Working when you arn't motivated

[Gilzu]

One of the things I have learnt from my part-time job, is how much time I could have used when working on my game.

Its not that I don't like my job, but in some point it becomes... repetative. Still, I acccomplish much without being too motivated about working. Sure, I'm paid to work, but I also getting paid for each copy of my Indie game. So why am I only working on my Indie game when I'm motivated? why can i work on my part time job when I'm not?

My guess is that when you are commited, you don't need motivation. Sure, you want to enjoy what youre doing, but when you are doing it just for the fun of it, it becomes your hobby and not your job. Also, theres no way i'm going to give up my Indie game hobby and I don't want to make it my job (where I work no matter whats my mood).

So i'm trying to find that sweet spot for working on my game. Work when I have fun and very motivated, but work when i'm not so motivated and do some repetative/boring stuff just so i can get to those nice coding parts. Somewhat like eating, mostly you eat what you like when it gives you pleasure, but when there's nothing you like, you eat what you have because you have to eat (just like you have to earn money to support yourself).

So, I wondered, does any of you work even when you arn't motivated? because you are commited to the cause of making games? because you want to get to the fun coding part? Or did you make your habbits to a business like, code no matter what to accomplish goals?

[dreeze]

So, I wondered, does any of you work even when you arn't motivated? because you are commited to the cause of making games? because you want to get to the fun coding part? Or did you make your habbits to a business like, code no matter what to accomplish goals?
I work on my game every day, often for quite a few hours. If I don't, all the things that aren't done keep nagging my normal thinking. I can for example phase out when I'm talking to someone because I start thinking about some parts of the game that aren't done. Maybe some code I was working on; maybe something business related. I don't think I will be able to relax until this game is done (and then I will probably start adding all those features that I didn't have time to add the first time), and I'm not sure I want to, I find all this very stimulating.
If I should happen to not be able to work on the project for maybe a few days I become very easily annoyed and after that, I begin feeling down. Basically the same symptoms as an addict. Hmm... maybe this isn't healthy for me? :)

[Valen]

So, I wondered, does any of you work even when you arn't motivated? because you are commited to the cause of making games? because you want to get to the fun coding part? Or did you make your habbits to a business like, code no matter what to accomplish goals?

I've had problems with being unmotivated, even depressed. I'll be straight with you -- it's not easy to overcome this kind of stuff. But I did manage to do it. Motivational books, tapes, articles, and talking to people who're successful is very helpful. As far as how I stay motivated.. Well, I simply decided that what I want to do is create a business. I understood what is required to accomplish that. A lot of the work has nothing to do with programming. In fact, I haven't been doing almost any programming in the last 6 months. I've been spending a huge amount of time learning about marketing and selling, and implementing what I've learned.

The most important thing you need to do is decide exactly what you want to accomplish. If you want to program games as a hobby, then program games as a hobby. There's nothing wrong with that. And if you're doing it as a hobby then you don't have to work on it when you don't want to, so there's no reason to feel bad about it -- it's a hobby! I play guitar as a hobby, and I only play when I feel like it. :)

[Jack Norton]

Motivation is the key on every activity, not only the daily job.
I was so motivated that I quit my part-time job to be fulltime indie. The best thing to stay motivated it to put goals. For example my first goal was to reach 1000$/month before June. It was very tough but I made it :)

Now however I'm facing the same problem myself. I want to move elsewhere, and my parents have adopted a bad "tactic". Basically they said "ok", but they tend to ignore my problem/feelings.
They talk a lot about other stupid things/problems of peoples, including my brother and other relatives.
They also (obviously) keep me telling about the "GREAT" problems I'd face living abroad. It's clear that they don't want to refuse to help, but they want to convince me to stay here.
All those thoughts is slowing down greatly my indie production in the last months. Honestly I hope to leave this place very soon.

[Reactor]

Welcome to the emotional rollercoaster of the human being. Sometimes a job calls for emotional sacrifice, and you do it, because the bigger thing is worth it.

I should just add to this- games for me aren't the biggest thing, so I have no problem calling development my job, and that is all. If I love it one day, great. If I don't, then that's life. I realise though how truly lucky I am to be doing it full-time, and for me, that's like a permanent underlying motivation.

