content for Vespers 3D. Mike Smith and Greg Squire seemed enthusiastic about the idea.
So Sunday night I threw my hat over the fence. In spite of the fact that I knew the upcoming week would be hellish with the day job (it hasn't been too bad, except for Monday), I set a schedule for myself for the week for my game. I set it fairly aggressively. Then I emailed Mike and Greg with the schedule, with the promise that I would follow up in one week with a report on how I did (how I met my milestones), and a new schedule for the following week.
Mike Smith reciprocated. We're committed. The hat is over the fence. Additionally, we've committed to showing substantial improvements in our games (I'm going to at least be in mid-alpha) by the next Utah Indie Game Dev night. But how you get there is by taking those small steps - hitting those milestones. So hopefully this peer-group effort will help us get there.
And Mike already knows how anxious I am to play the finished version of Caster.
(As a side note: Mike H. - been playing some of your alpha - it has much rockage potential. I tried to email you directly a couple of weeks ago in reply to your email, but it looks like your spam filters won't let me, and I was too lazy to go back to the form on your website. I promise to send you some feedback soon, though! There, I threw my hat over the fence again!)
(Vaguely) related bits of drivel:
* How to sleep less and get more done
* The Power of Vision
* Productivity Tip: The List!
* Embrace Code!
Labels: productivity
- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 7:17 AM (Permalink)
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I wasn't quick to bite? Hmm. Not sure I'd put it that way. I have more motivation to work on and advance my "hobby" project than is probably good for me...I'd work on it all day, every day, if I could!
My problem is that I'm in "Content Mode" right now, and that's hard when you rely on others for that content...especially when you're not paying a premium for it. Thus, the things I need are often low on those other people's priority scales.
For me, it's the familiar lament of the raw, shoestring-budget indie developer. You need a core team to make the game, but your idea is too new, too risky, or too underdeveloped to attract altruistic team members, and you don't have the budget to buy yourself some friends.
At the same time, it's spawned some opportunities for creative and resourceful solutions. For instance, I may have mentioned that I'm going to be recording all of the voiceover work for Vespers soon by casting theater students from some local colleges. Once I can find a cheap recording studio, I will have some reasonably skilled voicework for a pretty manageable amount of money. I'm also looking into similar solutions for modeling, animation, and concept art, although those are a little more difficult due to the complexity and time commitment required.
We're still aiming for some milestones, though, and the Utah Indie meeting is a great motivator in that regard. I may hold off on showing at the next meeting, though. The meeting always flies by far too quickly, and I hardly get to see any of the other projects. If you, Greg, and Mike are all showing next time, then I'm planning on saving some time for them.
My problem is that I'm in "Content Mode" right now, and that's hard when you rely on others for that content...especially when you're not paying a premium for it. Thus, the things I need are often low on those other people's priority scales.
For me, it's the familiar lament of the raw, shoestring-budget indie developer. You need a core team to make the game, but your idea is too new, too risky, or too underdeveloped to attract altruistic team members, and you don't have the budget to buy yourself some friends.
At the same time, it's spawned some opportunities for creative and resourceful solutions. For instance, I may have mentioned that I'm going to be recording all of the voiceover work for Vespers soon by casting theater students from some local colleges. Once I can find a cheap recording studio, I will have some reasonably skilled voicework for a pretty manageable amount of money. I'm also looking into similar solutions for modeling, animation, and concept art, although those are a little more difficult due to the complexity and time commitment required.
We're still aiming for some milestones, though, and the Utah Indie meeting is a great motivator in that regard. I may hold off on showing at the next meeting, though. The meeting always flies by far too quickly, and I hardly get to see any of the other projects. If you, Greg, and Mike are all showing next time, then I'm planning on saving some time for them.
# posted by 
: October 27, 2006 11:11 AM
: October 27, 2006 11:11 AM
That's what I meant when I said you were in hurry-up-and-wait mode for content. Not that you were against the idea - you just indicated to me that it wouldn't be of much help to you because of your situation.
But I'm excited to hear that you are moving forward on the voice-overs. Maybe we ought to pool some ideas together and write an article about how to get help on a shoestring budget. Because we HAVE all been in that situation.
Unfortunately, my problem has been working on too many projects at once (STILL happening, though I'm trying to discipline my time a little better now). I think I've got about five game projects I *WANT* to get to. That's part of my motivation to get Apocalypse Cow done... I want to move on to the next big thing.
Which will, of course, be quick and easy and I'll be able to finish it in only a matter of a few weeks... Right. Sure. When will I learn?
But I'm excited to hear that you are moving forward on the voice-overs. Maybe we ought to pool some ideas together and write an article about how to get help on a shoestring budget. Because we HAVE all been in that situation.
Unfortunately, my problem has been working on too many projects at once (STILL happening, though I'm trying to discipline my time a little better now). I think I've got about five game projects I *WANT* to get to. That's part of my motivation to get Apocalypse Cow done... I want to move on to the next big thing.
