Gary Preston at Figment Games wrote about The Muse, that inspiration which creates a fury of activity at the start of a project. But what happens when the Muse leaves you? What keeps you going?
Self-discipline. It’s what keeps you going even when you don’t feel like going anymore. It’s what allows you to finish a game when the rest of the world would have gotten bored. It’s the master key to riches when applied toward helping you take control of your own mind, according to Napolean Hill. Successful people do the task that needs doing even when they don’t feel like doing it. They don’t let their feelings control their actions. Being in charge of your actions involves being in charge of your mind, and self-discipline is what helps you to do so.
Either way, there is one problem I’ve encountered more than any other this year. Its just too tempting to check your email every two minutes, read through the development forums to find better ways to code something, or read up on new development techniques. On going research and keeping up with technology is certainly a valid part of development, but doing too much can do more harm than good, especially when it eats into the time you’ve set aside for programming.
Only every two minutes?!? Gary is amazingly productive compared to me. B-)