GO CRAZY?! DON’T MIND IF THEY DO!
When the dreaded “crunch” time comes around, employers may ask you to put in the extra effort. In the game industry its pretty normal to lay back and accept it… bear down and push even harder. Why? Because you love games. This holds very true for myself right now, crunch doesn’t bother me TOO much, but I am also newly minted into the game industry… and “young” to boot. Since the start of crunch, I have notice peoples wits begin to fray, and I believe it effects the productivity of individuals and the rapports between co workers. The “new age” of social media makes this problem, of course, way more visible. You can see this displayed in your coworkers/employees via social networking, mood messages on IM services, and email chains talking about what day of crunch you are on titled. “Day 13: Hallucinations are ensuing and I’m fighting a cave troll under my desk to stay awake”
This plunge into crunch can increase overall productivity (velocity) of a project for the short term. This is great for impressing VC and Angels or pushing out a big release/launch. Although the extra effort may increase productivity by sheer attrition of schedule items, maintaining a pace like that wears on employees moral and work ethic. But at what cost? Of course preaching to the choir about the pitfalls of crunch, is like telling a SF Democrat that Global Warming IS real. Nothing new… What would be more beneficial is to discuss the ways people cope with their stresses. Here is some stuff that helps myself and others around me.
PLAY GAMES
We play a lot of games at our company, and we enjoy each others time. For myself, the company of others is what helps me the most. Personally I make sure to play at least one game (non computer) each day. I have a couple buddies I play foosball with and we play about once a day. This is great to break up the monotony of the day, and ensure that we are still having fun! Others break up their day with other PC games like Starcraft 2, or WoW… or even some Kineckt.
LOTS OF SLEEP
Make sure that you get involved with the sleep club. And the first rule of sleep club… is you don’t tell anyone how early you go to bed!! Sleep is precious, and it really helps to make sure that you give everyone you work with your 100% best. Giving your emotional, physical, and mental best is key to being the best employer, employee, and person that you can be. Its alright to go out and have fun, but burning the candles at both ends after work will catch up to you. Make sure that you get your beauty Zzz’s!
TAKE THE DAY OFF IF YOU NEED IT
One of the biggest indicators, in my mind, of a good company verses a slave ship (large game companies you know who you are) is the ability to take a day off… AND ITS OKAY! We are all Human beings, and things happen, you should be able to take care of your personal business. If your company gives you a hard time about taking a day off to go to the doctor, or to install cable into your new apartment… Then you need to look for a new job! Make sure that you never undervalue your time. If a company is squeezing every once of your lifeforce out of your fingertips and eyeballs… then you need to move on.
I am lucky, blessed, and privilaged to work for a company that deals with crunch VERY well… and treats us EVEN BETTER!