[Nemesis]

I'm generally unmotivated when the other team members are unable to contribute regularly due to other commitments, or if it is a boring aspect of the project. However I have learned how to discipline myself and consider any free time as a luxury. I've also developed some extreme time management skills.. I *had* to adapt with a day job, errands, family etc. etc.

So far, I have resisted for 17 months.. not bad I guess! :)

My moral of the story.. take on a simpler project!!

[Coyote]

Some things that have worked for me in the past:

#1 - Establish a habit of your work patterns. Habits will carry you through when motivation fails.

#2 - Likewise, eliminate habits that serve to the detriment of your productivity (like, ummm... posting on forums when you should be working...)

#3 - Establish goals and cultivate an obsessive desire to achieve those goals. Your best bet is to start with small, easily achievable goals... and then gradually beef them up until you are hitting your full, productive stride. Few things motivate as strongly as SUCCESS.

#4 - If you are religious, pray for guidance & assistance.

#5 - I have found that talking about what you are doing serves as a psychological substitute for actually doing the thing. That's why (IMO) excessive meetings are doubly evil - they can de-motivate as well as suck up your time. So while it sounds rude... sometimes the answer is to shut up and code. That's why oftentimes news and status and postings by teams suddenly dry up when they are entering hard-core 'crunch time' - public perception might be that the lack of news means progress is not being made, but usually it's the opposite.

[formfarbeminze]

Some things that have worked for me in the past:

i keep a journal of success. it works great! each day i write down at least five accomplishments i managed so well i am proud of it. when i started it was really hard for me to come up with five "good things". now, after doing this for 5 months i have to stop myself while writing... what basically happens is, your mindset gets a shift towards a positive attitude to yourself and your daily life. you simply don't care about "moods" anymore! you have a life! what is so great about all this?

1. you gain a lot of self esteem
2. because you are constantly hunting for oportunities to get something to write down into your journal, you become a good guy even with the small things in life. like for example pissing right into the pott and not around the whole bathroom.
3. you start winning against bad habbits
4. and a bunch of other goodies! buy it now!

don't be afraid of becoming too proud or egocentric, it's just between you and your journal.

[MattInglot]

I generally find myself with a motivation problem when I lose sight of where I am. Long projects without clear intermediate goals and working all day without necessarily being able to show anything for it is the greatest way to lose motivation. Every day starts feeling the same and then it's very difficult to work because there's no end in sight, so why bother?

Avoiding this situation helps a lot.

I'm trying the journal idea that formfarbeminze mentioned for CustomBar. After being against it for a long while, but secretly wanting to do it, I decided to finally go ahead and start a Dev Journal for CB, now that the program is released. I only started it yesterday and today was my first post. I plan on making it a combination of regular progress reports on development of the next release and as a place to babble about the technical details and points of interest about CustomBar's architecture and capabilities. I've made the journal public, so we'll see if having my development progress exposed like this helps motivation as well :)

http://forums.custombar.net/index.php?showforum=12

[Larry Hastings]

I'm reminded of an old saying:

An amateur is someone who can't do it even when he wants to.
A professional is someone who can do it even when he doesn't want to.

[Rainer Deyke]

If I lose my motivation to work on one project, I start working on another project. After one or two months of working on the other project, I can usually come back to the first project with new motivation and a fresh perspective. I've found that this works much better than forcing myself to work on a project that doesn't interest me.

[Chris Evans]

If I lose my motivation to work on one project, I start working on another project. After one or two months of working on the other project, I can usually come back to the first project with new motivation and a fresh perspective. I've found that this works much better than forcing myself to work on a project that doesn't interest me.

Umm, that's pretty unproductive for your original project though. If it's just a hobby, then I guess it's okay. But if you're trying to stay on any kind of schedule or you have people relying on your contribution, I wouldn't recommend taking 2 months off your project to work on another one.

Instead, I suggest keeping a notebook with a bunch of game ideas. When your current project overwhelms you, take a day or two off and write a new game idea or work on a pre-existing idea in your notebook. This will give you a nice little break, but it prevents you from getting too sidetracked on the next greatest idea. You should seriously avoid prototyping new ideas while you still have a mature project in mid development.

Everybody has doldrums, but if you continually have motivational problems, then there's a chance you're working on the wrong project. Either it's much too big for your available resources and time or deep down you don't really believe in the project. Maybe your body and mind is trying to tell you something.

