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After work, do you have time and energy to work on personal projects?

polycounter lvl 9
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Blond polycounter lvl 9
Today, during lunch at the the studio, I was talking with a former classmate about our current satisfaction working in the CG/game industry.

As most artist, what geared us first toward our jobs (he's a character artist and I'm an animator) were our great interest in various form of visual arts. And like a lot of artists, drawing, sculpting and doing alternate artistic activities were something we used to do a lot in our free time when we were in high school/college. We basically used to work on our own things and be really passionate about it. :)

As the discussion progressed, he started talking how, even though, he feels privileged to be making character models and sculpts all day long, he and a few of his friends have come to realize that working in the 3D industry, if you're not a lead, a director or supervisor, you're most likely an executant. You don't really ''create'', right, you execute tasks according to the desire of the higher directors and will most likely be spending more time sometimes on fixing things with ordered retakes than to create things from scratch from your desires.

It was something that personally, I had realized a long time ago, even before graduating. Work is still work and even when going into freelance and running away from 9' o 5 studio life, you will probably be put under more stress to fit desires of picky clients (if you even managed to find theme)...
However, I told him that I actually found sometimes great satisfaction when doing my work, because even though, I'm not the full author behind its creation,it's still something that would have not been done this way if I had not been working on it; it still has my mark, my signature and not only that, it can also be put into my reel/folio if I'm really proud of it. :smiley:

I then kept going and encouraged him on doing personal projects at home, alone or with friends to not lose his creative drive and that's when the discussion fired up.
He whined about how he did not have any time or energy left when he'd get home, that he had other responsibilities and duties. That he doesn't even know if it's possible to even finish home projects when all of his mental energy have been focused on doing studio work .

I wanted to have Polycount's insight into this one. I'm mostly targeting people who've been or are actually working studio jobs.

Personnally, I have some rough days which leads to tiresome evenings but I often try to manage my energy to keep some left at night for my personal projects. But I know that later on, it'll be very different. I'm in my early twenties, don't have children or a wife/girlfriend to manage. I'm still living at my parent's home so no huge expanses and my biggest concerns at night or on week ends is cleaning the house, doing dishes and mowing the lawn :D  .

But I'm seeing so many professionals out there pushing out amazing work out of their free time, aren't you tired?
I mean art takes a huge load of time to make. I even had to drop gaming completely since a few years to focus on other things (art, language learning, gym,reading books, events) and I barely have free time in my schedule...



How do you manage it? 

PS: skipping sleep is not an option for me. I need my doodly 6-7 hours of sleep or else, I'm unefficent on the long run...

Replies

  • Brian "Panda" Choi
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    Brian "Panda" Choi high dynamic range
    Right now, with my free time being mostly taken up by dance on top of social events and hangouts, I, at best, henpeck at my personal projects.

    I do not see a solution to this besides burning midnight oil, but I like my sleep as well.  Or sacrificing some other activities to working on personal projects.
  • ysalex
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    ysalex interpolator
    I keep working at home.

     Sounds like your "friend" (wink) doesn't feel like he has any ownership of his art, which I can understand. A lot of time, most of the time, in production environments, you are tasked with technical things or revamping things or "executing" stuff that isn't really your bag.

    I would tell your "friend" that if he doesn't feel ownership of the art, to try to take ownership of the production. Don't be an artist, be a developer. Try to look at the game as the goal, not necessarily just a vehicle for your "friend" to make art, because that not exactly why "he" is there.

    As far as Ive seen, and I haven't been in a studio for too long, the people who are invested in the process are the types of people who get to manage themselves a little bit more.

    Take tough assignments, take tasks that are outside of a comfort zone, come up with solutions to problems. Take a larger overall view of development. 

    "I'm in my early twenties, don't have children or a wife/girlfriend to manage."
    If you ever want one, dont suggest at any point that you are managing them.