Which will, of course, be quick and easy and I'll be able to finish it in only a matter of a few weeks... Right. Sure. When will I learn?
I like the idea of the fence, but I know that I'd just blow through deadlines anyways.
It's not the enthusiasm that is lacking for my productivity. It's the time. I have to keep a family together and manage gainful employment. And then there's that pesky side endeavor called sleep.
I like the 10 minutes a day thing. That keeps me progressing, even if it is VERY slow progress.
It's not the enthusiasm that is lacking for my productivity. It's the time. I have to keep a family together and manage gainful employment. And then there's that pesky side endeavor called sleep.
I like the 10 minutes a day thing. That keeps me progressing, even if it is VERY slow progress.
Ah, you're right, I think I mis-read that the first time.
I'm actually planning on documenting the whole experience with the voice-overs, since I think it's going to be a lot of fun, and there's probably a good lesson of some sort in there. I think it would make a good blog on GarageGames (with pics!) when it's all said and done. The voice-overs are probably the easiest of the challenges, though, since it's such a brief time commitment for the students.
Concept art might be a bit more complex but probably achievable -- besides students, a cool place to check out, if you haven't seen it, is conceptart.org (amazing artwork and plenty of artists looking for opportunities). I may look there for some stuff we need done, depending on where things go with my artist from here.
The modeling and animation, however, is probably the most difficult challenge for the shoestring budget. I'm willing to give it a shot with the ITT guys to see if there is a solution there, but I'm not sure how it will work out.
I agree, though, this would make a great article or series of articles, depending on how it all works out.
I'm actually planning on documenting the whole experience with the voice-overs, since I think it's going to be a lot of fun, and there's probably a good lesson of some sort in there. I think it would make a good blog on GarageGames (with pics!) when it's all said and done. The voice-overs are probably the easiest of the challenges, though, since it's such a brief time commitment for the students.
Concept art might be a bit more complex but probably achievable -- besides students, a cool place to check out, if you haven't seen it, is conceptart.org (amazing artwork and plenty of artists looking for opportunities). I may look there for some stuff we need done, depending on where things go with my artist from here.
The modeling and animation, however, is probably the most difficult challenge for the shoestring budget. I'm willing to give it a shot with the ITT guys to see if there is a solution there, but I'm not sure how it will work out.
I agree, though, this would make a great article or series of articles, depending on how it all works out.
# posted by : October 27, 2006 12:10 PM
: October 27, 2006 12:10 PM
Well, that's where it comes to managing priorities. I'm extremely lucky and have a very supportive wife & kids. That, and I've learned to live on 5-6 hours of sleep a night. I've had to cut some things, like playing as many games as I'd like, or watching very much television. I still do these things - but I have to parcel them out in smaller doses (and getting sucked back into City of Heroes or Age of Empires III doesn't help my productivity much).
So here's a possible trick. If you are committed to 10 minutes per day, what about increasing it to 15 minutes? Figure out if there's a way you can cut 5 more minutes out of something less important to you and your family. Try that, work it into your schedule over the course of a couple of weeks.
Once you feel you've gotten that all assimilated and habitualized without hurting your larger priorities, try to up the time to 20 minutes. Find 5 more minutes to cut. See if you can work your way up to an hour or two over the course of several months. Eventually, you'll hit a point where you really can't cut anything more, so you'll have hit your equilibrium point.
I haven't really tried that, myself - I've taken the route of more extreme cuts (and occasionally the extreme backsliding). But I've heard this sort of thing suggested with other things, so maybe it is worth a shot?
Something to think about, anyway.
So here's a possible trick. If you are committed to 10 minutes per day, what about increasing it to 15 minutes? Figure out if there's a way you can cut 5 more minutes out of something less important to you and your family. Try that, work it into your schedule over the course of a couple of weeks.
Once you feel you've gotten that all assimilated and habitualized without hurting your larger priorities, try to up the time to 20 minutes. Find 5 more minutes to cut. See if you can work your way up to an hour or two over the course of several months. Eventually, you'll hit a point where you really can't cut anything more, so you'll have hit your equilibrium point.
I haven't really tried that, myself - I've taken the route of more extreme cuts (and occasionally the extreme backsliding). But I've heard this sort of thing suggested with other things, so maybe it is worth a shot?
Something to think about, anyway.
Hey, I don't have spam filters! Not the kind that reject stuff anyway. They just toss it in the trash. I think you're making up excuses because you can't stop playing my game, and it's consumed your every waking moment.
You should be able to get through to my email, though. If you can't (other than me just not receiving it), then something is horribly wrong in the intertubes.
And the rockage is not merely potential any longer - now that there's tunes in the background. It's hip-hop-tastic.
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You should be able to get through to my email, though. If you can't (other than me just not receiving it), then something is horribly wrong in the intertubes.
And the rockage is not merely potential any longer - now that there's tunes in the background. It's hip-hop-tastic.
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