[Rainer Deyke]

Umm, that's pretty unproductive for your original project though. If it's just a hobby, then I guess it's okay. But if you're trying to stay on any kind of schedule or you have people relying on your contribution, I wouldn't recommend taking 2 months off your project to work on another one.

I consider it part of the cost of doing business, so to speak. There's a limit to how long I can stay focused on a single project. It seems to be about six months. And those two months of working on another project aren't wasted time, since I definitely will finish both projects.

Instead, I suggest keeping a notebook with a bunch of game ideas. When your current project overwhelms you, take a day or two off and write a new game idea or work on a pre-existing idea in your notebook. This will give you a nice little break, but it prevents you from getting too sidetracked on the next greatest idea. You should seriously avoid prototyping new ideas while you still have a mature project in mid development.

Tried it, didn't work for me. If it works for you, good for you.

Everybody has doldrums, but if you continually have motivational problems, then there's a chance you're working on the wrong project. Either it's much too big for your available resources and time or deep down you don't really believe in the project. Maybe your body and mind is trying to tell you something.

This is definitely not the case for me - otherwise I wouldn't feel the stong need to return to the first project at the end of those two months.

[Sunshine]

I've had problems with being unmotivated, even depressed.


I also have had alot of problems staying motivated, expecially in the 'middle' of the development. (A good while after the start, when you cannot yet see the light at the end of the tunnel)

Although this may sound a little calous, I have found that emotional state is primarily 'Chemical' in nature.

On my days off (from my day-job with the evil empire) I code. But I start the day off with an extra large cup of STRONG BLACK COFFEE. Then around 3:00, another EXTRA LARGE EXTRA BLACK COFFEE.

I would warn however that you need to take a day or so off drinking only water to recover or the 'Motivating' effect does not happen ;)

[Sean Doherty]

Public perception might be that the lack of news means progress is not being made, but usually it's the opposite.


I really like this line; it is so true.

[Michael_Le]

You guys should check out this link.

http://205.158.110.70/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=9&t=002001

It's a motivation thread at xgamestation.com.

For some background on the website, the Xgamestation is a game console development kit created by Andre Lamothe. Andre is a guy who's been in the game development field for a while and has written many great game dev books. He posts on those forums as "necron" and he posted some motivational tidbits and I found them informative.

[PeterM]

I put a little sticker on my monitor that says "FINISH THE BLOODY GAME AND STOP WASTING TIME".

I think It helps.

Pete

[Air]

My guess is that when you are commited, you don't need motivation. Sure, you want to enjoy what youre doing, but when you are doing it just for the fun of it, it becomes your hobby and not your job. Also, theres no way i'm going to give up my Indie game hobby and I don't want to make it my job (where I work no matter whats my mood).Hold up. New paradigm time. Being "commited" is being motivated. There is no difference. The difference is only in what is generating this sense of commitment/motivation.

To me it sounds like you suffer from a very similar thing that I tend to suffer from: It isn't so much the material or work in question, but rather that motivation and focus in the officeplace is simply an unspoken truth, while motivation at home is ... well .. difficult. Distractions and stuff. If this really doesn't sound like you, then feel free to correct me and skip over the rest here. :)

Alright. There are aspects of an office (aside from boss) that help keep you on task, and you're probably aware of most of them so I won't bother listing them out. Suffice to say, my suggestions here are about making sure your home office is as "office-like" as possible:

Some people think it's a quite novel thing to put a cot or couch or fold-out bed where they work. It is novel! It is also, unfortunately, unproductive. Couches and cots might be good for creative thought, but they're also good for keeping you from applying effort to your work unless struck by "inspiration."

Another good thing to do is to make two users on your machine. One is oriented toward home computing stuff, one for gamedev. Set up your start menu and icons on your dev user to be entirely focused on gamedev. Leave most of the chat programs, quick-email links, games, etc. for your home user. Sometimes the simple rote activity of going through and checking all your messages and email 10-15 times a day is what's consuming a good portion of your time-- and there's very little to gain from it. It feels productive to get those messages 5 mins after someone sent them! but it isn't.