    "
    But I'm seeing so many professionals out there pushing out amazing work out of their free time, aren't you tired?"
    Tired like sleep tired, but not tired of doing art. I speak for myself only but game art keeps me energized. I enjoy sculpting and creating, and trying new things, and a lot of time because like your "friend" said, at work you're executing for someone else, you have to do that stuff at home, its probably your only opportunity. When im on vacation or on a long drive or away from home, most of what I think about is the projects I have going on and the stuff I want to get too, the things I want to try and sculpt etc. There are people out there that are more balanced about it Im sure, thats just me, but I get excited thinking about it.
  • garcellano
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    garcellano greentooth
    Not lately for portfolio work, but been on one small freelance thing on the side. Similar in a way, of managing time. I try to spend some time during the week days, and if not, on a weekend. I do want to get back on some portfolio stuff soon. It can be tiring, but I'd say as long as you feel accomplishedc that it was worth spending that time late after work or on weekends.
  • aesir
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    aesir polycounter lvl 18
    When I have a full time job, I have practically NEVER had creative energy when I got home.  Work is tiring.  Creative work tires my creative muscles and I need a break.

    It's great that a lot of people manage to just keep working when they get home, but a lot of us just want to rest.
  • bounchfx
    It's really been very circumstantial for me. During my first year of studio life I pretty much checked out after I went home. After a while though I had an urge to get better at 2D so I would stay later and practice portraits for a few hours a night. Eventually I got into a relationship and that turned into doing an occasional 2D study and learning zbrush. I always wanted to do more but had a hard time staying really motivated for bigger projects. Eventually I got into Dota 2 thanks to the polycount contest and that was the biggest kick in the ass my home productivity ever got, and I went from not doing a lot to working another 6-7 hours every night. Eventually I went and did that full time, and I've been doing workshop + freelance ever since. I've relaxed my schedule a little but since I'm not at a studio any more, things just kind of blur....

    uhhh. keep learning at home, if at all possible. It's a great place to try new things and be 'in charge' of what you are making. Even an hour a night is enough to make meaningful progress. But as aesir mentions, rest is very important too.
  • Elithenia
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    Elithenia polycounter
    I actually wake up early enough before my job JUST to make sure I DO actually work on personal art as well. 
  • aryarie
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    aryarie triangle
    I don't work in a studio as I'm not an artist yet so maybe this doesn't count, but I do work full time and spend all my evenings learning art. It does require a huge amount of energy (even more so when you are learning from the beginning!) and sometimes I am super tired, but I want to learn this stuff so much that I just work on it anyway. My last job made me very unhappy (to the point of making me ill) as it was just not the right career for me, so I think that is where the energy came from originally. Now, it's just become a habit.

    As for keeping it up once you are working on art all day... I can see how that could be more difficult. Sometimes I get to do some creative work in my current job but it's still easy for me to go home and work on art because the work is totally different (game art rather than doing graphic design/vector artwork). Perhaps it helps to have an art project that is very different from what you do during the day, but still helps you to improve as an artist.
  • Pain
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    Pain polycounter lvl 9
    This is actually my biggest problem. There was times I thought that I could handle doing my art after finished my 8 hours working at day but the fact is that it's really extremely hard for me to do so. 
    I just wanna improve my art skills, doing my personal project but sadly when I get home, my body is just feeling so tired and it needs rest, I need to relax I just wanna playing game, watching movie, hanging out with my friends, and it's really a big problem when I have a girl friends, I don't really have time for practicing.
    There was times I could doing my arts after get home but it doesn't keep so long, and the circle is just repeated again and again.
    I'm just slowly getting improved. 
    Sometimes I do think that I need to quit my current job so that I could focus on doing arts, but thinking about the monthly bill making me so discourage to do so.
  • Optinium
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    Optinium polycounter
    I can sympathize with this quite a bit.

    I've been doing this for just over 4 years now and in my first year/18 months I'd do personal work every day during my lunch and after work, then I landed a job which although very enlightening, sapped the energy out of me during the day. After that gig I worked away from home for a long period of time which got me a bit depressed and after that I did a stint of freelance projects where I moved my work day into my home office which felt very isolated.
    I was hit by an artistic drought which lasted months at a time, subsiding every now and again giving me enough time to pump out some personal work.

    I've found out several things which have helped my get back into a groove... 
    I've moved my office equipment into my main bedroom, I've found that I'm a 'social' artist in the sense that I like people around me when I do work, so at night before I go to bed I get a couple of hours in whilst my Mrs is watching something on TV, I doubt this would work for everyone and could probably be detrimental to some. Another thing is getting solid sleep, eating into sleep time to do personal work has vicious consequences which will eventually lead to not wanting to do work anyway. Finally changing up my diet and not eating purely sugary foods etc... Again these might sound odd but for me they've helped me re-energize myself.

