I've come to the conclusion that we've hit a point of no return where work is a complete necessity. The economy just doesn't support any other lifestyle anymore where if you don't work you'll be killed by debt and eventually homelessness.
Even buying a house is radically different compared to 50 years ago. They were in demand and anyone could afford one. Now in certain places (Canada) it will take a life time to pay off a mortgage. This is made worse when more jobs than ever are contract based so being stuck in one location is a death wish if studios keep closing.
I've accepted I'll probably be working into my 80s with no retirement, but at least I have a huge love of art to get me over it.
Man, I'm still young (mid 20s) and a lot of this whole stuff; get a house, provide for your family and kid scares me....If only it was just the mortgage..don't forget taxes, house care and maintenance, general tools, repairs, furnitures...
I work full time in a great studio but I still live at my mom's. I pay a bit of rent, groceries, cellphone, transport,personal care,etc and I try to save as much as I can...
Despite the fact I don't have my own place, I'm still baffled by the price of life in general. No wonder people in Japan where they're work obsessed are shrinking in population; life is SUPER expansive there and people want climb the social/economic ladder as much as they can to get out of the whole middle class working misery....however they don't realize that often, the wealthier your become, the more you have to work too....-_-
But to be back on topic here, I'm also trying to find physical activities I can do in my free time. Gym is not for me, that is certain. I was a huge cycling enthusiast younger but it seems like the winter here are getting shittier and colder by the years...Cycling during 3-4 months only doesn't seem all that interesting.
I really love the work I am privileged to do lately. grinding on pitchdecks and making them look good enough for people to want to give my studio money. I'm making and saving money for the first time in my life and hope to buy a house by next year. BUTT. I have lost touch with nearly everyone including family and POLYCOUNT fam. And I have to admit I'm so obsessed with what I'm doing I don't care. I justify it by thinking if I get into a great position with career and finance I can help other people. But I've lost a bit of balance lately and am not sure how to course correct. I was recently asked not to come in and work on weekends by hr - and of course I modeled a bunch of work shit at home today. I'm in a great place on paper - but I need to find a hobby or something - biking? Knitting? idfk. Should I just keep banging on my skills and willfully lose my mind to become some sort of hermit 3d guru? Sounds interesting but ultimately self destructive.
You're on a hard and fast path to burning out buddy. 1 - Stop working on work stuff at home. Seriously. If you don't force yourself to keep a work/life balance, you're going to burn out hard. If you want to model, work on your own stuff.
2 - You mentioned wanting a hobby. Do you want a hobby? What are you looking for? What do you hope a hobby is going to give you?
3- Do you want to start going out with friends/family more? Pick up the phone and arrange something. That's the hardest step really
Whatever it is, you need to find what gives you joy outside of work. Otherwise, when that work disappears, or turns sour or rough, you have nothing to fall back on. (Speaking from experience here). That can lead to some serious depression.
ps: Knitting is legit an awesome hobby - Picking it up while I was doing mad crunch on my last project kept my sane and my blood pressure levels considerably lower then I've ever had in the past when shipping a game.
Everyone needs downtime! Hope you can turn it around soon.
Sure, there are benefits to sessions of intense study. But I need to set a time limit ahead of time, force a rest period. Not just for health, but for comprehension.
There's a bunch of threads where people have the opposite problem and responses are along the lines of, "just make art"
I suppose you could just not make so much art. Sounds simple!
There's a website http://meetup.com/ where you can find a group of almost any kind with a common interest. Outdoor groups, wine tasting, ultimate frisbee, I'm sure there's probably a knitting group too.
Think it might be a little morbid, but I like to think of
everything like this in terms of, “If I were to die soon, would I be happy
about how I’ve spent my time?” You have a couple days left to live, are you sad
that you’ve spent the last __ years slaving over a computer screen and missing
out on the great outdoors, or friends, or family? Or are you pumped that you’ve
spent __ years so focused, creating beautiful art for everybody to enjoy?
