Suggestions please, how can I help myself?

[Jamie]

Before I get to the point of this, I want to share some background. I develop video games (currently for the PC), and, I'm an 'indie', which means I get to work on my own games and can do what I want (which wouldn't be the case if I was with some big game development company). Some screenies from my current game here.

So, in short, I work for myself, by myself, and from home.

I have 2 laptops in my work room (which is also my bed room). One laptop I use for game development work only. The other I use for general admin, office, email, internet, browsing these (and other) forums etc (typing on in right now).

I get a lot of joy out of my work, but, to be honest, I'm not sure that's really true. I like it sometimes, but it's like walking through toffee, it's tough, and there may be a number of reasons why that is. Like working on my own on the game and doing everything ... coding, art, level design, sound ... everything, it's hard.

I wonder if I have issues with sharing the creative process. You never know, if you share with other people, quality may suffer, dunno, it's not as simple as that I guess.

Anyway; enough fluff talk! Let me get to my reason for posting ...

I've very interested in my own personal development. I'm trying to identify the single most important pressing issue in my life. I think I've got it.

It's a productivity issue. I procastinate! Dang, I'm pretty good at it too.

I need to address this. So, I'm here to ask you, how can I best address this issue?

Some ideas I have, so far, include:

Improve my environment.
Cut down on distractions.
Redirect my attention (I have desktop wallpaper on this laptop, telling me to 'Work on QWAK').
Carrots and sticks.
Set a target for myself, to work 'X' hours, solid chunk of time on my game.

Any suggestions?

Jamie.

[Acting Like Godot]

Self-hypnosis.

[Jamie]

I'm also doing specific research in to procastination; while this could be said to be procastination in itself, I don't think it is, it's just getting a more complete understanding of the issue, and why I do it.

Self-hypnosis? How does that work? Can you suggest anything more specific? Books, audio programs, authors?

Thanks!

Jamie.

[Joely]

I used to use Inner Talk CDs, which use subliminal messages to get you to change. I don't normally have a problem with procrastination unless there's some reason for me to be avoiding a specific project. The solution then is to look at what I'm resisting about that project.

In a sense you've answered yourself in your original post: you don't always enjoy what you're doing. That might be why you avoid doing it sometimes. Are there any ways you could look at to make the tough bits - the times when you really don't feel like doing it - more enjoyable, so that you really do like what you're doing?

J x

[aaronmp2003]

I think that procrastination is simply us doing something that we don't feel is worthy of our time. Not to say that the thing itself isn't important, but if it doesn't resonate with us, then we feel - at least on some level - like there could be some BETTER use our time, other than doing that task.

The trick to beating procrastination is to find a way to mentally fit that task into something that you DO feel is worthy of your time.

For example, I don't like the administrative side of running my business. I know that my wealth creation profile is that of a Creator, so the "admin" tasks don't hold excite for me. However, by reframing the completion of those admin tasks into the CREATION (my wealth profile) of the life that I want to be leading, it became very easy for me to not only be more motivated to handle the admin stuff, but to become more productive as well.

[cardano]

Speaking as a full-time solo game developer, I understand where you're coming from. Though nowadays I don't do every task myself, I have a team under me, and it doesn't make it any easier - I just write a mountain of endless delegation documentations

Instead of focusing on self-help / mental advice, here are a few habits I find particularly helpful:

1. Exercise - I prefer a short 20-30 minute jog in the morning before work.

2. Write down 3-5 work tasks you want to accomplish that day and do no more.
a. The tasks are easier digestible within a day
b. Prioritize your life first. If you have a party you can attend to at night, go to the party and work harder in the day to finish your tasks.

3. Create a specific attainable milestone list - I felt overwhelmed when I used to make games without seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Now I create a gantt chart for each project I have, detailing the specific milestones, week allocations, and due dates.

-Steve Z.