    I've also found dabbling in another interest every now and again helpful and sometimes inspirational, for me working on my cars or doing odd jobs like gardening have also helped.
  • another caveman
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    another caveman greentooth
    That question..
    A good work around I found out is to do something different at home
    Like related of course (actually, could also be non-related, that wouldn't harm), but not the same as what you'd be doing all day.

    Exact same situation as you here, @Pain
    Once I have something that starts taking shape, looking like smthing, well then hours go by very quickly and I could spend long nights on it, but getting there - reaching that point, that is tough.

  • Ashervisalis
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    Ashervisalis grand marshal polycounter
    I find popping open a bottle of wine allows me to relax. Then, instead of feeling like I need to be focused and 100% mentally there, I just chill and do art.
  • slosh
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    slosh hero character
    I definitely have the same issue.  But what I find a bit comical is hearing this from people without kids lol.  I definitely understand that people have their own activities and responsibilities beyond work but it still makes me chuckle hearing someone who is single or without kids tell me they don't have the energy to do personal art.  As someone who has kids and still tries to do personal art, it's a matter of motivation really.  I think if you REALY wanted to do art, you would make time.  You sacrifice the other activities you could be doing, for art.  For me, my priorities til 9 or 10PM are my girls.  Then, I try to do my own thing which usually consists of noodling whatever personal project I am working on at the time.  Of course there are nights that I don't have the energy to do it and I just watch TV or play games for a couple hours.  But there are also nights where I'm exhausted yet still excited to do this one "thing" that's been nagging me all day about how I can do something for my personal project and I just have to try it that night.  But, I totally get how draining it is to do personal art while working a full time job, regardless of your situation.  Out of my peers from my current job AND my last one, only a HANDFUL of the guys I knew did any personal art.  I was almost excited to find people who did stuff at home cuz I could rap with them about our progress etc.  But most people would start something and never finish or move onto new stuff.  I tend to finish what I start for the most part.  My last full character personal project took me over a year to complete but I stuck with it and I am glad I did.  
  • aesir
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    aesir polycounter lvl 18
    slosh said:
    I definitely have the same issue.  But what I find a bit comical is hearing this from people without kids lol.  I definitely understand that people have their own activities and responsibilities beyond work but it still makes me chuckle hearing someone who is single or without kids tell me they don't have the energy to do personal art.  As someone who has kids and still tries to do personal art, it's a matter of motivation really.  I think if you REALY wanted to do art, you would make time.  You sacrifice the other activities you could be doing, for art.  For me, my priorities til 9 or 10PM are my girls.  Then, I try to do my own thing which usually consists of noodling whatever personal project I am working on at the time.  Of course there are nights that I don't have the energy to do it and I just watch TV or play games for a couple hours.  But there are also nights where I'm exhausted yet still excited to do this one "thing" that's been nagging me all day about how I can do something for my personal project and I just have to try it that night.  But, I totally get how draining it is to do personal art while working a full time job, regardless of your situation.  Out of my peers from my current job AND my last one, only a HANDFUL of the guys I knew did any personal art.  I was almost excited to find people who did stuff at home cuz I could rap with them about our progress etc.  But most people would start something and never finish or move onto new stuff.  I tend to finish what I start for the most part.  My last full character personal project took me over a year to complete but I stuck with it and I am glad I did.  
    ha! To be clear, I don't think I could handle kids after a full time job either, let alone kids AND more work.

    Not everyone is a fountain of inexhaustible energy!  Mad props to you, but I'm not built that way.
  • fearian
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    fearian greentooth
    Fuck no. I try, constantly. But nope.

    And I don't have kids. I get home after 7pm, by the time I've eaten its 8pm, and I generally don't want to be up much after 11 if I want to be productive the next day.

    The real trouble is after spending 8 hours doing game art in the office, no matter how motivated I am, the mental energy just isn't there. A kind of multiplier to this is that if I am working on a personal project, I want to be working on something new - which takes more mental energy to figure out new technical problems or new ways of working.