You’ve got one life, don’t spend 100% of it on something you’re
going to regret. I'd suggest putting a little more balance in there.
Think it might be a little morbid, but I like to think of
everything like this in terms of, “If I were to die soon, would I be happy
about how I’ve spent my time?” You have a couple days left to live, are you sad
that you’ve spent the last __ years slaving over a computer screen and missing
out on the great outdoors, or friends, or family? Or are you pumped that you’ve
spent __ years so focused, creating beautiful art for everybody to enjoy?
You’ve got one life, don’t spend 100% of it on something you’re
going to regret. I'd suggest putting a little more balance in there.
Imagine you are driving at night, for hours, without eating.
You are starving. Then you see a Shawarma place (insert a food you love here). You stop, order some, and eat. That shawarma tastes like heaven, evidence that god exist. Now you feel happy, all that energy is coming back. you want more, you order another Shawarma. The second one doesn't taste the same as before, you are not feeling the same happiness, the same energy, it's just not the same....simply because you are not the same anymore.
No one can appreciate the same thing on the same level forever if that's the only thing you do. New experiences open your eyes to new things and to the old ones as well
I used to go overboard. My wife helped me realize that when my eyes hurt from looking at screens too much and I'm perpetually cranky, I really don't learn as much as I could if I was just working 5-8 hours a day at a moderate pace and taking time to eat and walk the dogs.
Yeah, maybe try finding a hobby on the side. It is a tough balance, though. Maybe do something where you're not always looking at a screen or monitor? My hobby lately has been studying French, going to the gym, and checking out some events around the city, something away from the monitor. I do have some frelance stuff, a small one that I'm able to do while with my current job. For that, I don't know lol I know I'll be looking at a screen for a good while. If I won't be able to do it on the weeknights after work, I usually try to just do it on the weekends.
You really need to unwind mate. i used to work on my stuff nearly 'all' the time when i was younger, but it was not really doing me any good. I only work on 3d stuff when i need to learn a particular technique now, but other than that spend lots of time with my family.
It's great to work to make money, but everyone needs a break now and then. Don't take up the bagpipes:)
I want to start playing snooker again, but all the clubs are closing down where I live
There's a bunch of threads where people have the opposite problem and responses are along the lines of, "just make art"
I suppose you could just not make so much art. Sounds simple!
There's a website http://meetup.com/ where you can find a group of almost any kind with a common interest. Outdoor groups, wine tasting, ultimate frisbee, I'm sure there's probably a knitting group too.
Yep there is an ebb and flow to an artists career.
Phase 1: Put your head down and refine your skills so you can become a marketable asset. This is a hard time and not sustainable but in a lot of cases it is necessary. This period has little time for balance. Instead it has a lot of tail chasing and workflows that take 4x as longer than they will in a few years and the results are ok but not amazing. The artists well of energy and creativity is on an necessary but ultimately unsustainable path to running dry. That's ok to do, as long as you realize that it was only a phase and that you will need to develop better ways to operate.
Phase 2: Ideally as you refine your skills, and find ways to work smarter and better, the time you wasted chasing your tail will become the time you put into fetching water for your well. As you get even better, you find ways for your well to recharge itself.
Normally this kicks off a second tier of god like abilities, because your well is almost always full, most of the time. You can take out an amazing amount of energy and creativity and expend it on things and not run dry, because you have ways to keep it replenished.
If HR is telling you Not to come in on the weekends
you are doing it Exactly Backwards.
They should be Begging you to come in and paying you Overtime for it.
Otherwise bad contract.
Your time is about as valuable as you act like it is.
But listen.
Your "job" isnt your life.
I recommend getting Solid sleep levels
Cooking real foods
"Working Out"
Flirting with QTs
And Physical hobbies.
I personally go to the Range with Friends and practice Mozambique Drills, Box Drills, Zipper Drills, and such. I like to work on tight groups in small timeframes. So important in this economy.
