Difficulties of Time Management for Indie Developers
This article is taken from the Bare Knuckle Development blog and was written by Tony Leavy.
As the story goes for many start-up indie game development companies, Bare Knuckle Development has started out as ‘the other job’. Yes, Ste and I are working full time jobs and making a game… and running a website… and managing social media… and keeping up with the gym…and usually remembering to eat… but sometimes forgetting to sleep. Time management has become a key factor in making this game and running this company. We can so easily get engrossed in the game dev that sleep, food, hobbies and even our social life gets set aside; we know that sacrifices have to be made and we are at peace with that… But, making a game is not just making a game. Alongside maintaining your knowledge on the latest techniques, and software, dwriting the story, designing the world, programming the engine etc... Making a game also entails keeping informed on and informing others on social media and this can take a lot of time.
To a certain generation of developers social media wasn’t a big thing…maybe they conversed in forums getting tips and discussing up and coming games, but now social media maintenance is a full time job, with its own set of skills and knowledge. For us, who were your average social media Joes before TFAT, social media is now our third job and it’s getting jammed into every other minute we’re not doing our first or second job. So…those toilet breaks…Twitter… walking to lunch… Facebook…whilst catching up on Hannibal....blogging…eating breakfast… making gifs… literally every minute we’re chipping away at that social media iceberg.
Multi-tasking is the skill we’ve sharpened the most, but it’s not easy. You confuse what you’re talking about and you always feel rushed, sometimes you get frustrated. Not sleeping is a method we regularly try… but it really isn’t a solution, nor is it effective!
The best methods we’ve developed are to make plans, brainstorm, set small regular targets, and remember to schedule some down time. An evening break every now and then, a ten minute stroll in the park can stop you from having a meltdown a few days later when everything’s getting on top of you. Those little breaks are essential to maintaining your sanity, enjoy them and don’t feel guilty and be proud of the small achievements towards reaching your goal; your dream game!
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