    If I wanted to go home and pump out the same kind of work I do in the office, I could do that half a sleep no problem. But the real motivation is to try new things and I seriously lack the energy on a work day.
  • JacqueChoi
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    JacqueChoi polycounter
    Always working on stuff.
    Even married with a kid on the way, I'm working on stuff.

    Give you a bit of an example of where my head was at the Past decade:

    2005 - 2007
    Projects at work: Tony Hawk, Gun, FarCry
    All semi-realistic type games in terms of subject Matter.

    I really went hard at Dominance War, and Comicon contests. Got my ass handed to me during Dominance War 2, and 3, and realised I needed to level up in a HUGE way to catch up to guys like Mike Kime, Alex Velasquez, Josh Singh Rawkstar, Peppi, Modelling Man, Mr.Kite etc. Kept doing projects and mini-projects to shore up some glaring weaknesses in my work.
    Side Projects:
    - Valkerie Girl (Started "Babe and her Gun" contest but missed the deadline)
    - Dominance War 2 (total embarassing flop)
    - Started making Tyrael from Diablo 2 in spare time.

    2008-2010
    Projects at Work: Cirque du Soleil
    A fantasy style game (Concepts mostly by Marc Brunet).
    I still made a habit of entering those monthly mini-contests on the now defunct GameArtisans. I used to pride myself on being a decent hand-painted Texture Artist, but then this WarCraft contest came up, and I remember getting just completely outclassed by Slipgatecentral's Death Knight. 

    I made it my mission to shore up this glaring weakness in my work, by doing TONS of challenges, studying handpainted techniques, researching things, doing tutorials, finding resources on lighting, brushes, etc.
    Side Projects:
    Dominance War 3 (Crappy Angel Thingy)
    Dominance War 4 (Eyeball Grotesque monster)
    Comicon (Morrigan)
    Comicon (Ba'al)
    Game Artisans Mini's (Lost to Firstkeeper like 3 times in a row)
    - WarCraft DeathLord Contest
    - Make Something Nintendo contest (Made a viking to Zbrush then incompleted)
    - Cosplaying Characters - Chun Nova
    - Make Something 8-Bit - Ino

    2010-2012
    Projects at Work: Rango / The Secret World
    Started in-game models from ILM base-meshes, and doing some MMO work. Mostly working as a Lead, and doing heavy amounts of systems/management type stuff.

    Once again, everyone got their asses handed to them by SlipgateCentral and his Dominance War 4 Winner (n0x). (Still till this day stands as one of my all-time favourite models).

    Realise I need to work on my Hardsurface skills in a HUGE HUGE HUGE way.
    Also realised I'm not even in the same league as guys like Grassetti, Mashru Mishu, Kolby Jukes,  and need to try and close that tremendous gap.

    I remember being in like an online support group on MSN messenger of other artists who all furiously trying to Level UP. We chatted a LOT while we were making a tremendous amount of art (I think B1ll was the one really helping several of us). 
    - Gav, Haz, Del, Dusty, HntrLuc


    Side Projects:
    - Polycount Brawl Contest - Mega Man
    - Comicon (Sandman - Unfinished)
    - Several SDKs
    - Several 'Realistic' Head Studies
    - 2 Art Tests

    2012-2014
    Projects at Work: Thief/ Deus Ex
    Realised How amateurishly shoddy my understanding of Anatomy was relative to my colleagues (Eugene Fokin, Seb Legrain, Laura Gallagher, Magda Dadela)

    Side Projects:
    - Took all 3 of Scott Eaton's online Classes (did all the homework).
    Still doing a few studies here or there in my spare time.
    - 2 DOTA2 sets (Both Accepted into the workshop)
    - TF2 Set (Accepted)
    - Started 3rd DOTA2 set

    2014-2017
    Projects At work: Deus Ex Mankind Divided/Tomb Raider
    All this grim/realistic stuff has me hankering to make a cute fantasy side project game.

    Through this project I realise I am:
    - Bad Concept Artist
    - Not a great Tech Artist
    - Horrible Environment Artist
    - Not a great Matte Painter
    - Have No clue on how UI works
    - Need to learn everything about lighting.
    - I have a LOT to learn about Art Direction.