I dont know what a "pitchdeck" is and I refuse to look it up. Why not put down some Pitch and refinish your driveway. Or build a Deck and serve lemonade to the Neighbors.
Just don't love something that doesn't love you back.
You're sacrificing your life to make other people rich.
So true, well said - your time is important. I do find though I often stay at the office well into the evening, just because I'm kinda slow with work and also go overboard with trying to perfect something. That and having no one to come home to... * screams into a pillow *
Just don't love something that doesn't love you back.
You're sacrificing your life to make other people rich.
So true, well said - your time is important. I do find though I often stay at the office well into the evening, just because I'm kinda slow with work and also go overboard with trying to perfect something. That and having no one to come home to... * screams into a pillow *
I´m forcing myself to go home, even if there is some kind of unsolved problem or bug in some code or a model that could be finished today. I can still do it the other day and it would not be healthy to stay more then 9 or 10 hrs in the office anyway.
I really like doing all the 3d stuff but you need to split your private life and work, otherwise you´ll go crazy.
Just don't love something that doesn't love you back.
You're sacrificing your life to make other people rich.
So true, well said - your time is important. I do find though I often stay at the office well into the evening, just because I'm kinda slow with work and also go overboard with trying to perfect something. That and having no one to come home to... * screams into a pillow *
I´m forcing myself to go home, even if there is some kind of unsolved problem or bug in some code or a model that could be finished today. I can still do it the other day and it would not be healthy to stay more then 9 or 10 hrs in the office anyway.
I really like doing all the 3d stuff but you need to split your private life and work, otherwise you´ll go crazy.
This. At my first AAA job, I was spending 70+hrs a WEEK at the office, literally killing myself to meet ridiculous deadlines and trying to get ahead to make a good impression. Not only did I completely burn myself out in every respect, but I also ended up just getting laid off with everyone else at the end of the project. I was hoping that the extra work I was putting in would help me get hired full time, but in reality I was only harming myself. All that extra time I spent at the office ended up severely hindering my portfolio and skill building time, harmed relationships outside of work with family and friends, and generally ended up making me more depressed than anything. Find a happy medium between meeting deadlines, making a good impression, leveling up your development skills, and living your life. Games is an awesome career path, I love my job, but I also am working to live.... not living to work. Plus, we do this because we love it, don't kill that passion or you are going to burn out past the point of return.
I'm new at my office (yeei first job in the industry) and my shortest day so far is 11 hours.. Mainly because i've got the wonderful task to clean up models that are very broken. And today i said to myself "write down what you need to complete and come back to it tomorrow, this way, i dont have to sleep and think about it" :P
Replies
The economy just doesn't support any other lifestyle anymore where if you don't work you'll be killed by debt and eventually homelessness.
Even buying a house is radically different compared to 50 years ago. They were in demand and anyone could afford one. Now in certain places (Canada) it will take a life time to pay off a mortgage. This is made worse when more jobs than ever are contract based so being stuck in one location is a death wish if studios keep closing.
I've accepted I'll probably be working into my 80s with no retirement, but at least I have a huge love of art to get me over it.
I also live in Canada (Montreal area)...
Man, I'm still young (mid 20s) and a lot of this whole stuff; get a house, provide for your family and kid scares me....If only it was just the mortgage..don't forget taxes, house care and maintenance, general tools, repairs, furnitures...
I work full time in a great studio but I still live at my mom's. I pay a bit of rent, groceries, cellphone, transport,personal care,etc and I try to save as much as I can...
Despite the fact I don't have my own place, I'm still baffled by the price of life in general. No wonder people in Japan where they're work obsessed are shrinking in population; life is SUPER expansive there and people want climb the social/economic ladder as much as they can to get out of the whole middle class working misery....however they don't realize that often, the wealthier your become, the more you have to work too....-_-
But to be back on topic here, I'm also trying to find physical activities I can do in my free time.
