A goal isn’t a goal unless you have a plan. Before you create the plan, it’s only a wish or a dream. My dream is to work on independent projects and publish something. My goal is to work on independent projects for at least 5-10 hours a week and publish one of them by next December.
Since I graduated from DigiPen, I feel like my urgency to create personal game projects has slowed. I’ll work on something when I get a bout of inspiration, but I haven’t gotten a routine going. I like schedules and planned work sessions, even if I have difficulty sticking to them sometimes. Just like trying to make sure I go to specific Krav classes, I need to work on some personal projects at specific set times of the week.
What’s nice about my Krav classes is that there are a few options for me each day. For a while I stuck to the 10am regime Tuesdays and Thursdays, with a Monday or Friday class at 5pm (of both of I felt like it). Then running on the treadmill Wednesday nights around 6:30/7pm. Nowadays I go Mondays at 5pm, Tuesdays at 7:15pm, and Thursdays at 10am, then Fridays at 5pm if I’m feeling it. With this routine and these set times every week, I’m more likely to go and shift lesser priorities around it.
I need to set a schedule so I do game dev work that is somewhat similar. Even as I write this, I feel like I’m not ready to commit to it because I’m afraid I’ll make excuses about it and disappoint myself. So, I’ll start slow just like I did with fitness. I can commit to two days a week with a goal of two hours of work: Thursday mornings around 6:30-8:30am and Saturday mornings around 7am-9am. In March, I’ll add another day and more hours.
So, please look forward to a Saturday blog post every couple weeks in which I share what I’ve accomplished!
Aviva Schecterson 