    Side Projects:
    It's a fun little Fantasy twin stick shooter (Have permission from my employer to work on this) with a few other colleagues.



  • theonewhoknocks
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    theonewhoknocks polycounter lvl 6
    Not in the industry yet, been living in Seattle for a couple of years working another job until I can get a contract going. But I'm on the same page as Slosh. I have a 3 yr old and my wife that I spend time with once I'm back from work around 5:30. We hang out, I relax my mind and then around 10PM he goes to sleep and my wife and I go our separate ways in the house. Sometimes I just work for a couple of hours, sometimes I work till like 2AM, which I will most of time regret in the morning.

    I'm always super pumped to work on my stuff and learn, but yes there are those day where I am just dead tired and cant even stay up. I always try to catch a 15-20 minute nap at work during lunch just to give me that extra energy to go further into the night. Once I'm in front of my computer at night  I throw on a movie or show that I don't really care too much about or a podcast and just go at it.

    Your love for creating art should be the factor that gives you that extra energy to sit down and create after a long day of work.
  • Amsterdam Hilton Hotel
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    Amsterdam Hilton Hotel insane polycounter
    Blond said:
    But I'm seeing so many professionals out there pushing out amazing work out of their free time, asen't you tired?
    At each of the jobs I've had I've always done more work on the side, whether freelancing or just for myself. I don't really consider it to be non-recreational labor in either context, it's an activity that I enjoy doing well, it's in my nature. If you find that your nature is to be creative, why go against it? Overcoming the initial resistance and booting up Max instead of Steam is the only hard part, once in the groove you'll be having fun either way, and I find the more my artistic output the more generally satisfied I feel in life, not only intrinsically but also because it brings in positive feedback from others and interest from potential clients. The mindset shift is in getting away from thinking of it as work, even if it's how you pay your light bill. 
  • Bletzkarn
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    Bletzkarn polycounter lvl 6
    Work full time as a product visualiser. For the first 6 months, I had zero energy. Then I realised I was putting extra effort into my work when I really didn't need to. I was getting paid the same amount and my boss barely even noticed the drop in quality. I stopped editing renders in photoshop and cut down presentation templates to make my job easier. I wouldn't say I got lazy I just removed as many steps out of the process as possible. 

    This way when I get home I still have the energy, unless I go to the gym. The sad reality is that I work on my personal projects about 8-10 hours a week at most. I'm taking a week off just to polish my portfolio full time.

    something that really helped was not playing any video games. I uninstalled any games on my system, even though I'd only play an hour a night, and a couple hours on weekends, that was 10 hours a week I was spending on gaming and not art.
  • Blond
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    Blond polycounter lvl 9
    @ysalex
    Ha ha, no need to put friend betqeen commas, it's a real discussion I had with a former classmate. It's not about me lol..And yes, instead of managed, I should've used the term ''take care of'''' sorry.

    @slosh
    Although, your message seems very encouraging, one year to finish a project might be an overkill for me, as grandiose and high quaility as it could be..I just can't see myself doing an animation/shot for more than like 3 months...The interests just fades aways and even when it's done and finished, I sometimes regret spending so much time on only one piece (which I don't even like that much usually)...

    @JacqueChoi
    Well your post is inspiring but since you're asian and you people are overachiever in this industry, it doesn't apply to us mere western people.
    Haha but on a serious note, that's really encouraging to hear this, furthermore coming from someone who has a family and is quite experienced! That's really great!


    So overall, it's a pretty common issue I guess. I remember watching a video about how the average person only has total amount of focus and mental energy in one day and that past a certain point, he just can't work on anything anymore before getting good sleep..I wonder if, just like muscle, there is a way to upgrade and train the mental of ''mental energy'' we have before reaching brain fatigue....
  • Burpee
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    Burpee polycounter lvl 9
    Well your post is inspiring but since you're asian and you people are overachiever in this industry, it doesn't apply to us mere western people.
    This is actually so true, we just can't compete with that.