The idea here is to help train yourself out of those bad habits that you can quickly fall into, habits you probably don't (or can't) really allow at work: "Oh I can't seem to think about this line of code right now... [checks email instead] ... [checks forums instead] ... [plays Collapse instead] ... [lays on couch and stares at ceiling instead]".

What I find really helps for me is making sure that my "home office" is as unhomely as possible. It's dull, drab, and mostly "decorated" with gamedev-related stuff. Whiteboard, pin-up board, couple of large plain white tables, one with computer stuff, and one with books and papers and stuff. I also went through the effort of positioning it as far as possible from my bedroom as possible. I prefer to keep my sleep area and work areas as separate as possible.

These suggestions might almost seem counter-intuitive really, since your main goal of doing indie gamedev might be to get away from that whole office environment. If so, then think of these as temporary measures. You need to train your mind to think with more discipline when at home, and once you establish a work routine at home that is productive and "motivated" then you can wein your luxuries back in and hopefully not abuse them. :)

[as for me, I've weined the games and chat programs back onto my desktop and don't abuse them at all anymore... but I still have problems with distractions in the room itself so I'm sticking with the drab approach for now]

- Air

[Gilzu]

Hold up. New paradigm time. Being "commited" is being motivated. There is no difference. The difference is only in what is generating this sense of commitment/motivation.

To me it sounds like you suffer from a very similar thing that I tend to suffer from: It isn't so much the material or work in question, but rather that motivation and focus in the officeplace is simply an unspoken truth, while motivation at home is ... well .. difficult. Distractions and stuff. If this really doesn't sound like you, then feel free to correct me and skip over the rest here. :)

Sorry, but being commited and being motivated are two different things as I see it.

Being commited means you are obliged to do something. If you won't, it will have serious effect on you. Things like contracts (hence work), spending money on graphics/music/QA/host&website/Publicity (hence commitment to finish your game) and Setting an appointments with other people. Once you've made those steps, you can always not work, not finish your game and not show up for the appointment. But even if you feel unmotivated, you will still show up for work, finish your game and show up for the meeting.

Why? because if you wont show up for work, you'll breach the contract and you wont have means to support yourself. Because if you wont finish your game, you've spend lots of money (on graphics/music/QA/host&website/Publicity) for nothing and if you wont show up for meetings you shcedules, no one will ever take you seriusly.

see? those are elements that make you commited, not motivated. A man who works at his job will show up for it even if he doesn't like it, but because hes commited to support his family through it.

I'm commited to my gamemaking because I spend tons of money&time on graphics/music/QA/host&website/Publicity and I don't want all that to go to waste.

Doesn't mean I'm motivated or that hard working man is motivated. It means were commited due to some fact. Thats why Steve P. once adviced people who wanted to go Indie to "burn the ships" because then they will be commited on making their business as one that could support them.

Motivation means you enjoy/like what youre doing at the moment thus making you more productive.

[Air]

If that's what it takes for you to get things done then I suggest you find ways to incorporate it into your lifestyle then.

Frankly I think that's the only real true forms of motivation anyways. Most "highly motivated" people I've known are Type A personalities that feel those sorts of demands being made on them even when they aren't. They are considered somewhat high-anxiety and perhaps "unable to relax" but gee they get lots of stuff done because they are continuously motivated through sense of commitment.

You chose to disagree with the only part of my post that I'm more than willing to argue my point over. Onward! Valen is about the only other useful reply (having any real constructive content) to your post so far, and if you read what he said it's going to sound an aweful lot like what you just described is what gets you motivated! He creates commitments for himself, either with others through the establishment of his business, or through commitments with himself (which are harder to do; I personally can't uphold commitments to myself worth a damn).

Since I wished not repeat what he said, I took a different approach, one which works well for me. But I stand by my assertion that "commitment" is merely a form (a very effective form) of motivation. Thus being commited is a form of motivation. Or maybe you only think a true commitment is one made with someone else / another business and that all these other commitments are just... something else! Ok ok. Let's get semantical!

If that's not motivation then what you're asking for isn't either. What you want is inspiration. We all can work on our games when we are feeling inspired-- and we all look for ways to further inspire ourselves into another good coding session. No doubt a big reason for a lot of people reading these forums. Educational, yes... but the real value is if/when they can get inspiried over some sort of positivie interaction with others.

Is inspiration motivation? Yes. Is commitment motivation? Yes. Did I say "Motiviation is commitment"? No. More Semantics?

