Timeboxing as an Indie

Timeboxing is a technique with two purposes.

First, it helps you overcome procrastination. Anyone can ignore distractions and focus on a task for 15 or 30 minutes, whether it is cleaning the house or programming your game. After that short period of time, you have permission to take a break or stop, but what you usually find is that momentum keeps you going. The Now Habit is a great book that covers the problem of procrastination, and you can get it at http://amzn.to/seEx1I

Second, and thanks to Andy Moore for this idea, tracking the number of session you do helps you see just how much time you actually spend on game development. 45 minutes seems more appropriate for this kind of work. At the end of 45 minutes, I add a mark on my calendar. On good days, I get 4 or 5 marks.

Now, 4 sessions comes out to 3 hours a day. It doesn't sound like a lot, but that's 3 hours of solid work, as opposed to 15 minutes a day that most cube-dwellers supposedly seem to get. And since you're tracking it, you could aim to do even more the next day.

I'm Gianfranco, and I run GBGames at http://www.gbgames.com/
Twitter: @GBGames

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• indie
• time management

[GBGamesVideos]

@hunkkarachi Hah!

[hunkkarachi]

watching this video is procrastination

[GBGamesVideos]

@dumbmanex Thanks!

[dumbmanex]

I've never heard of the timeboxing before, but it's damn near the same routine I've naturally adapted over the last few years. I'm liking these vids btw, thanks for that.