    And it's hard af, I find more easy to do freelance work ( paid + deadline ) after work for multiple hours than fun personal project...
  • Sebvhe
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    Sebvhe greentooth
    I'm struggling as much as you do trying to fit personal art into the schedule (no kids or wife whatsoever though, I may have it easier than others)

    After work I have 3 hours of Swedish classes everyday but Friday, I love it but when I get home by 9-10pm I'm just too tired to do anything. And that's fine, instead of playing a game or watching TV, I just go straight to bed so I can do stuff in the morning before going to work!
    I always have been a huge sleeper, and always considered I needed 9+ hours sleep to feel fresh. Now when I need time I cut my sleep, you can do that without damaging health if you're doing it right.
    You just have to go to bed and wake up at the same time EVERY DAY, that does include week ends! Sleeping late on a Saturday is the best way to drain all your energy for a full week. My point is, if you always go to sleep at the same time and wake up at the same time you won't need an alarm anymore, your body will be the alarm. I usually go to bed at 11, 11:30 and wake up naturally at 6. That's still 7 hours of sleep, but for me it's 2 extra hours I didn't have before that I can spend on personal projects in the morning!
    The day I'll stop Swedish classes I could technically fit 3-5 hours of personal work every day - I doubt I'll do it but I know I could!

    This only works if your issue is time, not motivation of course!
  • Neox
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    Neox veteran polycounter

    "do you have time and energy to work on personal projects?"


    nope i do not.

    :(
  • oglu
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    oglu polycount lvl 666
    haha Neox great one...
    same here... building a house and playing with the kid does eat all my time... and drinking to much beer...
  • sacboi
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    sacboi high dynamic range
    ...I work horrendously long nightshift hours in a CG non related industry. So I've self prescribed a 'remedy' of sorts to forestall any loss of proficiency, real or imagined that may occur. Hence personal stuff (...passion projects) for me at least are pretty much crucial, not only as a viable avenue sharpening hard won skillset/s well in any case one would hope...but more importantly I'd go so far as too say a means whereby provides a creative outlet de-stressing after a challenging week's graft at the coalface, also IMHO revitalising energy levels, strangely enough?! which is a great side effect for my current line of work.
  • Joao Sapiro
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    Joao Sapiro sublime tool
    i tend to choose projects where i can iron out my weaknesses, that way i get to practise areas i havent been able to do on my time, so its a win win ! but not everyone can choose what they want to work on of course...Also cats
  • Prime8
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    Prime8 interpolator
    I work in a different industry and my free time usually starts from ~21:00, not much energy left, but I try to chip away at projects constantly. Might be different if I would do it as a job as well.
    In the end it's all up to you how you want to spend your free time. There are many other things I would like to do, but time is limited, no need to complain.
  • Ged
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    Ged interpolator
    I work on fun art stuff in my free time and I really dont have much time for personal art but I need to do some every now and then just to feel happy and content in life. I do a few things which help me find time and enjoy the process.

    I stop playing video games for a bit.
    I don't put myself under pressure to finish it super fast or enter competitions with time limits much.
    I choose subject matter which interest me and me alone, this is my time to choose to make the art I want how I want.

    Try really mixing things up and doing stuff you dont get a chance to try at work, say youre working on a lowpoly mobile cartoon game then when you have time at home try making a highpoly super realistic scifi prop etc or try something totally different and do a painting for your family to enjoy, anything really!

    just make sure you are doing what excites you because thats where the energy to do it comes from.

    Still there are times when I just cant do any personal art, there is just no free time for that,  I need to relax instead and thats ok too!
  • praetus
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    praetus interpolator
    It's really tough, honestly.  I really just want to spend my nights playing games but I currently work in serious games/simulations and it's not really where I want to be.  When I go home I'm usually spending time with my wife and kid until around 9-10pm when I can finally sit down and work on stuff.  I stay up until around 12:30-1am but I need to get some sleep before work the next day.

    If I was making art for the hell of it I might not care as much but I'm trying to get my portfolio sorted at the moment.  The one thing that helps me right now is that my career is all very realistic work and I want to eventually work on hand painted or stylized stuff.  It keeps me somewhat fresh as what I work on during the day is very different than what I work on at night.
  • jovcem
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    jovcem polycounter lvl 9

    Side Projects:
    It's a fun little Fantasy twin stick shooter (Have permission from my employer to work on this) with a few other colleagues.