Alright. You're looking for inspiration. I'm clear on that now. Let's get inspired. What is inspiration and where does it come from? Inspiration is assuredness; a lack self-doubt, secod-guessing, etc-- very similar to confidence but with a different (more exhilierating perhaps) feeling. Inspiration is often half-blind. What I mean by that is that you've come to a decision and you've become entirely focused (commited?) to it. You're not really interested in alternatives. Your mind clears of exess clutter and is able to think and solve problems one after another with relative ease.

That said, a good habit for improving your level of inspiration is to practice being more assured of yourself. Being more confident in your ability to make keen decisions, etc. That's why the forum can be inspiring. Education is good for confidence. Besides, when a handful of respectable people agree on the same thing, it creates that feeling of assuredness in their decisions, and a feeling of inspiration might follow as a result of having eased that tension from the mind. Beyond that inspiration is highly unpredictable. It's always bound to more circumstances and conditionals than anyone here could easily chart out. Besides, it's different for everyone.

Personally, in addition to things mentioned above, l have to avoid playing other games that are in any way similar to my own while I'm mid-project. Yeah. Seeing the competition is usually a lot more demoralizing than inspiring when I'm in the middle of a project (can't say I know many other people that suffer from that tho). Inevitably I end up seeing all the similaities of said game to the one I'm working on, and likewise all the ways that game might be better. Sometimes I see ways I think mine is better but for some reason that still doesn't make me feel much better... maybe because mine's still being worke don and their's is finished. Who knows. Either way, I start second-guessing myself and my choices related to my game, and second-guessing is pretty much the antithesis of inspiration.

- Air

[Nemesis]

I beg to differ on commitment being motivation. You may be committed to, say, finish an unpleasant task because you want to see it through but you may not be motivated to do it.

A commitment is a promise to oneself or to a third party. Motivation implies one has a motive (purpose) for doing something. In most contexts it means a pleasant purpose of course.

Just to quote you a concrete example, when starting off with a new game idea, you're motivated to see it come to life, at least until prototype form. However, to carry it out to its end, that is, polish it, make it marketable, etc. etc. requires commitment, that is. a promise to oneself to finish the project, that is, self discipline.

[princec]

Motivation == commitment + excitement maybe.

Cas :)

[Gilzu]

I beg to differ on commitment being motivation. You may be committed to, say, finish an unpleasant task because you want to see it through but you may not be motivated to do it.

A commitment is a promise to oneself or to a third party. Motivation implies one has a motive (purpose) for doing something. In most contexts it means a pleasant purpose of course.

Just to quote you a concrete example, when starting off with a new game idea, you're motivated to see it come to life, at least until prototype form. However, to carry it out to its end, that is, polish it, make it marketable, etc. etc. requires commitment, that is. a promise to oneself to finish the project, that is, self discipline.

Now thats exactly what I meant. I'm commited to pay taxes by law, will this commitment make me pay my taxes? yes. Am I motivated to pay taxes? hell no... ;)

By commiting to do something, you make sure that you'll get youre job done. It doesnt mean you are motivated on doing it. When posting this thread I asked what people are doing when they arent motivated on doing their game. Commitment is one way to make sure you'll finish your game if you are not motivated.

My whole point is, that commiting to something, doesnt mean youll be motivated to do the job. And I have already given many examples about it.

[Damon DuBois]

Steve P. said something about this that has helped me alot. He said, if you aren't feeling like working on your project each night, tell yourself your only going to work on it for 20 minutes. Getting up the motivation to sit down and work on it for 20 minutes isn't very hard and what usually happens is you get caught up in what you're working on and end up spending more time than that on it.

[Greg Squire]

I think picking smaller projects can also help you be motivated, as you'll see progress sooner. I think some of us (myself included) tend to bite off more that we can chew. I think after one year of working on the same game (maybe sooner, maybe later), you'll tend to start loosing interest. By doing smaller projects, you'll keep the projects fresh, and you'll get a product to market sooner. A change of scenery could certainly help. It was also mentioned above to alternate projects, to help with this as well.

Of course, you should only pick projects that you have an interest in from the start. If you don't want to do a puzzle game, then don't. Don't be coerced by what's popular in the marketplace (unless that does interest you). Find your own niche.