In our article about game prototyping, we briefly touched on the issue of time management, not spending too much time on unnecessary things, and prioritization. Today we’d like to talk for a bit about time management as a whole because sometimes, especially in game development, it’s really hard to keep the fire burning while not getting burnt.

The most important bit is to have a plan and try to do all in your power to stick to it. Before you even start, prepare everything days, weeks, even months in advance. Immediately sort everything out and don’t assign high priority to each and single task that awaits you. A good plan will save you many headaches further down the road.

The human brain is a magnificent organic machine capable of vast memory storage, but do you know what can be even better? A pencil and a sheet of paper! Don’t rely just on your memory, trying to keep everything in your head. Take notes and dump it all on paper or a digital equivalent (some of our favorites are Google Keep, Todoist and Notion). When working in a team, make sure that everybody is on the same page and knows what to do in advance. Your teammates have their tasks as well, so they can’t be expected to immediately drop whatever they are doing and help you with your task.

You know the expression "sleep is for the weak"?  Well, it’s complete and utter nonsense. Make sure to get enough rest, food and water. Always take care of yourself. Yes, you probably can push yourself to the limit, but the work you turn in will eventually suffer greatly. Remember that good is often better than perfect, and perfectionism itself is a privilege for people that have a lot of time to spare. Keep things simple, try to avoid distractions, and don’t be afraid to sometimes just stop working for the day. It’s better to leave some things for later than to burn out and not do anything.

Nobody said making games is easy, quite the opposite, but we sincerely think that doing something you love is always worth it. Just not enough to risk your physical and mental well-being. We hope that some of the above tips will be at least a little bit helpful to all of the aspiring game creators out there, and we can’t wait to someday see and get to play your work. Now let's go make great games together!