    Nice looking game, but its a sad thing for employees to tell you what you can or can not do in your free time.

    Back on topic, I dont have any motivation to play games let alone make game art, I need serious help :(
  • Prime8
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    Prime8 interpolator
    jovcem said:

    ...
    Back on topic, I dont have any motivation to play games let alone make game art, I need serious help :(
    That doesn't make sense. Just do something that you enjoy and don't bother with games or game art.

  • rollin
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    rollin polycounter
    Ah Neox.. you're just lazy ;)

    Ok seriously. I'm doing my personal "thing" now as project but beside that I don't do anything. Simply bc I always would think "before spending time on <putWhateverInHere> I should better put the time in my game. So whenever I have some spare time I use it for friends, family or doing some sport - to not right out die in my chair from lack of 'fresh air' as my mother would say ;)
  • Spoon
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    Spoon polycounter lvl 11
    jovcem said:

    Side Projects:
    It's a fun little Fantasy twin stick shooter (Have permission from my employer to work on this) with a few other colleagues.



    Nice looking game, but its a sad thing for employees to tell you what you can or can not do in your free time.


    It's quite normal for things like this in the contract in my experience.
    That you cant work on certain things, sell certain things, work FOR certain companies etc :)
    However, they seem very open to give permission when asked.
  • Odow
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    Odow polycounter lvl 8
    After work, i have remote access.

    I'm a lost cause.
  • Geezus
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    Geezus mod
    Industry related work?... almost never. Personal work and hobbies?... as often as I can.

    I work on my woodworking and automotive hobbies. I've also been getting into range shooting, lately. Also... whiskey.

    In my experiences, spending all day at work and then bringing that home leads to a faster and more frequent burnout.
  • pmiller001
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    pmiller001 greentooth
    I do, yeah.  I usually get about 2 hours a day, to work on some of my own personal projects at home. 
  • Sk0LLiE
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    Sk0LLiE polycounter
    I have always done personal work after the day job, and it has been quite satisfying. The main reason has mainly been just to recreate my own ideas, scratch that itch as it were, and maybe, in a secondary manner to learn more skills to keep relevant.

    Over the last three years though, just as an experiment I dropped (Mostly) a hobby that was taking up alot of time. This was gaming.
    I invested that time in doing personal work and leveling up / studying and achieved around seven personal project (Very small to large) that where completed in the last year as an example. Now I really cant go back.

    The payback of doing this has been to great whereas heavy gaming for me had no real payback ....long term that I can discern now.
    It also made me a bit grumpy; that, I did not like. I think I was aware that I viewed it as wasted time but was finding it hard to change the built up habit of it, but managed to eventually. Apparently it takes something like 30 days to remove old habitual behavior and build up new ones, so that was the resistance.
    I am getting older now (Mid 30's) so I am pretty aware of my time and how I spend it now.

    So I guess the crux of this is you can find the time. You just need to look at what is most valuable and prioritize that. Drop the less important time wasting bad habits and activities and you will be surprised with how much time and energy you will have free to tackle brand new objectives.

    Yeah man...gaming and (Useless) internet browsing..... I dropped that and everything changed. Maybe a bit of an odd / extreme example, but worked for me at least ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  • sprunghunt
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    sprunghunt polycounter
    if you don't work on personal projects at home you won't have a very good career. Personal projects at home can make you faster at your job. Personal projects at home are how you learn new skills and develop new techniques that you are not using at your current job but might be useful for your next position.
  • visionarymindful
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    visionarymindful polycounter lvl 6
    Although I don't work as 3d Animator but rather as I work ofr a job to save money for the university , I  have all this ideas for projects grinding in my mind until I'll come home and write them down and If i have enough motivation I initialize them on the computer until I realize that I'm a complete dork , then I close the software and trying to get myself more educated on the software while whining :s:#
  • Obscura
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    Obscura grand marshal polycounter
    I don't have a family or children so I have a lot of free time after work. I spend the most of it on learning stuff. In the last 2 years, it made me a good progress in learning blueprints in Unreal. Its clearly visible that it worth the time. You need to be passionate about your stuff though, if you want this to work, and not get bored or to not start hating it. I would say if you feel like you want to do it, do it. If it feels meh, don't bother.
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