Gym is not for me, that is certain. I was a huge cycling enthusiast younger but it seems like the winter here are getting shittier and colder by the years...Cycling during 3-4 months only doesn't seem all that interesting.
1 - Stop working on work stuff at home. Seriously. If you don't force yourself to keep a work/life balance, you're going to burn out hard. If you want to model, work on your own stuff.
2 - You mentioned wanting a hobby. Do you want a hobby? What are you looking for? What do you hope a hobby is going to give you?
3- Do you want to start going out with friends/family more? Pick up the phone and arrange something. That's the hardest step really
Whatever it is, you need to find what gives you joy outside of work. Otherwise, when that work disappears, or turns sour or rough, you have nothing to fall back on. (Speaking from experience here). That can lead to some serious depression.
ps: Knitting is legit an awesome hobby - Picking it up while I was doing mad crunch on my last project kept my sane and my blood pressure levels considerably lower then I've ever had in the past when shipping a game.
Sure, there are benefits to sessions of intense study. But I need to set a time limit ahead of time, force a rest period. Not just for health, but for comprehension.
I suppose you could just not make so much art. Sounds simple!
There's a website http://meetup.com/ where you can find a group of almost any kind with a common interest. Outdoor groups, wine tasting, ultimate frisbee, I'm sure there's probably a knitting group too.
Think it might be a little morbid, but I like to think of everything like this in terms of, “If I were to die soon, would I be happy about how I’ve spent my time?” You have a couple days left to live, are you sad that you’ve spent the last __ years slaving over a computer screen and missing out on the great outdoors, or friends, or family? Or are you pumped that you’ve spent __ years so focused, creating beautiful art for everybody to enjoy?
You’ve got one life, don’t spend 100% of it on something you’re going to regret. I'd suggest putting a little more balance in there.
You are starving. Then you see a Shawarma place (insert a food you love here). You stop, order some, and eat. That shawarma tastes like heaven, evidence that god exist. Now you feel happy, all that energy is coming back. you want more, you order another Shawarma.
The second one doesn't taste the same as before, you are not feeling the same happiness, the same energy, it's just not the same....simply because you are not the same anymore.
No one can appreciate the same thing on the same level forever if that's the only thing you do. New experiences open your eyes to new things and to the old ones as well
(Now excuse me because I'm getting hungry)
Maybe do something where you're not always looking at a screen or monitor?
My hobby lately has been studying French, going to the gym, and checking out some events around the city, something away from the monitor. I do have some frelance stuff, a small one that I'm able to do while with my current job. For that, I don't know lol I know I'll be looking at a screen for a good while. If I won't be able to do it on the weeknights after work, I usually try to just do it on the weekends.
I hope this helps.
I only work on 3d stuff when i need to learn a particular technique now, but other than that spend lots of time with my family.
It's great to work to make money, but everyone needs a break now and then.
Don't take up the bagpipes:)
I want to start playing snooker again, but all the clubs are closing down where I live
Phase 1: Put your head down and refine your skills so you can become a marketable asset. This is a hard time and not sustainable but in a lot of cases it is necessary. This period has little time for balance. Instead it has a lot of tail chasing and workflows that take 4x as longer than they will in a few years and the results are ok but not amazing.
The artists well of energy and creativity is on an necessary but ultimately unsustainable path to running dry.
That's ok to do, as long as you realize that it was only a phase and that you will need to develop better ways to operate.
Phase 2: Ideally as you refine your skills, and find ways to work smarter and better, the time you wasted chasing your tail will become the time you put into fetching water for your well. As you get even better, you find ways for your well to recharge itself.
Normally this kicks off a second tier of god like abilities, because your well is almost always full, most of the time. You can take out an amazing amount of energy and creativity and expend it on things and not run dry, because you have ways to keep it replenished.
Find a way to keep your well topped off.
Just don't love something that doesn't love you back.
You're sacrificing your life to make other people rich.
I really like doing all the 3d stuff but you need to split your private life and work, otherwise you´ll go crazy.