How do you deal with [burn-out?]?
Pages: 12
Burn-out, yah, that's burn out, I know it too well. I hope that I say here helps, because I too am currently in that mind set and I'm on here hoping to re-ignite my motivation.
But digging through my archives I found this:
- (Rule 2) Don’t Burnout!
o Don’t plan too much so we don’t see how much real work we have to do.
o Take brakes so we don’t burnout again (once every 4 hours)
o Don’t compare ourselves to how fast real companies can put out work
o Don’t stress about how “out of date” I’ll be when it’s finally released
o Focus on only a few projects at once
When I was all passionate about my project I would chat up co-workers and I've picked up two people from work to follow my lead and I was forced to look up and realize how much work I have to get done and it was like a bucket of water on the fire. This would be situational burnout ... I would say. If they both moved onto other things ... I bet my passion would return.
Here's a forum post I did to get my motivated ... but after that, burnout set in again.
http://www.cplusplus.com/forum/lounge/215323/
But digging through my archives I found this:
- (Rule 2) Don’t Burnout!
o Don’t plan too much so we don’t see how much real work we have to do.
o Take brakes so we don’t burnout again (once every 4 hours)
o Don’t compare ourselves to how fast real companies can put out work
o Don’t stress about how “out of date” I’ll be when it’s finally released
o Focus on only a few projects at once
When I was all passionate about my project I would chat up co-workers and I've picked up two people from work to follow my lead and I was forced to look up and realize how much work I have to get done and it was like a bucket of water on the fire. This would be situational burnout ... I would say. If they both moved onto other things ... I bet my passion would return.
Here's a forum post I did to get my motivated ... but after that, burnout set in again.
http://www.cplusplus.com/forum/lounge/215323/
| Don’t plan too much so we don’t see how much real work we have to do. |
| I was forced to look up and realize how much work I have to get done and it was like a bucket of water on the fire |
I've found that I can plan way ahead and not lose motivation if I can stay focused on short term tasks or milestones. For example, here's what my current hobbyist project roadmap looks like:
Project goal: make a game.
* Build a basic framework for graphics and logic.
* Implement scripts up to the title screen.
* Implement introduction and character creation.
* Implement sound.
* Implement in-world game loop.
* Implement a few environment interactions.
* Implement required scripts up to first combat sequence.
* Implement combat system.
* Implement in-game menu (options, inventory, etc.)
* Implement saving and loading.
* Implement various world features.
* Finish remaining scripts.
* Implement networking.
I chose this order because this is the order the player would see while running the game, so at every point the game appears less incomplete and the maximum possible play time grows steadily. Other orders will probably work better for different projects, but I think generally what's important is to focus on being able to see results in the short term. The results don't necessarily have to be what the user will see, but you need to be able to see something running and working properly.
Unfortunately, procrastination is a trap most people fall into at some point. The only way I can handle it is getting most unpleasant tasks out of the way early in the day. And then I can concentrate on more enjoyable things.
Perhaps I'm late to the discussion - since it seems you've found your solution - but I thought I'd put my thoughts anyway. Even though you feel "burned out", coding is like a puzzle and you still feel satisfaction when you write something that works perfectly, right? If the work load is just what makes you procrastinate then I recommend playing chess if you don't already. I've found that the same satisfaction I get from playing an intense chess game and winning is the same as writing good code. When you get tired of coding, playing chess might get you back into the mood - especially since chess games can be quick, making you urge a stronger satisfaction! Good Luck helios !
Hi helios,
What you describe is just procrastination (the negative one). For some reason, when you have to do something, you don't want to and you don't. That is exactly (negative) procrastination.
The burn-out can be one of procrastination. By itself a burn-out is just the you burned out all your energy, your life energy, your health bar, your hearts, and you are next to die.
The remedy for burn-out is simple, that's the reasin why it is difficult : you have to rest, take care of yourself and acquire good habits like "bareable pace" in everything you do, especially work.
This is one principle of agility : have, keep and maintain a good pace, not too much, not too less :o).
The procrastination issue is harder to tackle. The reasons why one procrastinate depends on that ones context of life.
One simple thing (and thus difficult to do) when you want to deal with procrastination is acquiring good habits.
In agility, one of those habits is describe by a principle : "do the hard things first".
Usually, procrastination has to do with "fear" : the fear of the difficulty of the task, the fact what we don't see the end and it seems so long a task to do... and with fear, the only good solution is to do what you fear about the sooner. The action stops the thinking...
We might say that procrastination comes from "too much thinking" in some sense :oD and burn-out from the lack of thinking ^_^
procrastination : I don't push the start game button
burn-out : my HP is almost zero, I'm next to the Game Over
What you describe is just procrastination (the negative one). For some reason, when you have to do something, you don't want to and you don't. That is exactly (negative) procrastination.
The burn-out can be one of procrastination. By itself a burn-out is just the you burned out all your energy, your life energy, your health bar, your hearts, and you are next to die.
The remedy for burn-out is simple, that's the reasin why it is difficult : you have to rest, take care of yourself and acquire good habits like "bareable pace" in everything you do, especially work.
This is one principle of agility : have, keep and maintain a good pace, not too much, not too less :o).
The procrastination issue is harder to tackle. The reasons why one procrastinate depends on that ones context of life.
One simple thing (and thus difficult to do) when you want to deal with procrastination is acquiring good habits.
In agility, one of those habits is describe by a principle : "do the hard things first".
Usually, procrastination has to do with "fear" : the fear of the difficulty of the task, the fact what we don't see the end and it seems so long a task to do... and with fear, the only good solution is to do what you fear about the sooner. The action stops the thinking...
We might say that procrastination comes from "too much thinking" in some sense :oD and burn-out from the lack of thinking ^_^
procrastination : I don't push the start game button
solution : push the button ! |
burn-out : my HP is almost zero, I'm next to the Game Over
solution : stop the game right now, put down your paddle or your stick and go to sleep |
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Pages: 12