IndieDev Diary
Hi, Tom here! Recently I’ve been asked a few times what life is like as an IndieDev, specifically working from home. For me it means more flexibility with my time, which comes in very handy for childcare. Content wise, we tend to juggle a wide range of tasks for both the business and production sides of the studio which keeps things fresh and challenging!
One thing before we begin. When we started Polygon Treehouse we made a clear choice that we would work hard, but that we, or anyone working with us, wouldn’t be doing crazy hours. We’ve been around the block a bit and work/life balance is very important to us both and we want to enjoy the journey.
As an example of some typical days, what follows is what I got up to last week. You’ll notice that the working hours aren’t particularly consistent day to day, but in general I aim to always get at least 6-8 hours of productive work done . Note the use of the word ‘productive’ - working from home, the option is always there for me to work late into the night, but in my experience you have a certain number of ‘good’ hours work in you per day. After that, things get sloppy, or just take longer. I also can’t solve problems or logic puzzles when I’m tired, so I think getting some distance and attacking things fresh the next day is always the way to go.
Monday
06.30- 08.30 - Breakfast/School Drop off
08.45 - 09.30 - Gym (I sit at a desk a lot, so this is important!)
09.30 - 10.00 - Admin
10.00 - 11.00 - Catch up call with Alex to discuss work for the week.
11.00 - 16.00 - Production Work on Act 2 of the game
16.15 - 19.30 - School pickup/Family time
19.30 - 22.30 - Production Work on Act 2 of the game
Tuesday
06.30 - 07.15 - Gym
07.30 - 08.30 - Breakfast/School Drop off
09.00 - 11.00 - Production Work on Act 2 of the game
11.30 - 12.30 - Meeting with Accountant about Video Games Tax relief
12.30 - 13.00 - Social Media planning meeting
13.00 - 16.00 - Design meeting looking at Act 3 of the game
16.00 - 18.30 - Meeting notes write up & UK Games Fund admin
18.30 - I went out to a book launch. Good to get out and do something different!
All of the teas! We went out for our design meeting and had…..um…..tea.
Wednesday
06.30- 08.30 - Breakfast/School Drop off
08.45 - 09.30 - Gym
09.30 - 10.00 - Catch up call with Alex
10.00 - 12.00 - Screenshot Saturday GIF Prep
12.00 - 13.00 - Skype Call with potential publisher
13.00 - 16.00 - Production Work on Act 2 of the game
16.15 - 18.00 - School pickup/Family time
18.00 - 19.30 - I went to opening of a new Art Exhibition in Ely (I’m all about the culture yo!)
20.00 - 22.00 - Production Work on Act 2 of the game
Blog Prep (for this very Blog!) on the train…
Thursday
07.30 - 08.15 - Gym
08.45 - 14.30 - Production Work on Act 2 of the game
14.30 - 16.30 - Travel down to London, Blog prep on train
17.00 - 22.00 - BAFTA Crew Roundtable and Lecture with Siobhan Reddy (very cool evening spent networking and learning)
Sionhan Reddy’s excellent Games Lecture at BAFTA
Friday
08.00 - 0845 - Blog Prep
08.45 - 09.30 - Gym (yeah, I go to the gym a lot…..)
09.30 - 16.00 - Production Work on Act 2 of the game
16.00 - 19.00 - Admin & Contracts (talk about an exciting way to end the week….!)
FIN
That’s pretty much it. I also tend to do little bits of work at the weekend if I have a lot on. Mainly so that I feel like I’ve got a head start for the week :) Each week is different as well. For example, this week we had an audio recording session on Wednesday that was really cool. However, we were both working from home all week, so had less face to face contact. All in all, it’s definitely more varied than working 9-5 in an office!
Until next time,
Tom & Alex