Hi there,
So, for the past 3 days I have been developing my action platformer, DOT. To be honest, I feel as if I should be a lot further in progress than I am. So, my question is - how do you stay focused? I know there are many things I need to do, but I feel like I keep putting them off.
Thanks, for anticipated feedback!
Cannot find any at the moment, but there have been lots of these threads before.
LISTS!!
For me, if it is written down I’m more likely to try and do it.
You didn’t ask for this but I’ll post this anyway:
I have no idea right now where, but I’ve read an article about TO-DO lists can be counter intuitive as they encourage procrastination.
I tend to disagree with that idea when it comes to games though, you must keep at least a small list of your to-do-s, simply because you can’t get everything done at once.
However, the interesting part of the article discussed that instead of writing to-do-s you should ask yourself what are the 3 most important things that you should do that day? You should be able to answer this question every single day. It’s so trivial yet brilliant.
Also making progress and making visual progress is different. You can do tremendous amount of work done without the player ever noticing it like implementing new features, optimizing old ones, rewriting parts of your entity engine to be modular, etc.
Don’t worry about making progress fast, progress in your own tempo that you’re comfortable with. The most important thing is to be consistent and work on your game ever so often.
We all get “brilliant new ideas” while making our games (most of which turns out to be pretty bad when actually trying to bring it to reality), but don’t let yourself get tempted too much to switch from your current project.
You may have to work hard, but there’s nothing as satisfying than looking back on your work after it’s done and saying proudly “Yes, I made that.”. :point:
Cocaine, it’s a hella drug.
On a serious note, write down some realistic targets and deadlines. I cannot express hire much this helps.
Stand before a mirror. Look at yourself. Ask - “What have I done to be proud this month?”
Stay off of forums.
Cas 
hey! Forum helps…specially seeing all of your achievements…and it’s quite addictive!
… or get a kid. You’ll be so happy for 10 minutes here and there that you will actually do some work then. At least, thats how it works for me 
Me personally, listening to music helps me keep focused, that and keeping in mind the end goal.
In my case that’s to make a fully featured strategy game that looks good, runs good and pretty much completely coded in Java,
despite all the nay-sayers saying how slow Java is and it’s not suitable for games.
Well thank you for the tips everyone! One post included a link which quoted this:
“My code’s a mess. And I’ve learned so much already. If I started over I could do it a lot better and faster, and then the rest of the game will go a lot faster, too!”
& Oh my gosh, that is spot on. It’s crazy how accurate it is.
I usually listen to music, listen to a book, tv show, movie, something while programming. 1.) It helps to entertain me, 2.) It builds my multitasking capabilities, 3.) Why not?
Here is what I’m going to do though, build a list! & Possible deadlines for things…
Thanks again!
Lists are a great way to stay focused. Also, write blog posts every day about your development, you feel to do more to say the next day.
Live a healthy life. Don’t underestimate it.
Write a list of things that motivate you when you stay focused, so you can read it when you need motivation.
Try to be “professional”: use good tools and techniques (including accessible features and deadlines!)
All of those work for me, although I’m not professional
When I was unfocused, I started a second project that interests me. Since I’m working on that, it motivates me to continue the original project.
Vicious cycle, would not suggest this.
I see what you mean, but I did only have one project. I planned on starting a new one anyway.
How to stay focused… how to stop procrastinating… it is all the same thing really.
Discipline.
If you set a routine for yourself and try hard to keep that routine, your body will follow through on that routine (even if that routine is unhealthy). However, the problem is that programming isn’t an activity that keeps your body active. You’d literally destroy your health if you program and develop 24/7. So, you want a routine, but you also have to make sure you leave time in your day for other things.
I suggest just finding a few hours in the day strictly devoted to programming and developing. Now, there are going to be those times you don’t feel like it. In those cases, you just stop and do something else. As long as you don’t make escaping from developing a routine, all should be well…