FLIGHT

Hey folks, I was looking for a little perspective on working practices; time management I guess. Since I started work in the games industry things have just been getting busier and busier. Don’t get me wrong, better that than the opposite; however I’m wondering whether a whole other monster has been unleashed.

It seems like I’m almost surgically grafted to a desk with wacom and pc, or paper and pencil. The harder I work the more work seems to need to be done, maybe I’ve become an artoholic or some such crap but it seems difficult to get away. I’m not necessarily talking about deadlines at work, they’re pretty good where I work and overtime is virtually non-existent, but I do a lot in my own time to keep things moving forward.

I know a lot of you have manic schedules and I was curious to know how you manage your time between work and play. Work is my play and play is my work, I’m pretty sure that’s not a good thing. So where do you draw the line and how?

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Bottom line - if you're not getting outside for some physical exercise, your "play" is not healthy.

You have my sympathies on the crazy schedule, and your addiction to art.

But, in the case of a game industry job where overtime is virtually nonexistent - WHERE DO YOU WORK!? Please share with the rest of the game industry your secret!

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Hey Og,

Hehe i get about enough to ensure i don't need a specially designed chair to encapsulate my girth or anything crazy like that ;P But i don't think i have the right balance, maybe i need to start some kind of strict daily scheduling, i don't know.

I thought there would be plenty of art addicts here, so i thought if anyone had solved the problem, here would be the place to ask

Yeah the whole lack of overtime i guess is pretty rare and i'm lucky in that respect, but there are definitely implied downsides to that as well.

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Get a family. That seems to cure it pretty quick. Wife and kids won't tolerate you turning into a mushroom at the art table.

Seriously. A lot of us work in the game industry. 60 and 70 hour weeks are not uncommon for me at work. Your company seems to have solved the problem, so spill! Where do you work!?

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Haha i like the mental image that paints, like the artist slowly fuses with his desk chair and wacom stylus akin to the Davy Jones crew in Pirates of the Caribbean. As it happens my girlfriend started out as an English teacher last year and so she has a lot on her plate. It sounds dreadful, but it does kinda allow me to keep up the art.



Well i work for a company called Blitz in the UK. I just finished up on a fun little project which has been announced, but i don't think has been associated with us yet, so i better keep schtum. As for not having overtime it's partly down to being very methodical about how we approach game design. We have flexi time to an extent, but it's not as extreme as some companies, we're expected to be in between 8:30 and 9:30, as a result we can go home at 5 or whenever.

There are other factors for my overtime 'lite' lifestyle, but that's better discussed down the pub with a pint

Ultimately I have my sights on moving to canada, so i'm sure my overtime free days are pretty numbered.

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It depends where you work. My brother works at a games company that seems to be pretty good about not working their employees to death. Though I gather this is a rarity.

Really? Because that's my life right there. :-S
No, but that's why I've made a point of getting a day job that I enjoy that doesn't involve drawing. Or very much sitting around at all, in fact. Because that's the best way I've found to force me out of my art-hermit tendencies. That and mandatory exercise. And I've taken to sticking pages-in-progress to the fridge so I can draw standing up. Now if only I could quit spending so much time on the internets...

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Jonathon Dalton

Yeah I guess i'll have to do my research pretty thoroughly. Thankfully I know a few people who are heading out there this year so I should be able to get some feedback on what's what before i commit to such a leap. You were in England up until a while ago weren't you Jonathan? Now we're coming to you ;P

There was a big article in EDGE a couple months about Canada which i still need to read.



Hehe yeah i know what you mean. It's much too easy to think 'i'll just peruse a couple of the art forums before i start work' and before you know it the whole evenings frittered away on 'research' and 'networking'...kinda like now, but this is different because it's flight and that makes it okay...yeah the strict exercise regime is a definite must, you're right about that. I imagine in a couple of months i'll be all musclely and when people comment on it i'll say it's just from where i've been lifting my cintiq from one desk to another...man those things are heavy!

It sounds like variation is the key to maintaining sanity under heavy load.

Thanks for the reply Jonathan ^_____^

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I was! I'm surprised anyone remembers that. I've been back in Canada for almost exactly two years now. I still miss Britain, though. half of my new story ideas seem to take place in London for some reason. But I figure I don't care what country I live in as long as I've got a job I like. And I'm currently much happier with my job over here. I'm a teacher and England's school system is, unfortunately, a bit of a mess.

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Jonathon Dalton

Hehe well I have a good memory for things like that; atrocious memory for names though! I totally sympathise for your ordeal with the english school system. My GF started as an English teacher last year and it's been nothing short of a waking nightmare. How you can teach something like Shakespeare to 15 year old kids who can't even read or write i don't know.

I'm glad your new job is working out for you Like i said before, I'd love to make the move to Canada in the next couple of years.

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Apologize for being a bit off the topic here, but Nick I surfed over to your site and saw some of your artwork. Dude, your stuff is off da hook! Wow, the detail. Very impressive.

Keep on keeping on!

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~mE

http://themanwithoutneck.blogspot.com/

nah no worries man, it's a meandering thread anyway Glad you like the work! If nothing else, i'm gonna keep throwing the work out there! Plenty more on the way ^____^

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